The 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

active during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The battalion was activated at

Camp Blanding Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain nonflying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation ...

on 15 December 1941, in line with the reorganisation of the anti-tank force, by redesignating the Provisional Antitank Battalion of the 43rd Infantry Division. It was later organized as a towed battalion, equipped with towed 3" anti-tank guns.Yeide, p. 265 The 643rd deployed into Normandy exactly three years after it was activated, landing at Cherbourg on 15 December 1944. The following day, a major German offensive was launched in the Ardennes forest, beginning the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, and the battalion was rushed into action, arriving at the front on 22 December. One company was deployed that same evening to support an attack on

Hotton Hotton (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The municipality lies 12 kilometers from Marche-en-Famenne in the Ardennes and has more than 5,400 inhabitants. The river Ourthe crosses Hotton. The mun ...

by elements of Combat Command Reserve of the 3rd Armored Division. The battalion remained attached to the 3rd Armoured until 26 December, supporting it in a number of small-scale engagements. The battalion was later briefly attached to the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

before being assigned to the 83rd Infantry Division on 2 February; it would serve with them for the remainder of the war After being re-equipped with

M18 Hellcat The M18 Hellcat (officially designated the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. Despite being equipped with the same main gun as some variants of th ...

tank destroyers in March, it pushed into central Germany with the 83rd, crossing the Elbe river before being withdrawn to take up occupation duties in the

Harz Mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The nam ...

at the end of the war. United States World War II Tank Destroyer Battalion March 1944 Structure

Notes

References

* * * Tankdestroyer.net (Web based United States tank destroyer forces information resource
Tankdestroyer.net
{{US tank destroyer battalions Tank destroyer battalions of the United States Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations established in 1941