|
778th Tank Battalion
The 778th Tank Battalion was an independent tank battalion of the United States Army that served in the European Theatre of Operations during the Second World War. The battalion landed in Cherbourg, France on 15 September 1944, and joined the Third Army on 15 November 1944. They engaged in 176 consecutive days of front line combat. Inception and composition Originally the 1st Battalion, 41st Armored Regiment, the 778th Tank Battalion was created following the 20 September 1943 decision by the US Army to streamline its armored divisions in order to create smaller, independent units which could be transferred between infantry divisions. The Battalion consisted of six companies: Headquarters Company, combat echelon Companies A,B, C, and D, and Service Company. In total the battalion had about 80 tanks, several support vehicles, and rostered over 700 men and officers.. The Combat companies consisted of three platoons of five M4 Sherman tanks, initially armed with 75mm main ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Separate Tank Battalion
Separate tank battalions were military formations used by the United States Army during World War II, especially in the European Theater of Operations. These battalions were temporarily attached to infantry, armored, or airborne divisions according to need, though at least one battalion ( 745th Tank Battalion) spent the entire war in Europe attached to one division. They were also known as general headquarters ("GHQ") tank battalions. Background The advent of highly mobile and reliable tanks radically changed the nature of warfare during World War II. The use of tanks and other vehicles to create decisive breakthroughs became commonplace. The German blitzkrieg and Soviet deep battle called for large, maneuverable armored forces to be concentrated in one area of the front to overwhelm enemy defenses, with the aim of surrounding and cutting off the enemy formations left behind. This strategy was in contrast to previous ideas of armored warfare, namely that tanks should support ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George S
George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George, son of Andrew I of Hungary Places South Africa * George, South Africa, a city ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa, a city * George, Missouri, a ghost town * George, Washington, a city * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Computing * George (algebraic compiler) also known as 'Laning and Zierler system', an algebraic compiler by Laning and Zierler in 1952 * GEORGE (computer), early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory in 1957 * GEORGE (operating system), a range of operating systems (George 1–4) for the ICT 1900 range of computers in the 1960s * GEORGE (programming language), an autocode system invented by Charles Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
347th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
The 347th Infantry Division () was an infantry division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1942 to 1945. Initially based in the Netherlands, it saw active service on the Western Front and was redesignated as a ''Volksgrenadier'' division in May 1945. Operational history The 347th Infantry Division was formed in September 1942 as a static division of two regiments of fortress infantry. Under the command of ''Generalleutnant'' Friedrich Bayer, the following month it was sent to the Netherlands to the coastline near Amsterdam and its original two regiments later each received an infantry battalion of volunteer troops from Turkestan and the Caucasus. It remained here for several months until after the Invasion of Normandy. Now commanded by ''Generalleutnant'' Wolf Trierenberg, the division was then transferred to France to reinforce Army Group B which was engaged in the fighting in Normandy. It gradually retreated into Belgium and was involved in the fig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Warfare
Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and the complexity of the urban terrain. Urban combat operations may be conducted to capitalize on strategic or tactical advantages associated with the possession or the control of a particular urban area or to deny these advantages to the enemy. It is considered to be arguably the most difficult form of warfare. Fighting in urban areas negates the advantages that one side may have over the other in armor, heavy artillery, or air support. Ambushes laid down by small groups of soldiers with handheld anti-tank weapons can destroy entire columns of modern armor (as in the Battle of Grozny (1994–95), First Battle of Grozny), while artillery and air support can be severely reduced if the "superior" party wants to limit ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrolling
Patrolling is a military tactic. Small groups or individual units are deployed from a larger formation to achieve a specific objective and then return. The tactic of patrolling may be applied to ground troops, armored units, naval units, and combat aircraft. The duration of a patrol will vary from a few hours to several weeks depending on the nature of the objective and the type of units involved. There are several different types of patrol each with a different objective. The most common is to collect information by carrying out a reconnaissance patrol. Such a patrol may try to remain clandestine and observe an enemy without themselves being detected. Other reconnaissance patrols are overt, especially those that interact with the civilian population. Ground patrol types A combat patrol is a group with sufficient size (usually platoon or company) and resources to raid or ambush a specific enemy. It primarily differs from an attack in that the aim is not to ''hold ground''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siegfried Line
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border with Switzerland. The line featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. From September 1944 to March 1945, the Siegfried Line was subjected to a large-scale Allied offensive. Name The official German name for the defensive line construction program before and during the Second World War changed several times during the late 1930s. It came to be known as the "Westwall", but in English it was referred to as the "Siegfried Line" or, sometimes, the "West Wall". Various German names reflected different areas of construction: * Border Watch programme (pioneering programme) for the most advanced positions (1938) * Limes programme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pillbox (military)
A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, often camouflaged, normally equipped with Loophole_(firearm), loopholes through which defenders can fire weapons. It is in effect a trench warfare , trench firing step, hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades, and raised to improve the field of fire. The modern concrete pillbox originated on the Western Front (World War I) , Western Front of World War I, in the Imperial German Army , German Army in 1916. Etymology The origin of the term is disputed. It has been widely assumed to be a jocular reference to the perceived similarity of the fortifications to the Cylinder, cylindrical and hexagonal boxes in which medical pills were once sold; also, the first German concrete pillboxes discovered by the Allies in Belgium were so small and light that they were easily tilted or turned upside down by the nearby explosion of even medium (240mm) shells. However, it seems more likely that it original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, which are designed to disable tanks or other vehicles; and anti-personnel mines, designed to injure or kill people. Land mines are typically pressure activated, exploding automatically when stepped on by a person or driven over by a vehicle, though alternative detonation mechanisms are sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both. Land mines are typically laid throughout an area, creating a ''minefield'' which is dangerous to cross. The use of land mines is controversial because of their indiscriminate nature and their potential to remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming civilians and the economy. With pressure from a number of campaign gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon's Teeth (fortification)
Dragon's teeth are Pyramid (geometry), pyramidal anti-tank obstacles of reinforced concrete first used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks and mechanised infantry. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into Kill zone, killing zones where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons. They were employed extensively, particularly on the Siegfried Line. World War II Dragon's teeth were used by several armies in the European Theatre of World War II, European theatre. The Wehrmacht, Germans made extensive use of them on the Siegfried Line and the Atlantic Wall. Typically, each tooth was tall. Land mines were often laid between teeth, and further obstacles were constructed along the lines of teeth, such as barbed wire to impede infantry or diagonally-placed steel beams to further hinder tanks. Many were laid in the United Kingdom in 1940–1941, as part of the effort to strengthen the country's British anti-invasion preparations of World War II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fraulautern
Fraulautern is a district of Saarlouis in the Saarland region of Germany. In 1936, the village of Fraulautern was incorporated into the city of Saarlouis. It is also the source of the alternative name for Saarlouis, ''Saarlautern''. Fraulautern has approximately 7000 inhabitants. Location Although the city of Saarlouis proper is situated on the left side of the Saar, the district of Fraulautern (along with the districts of Roden and Steinrausch) are found on the river's right bank. Fraulautern borders the former coal-mining facility of the neighboring community of Ensdorf. History Since the middle of the 12th century, a place known as "Lutrea Wilrea" was recorded as being the home of a settlement of either cannons or monks. From this settlement arose the Fraulautern Abbey, a Stift made up of noble Augustinian nuns. The name "Fraulautern" comes from both the inhabitants of the cloister as well as the celtic word "Lutra" meaning "swampy stream" - a reference here to Fraulauter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saarlouis
Saarlouis (; , ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis (district), Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis is located on the river Saar (river), Saar. It was built as a fortress in 1680 and was named after Louis XIV of France. History With the Treaties of Nijmegen, Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen in 1678/79, Lorraine (province), Lorraine fell to France. In 1680, Louis XIV of France gave orders to build a fortification (to defend the new French eastern frontier) on the banks of the river Saar which was called ''Sarre-Louis''. Notable French military engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, constructed the town, which would serve as the capital of the Province de la Sarre. The plans were made by Thomas de Choisy, the town's first Gouvenour. In 1683, Louis XIV visited the fortress and granted arms. The coat of arms shows the rising sun and three Fleur-de-lis. The heraldic motto is ''Dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saar (river)
The Saar (; ) is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams (the ''Sarre Rouge'' and ''Sarre Blanche'', which join in Lorquin), that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak of the northern Vosges. After (129 kilometres; 80 miles in France and on the French-German border, and 117 kilometres; 73 miles in Germany) the Saar flows into the Moselle at Konz (Rhineland-Palatinate) between Trier and the Luxembourg border. It has a catchment area of . The Saar flows through the following departments of France, states of Germany and towns: *Moselle (F): Abreschviller (Sarre Rouge), Lorquin, Sarrebourg, Fénétrange *Bas-Rhin (F): Sarre-Union *Moselle (F): Sarralbe, Sarreguemines *Saarland (D): Saarbrücken, Völklingen, Wadgassen, Bous, Saarlouis, Dillingen, Merzig *Rh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
