2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment
Iron Dukes
The 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment is a forward deployed Tank Battalion located in the Federal Republic of Germany. It lies nestled in the rolling hills of the German State of Hessen, in the city of Friedberg. It occupies Ray Barracks along with 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment; 501st Forward Support Battalion; Headquarters, 1st Brigade; and it's sister battalion; 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment. As a member of the Ready First Combat Team, it is one of many units that make up America's Tank Division, the 1st Armored Division.
From March 1997 to September 1997, the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment deployed to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in support of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, Operation Able Sentry. As 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor prepared to deploy to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.) in support of Operation Able Sentry, the normal configuration of the battalion underwent a dramatic change. It received numerous attachments that were required in order to accomplish the mission. Theses attached soldiers became a part of the the 2-37 family and by the time the deployment was completed; it was as if the were not attached. They were as much Iron Dukes as anyone in the Task Force. Along with HHC, A, B, C, & D Companies, Task Force 2-37 was complemented by soldiers from additional units.
With Task Force Headquarters as diversified as always, A Co. (Agressors), the Scout, and Mortar Platoons took on duties as the Quick Reaction Force while B Co. (Battlecats), C Co. (Cougars) and D Co. (Dawgs) rotated between the OP's along the Serbian border and Force Protection duties on Camp Able Sentry.
Upon arriving at Camp Able Sentry, the Iron Dukes immediately began to dig in and start their mission. On Camp Able Sentry, all of Task Force Headquarters started working on improving conditions and preparing to assume Task Force Control. As the Companies rotated in, crews on the OP's were changed out and on 14 Mar 97 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment officially assumed command of Task Force Able Sentry.
The Iron Dukes set out to accomplish the following goals during the deployment: Safety first and foremost; Accomplish the mission while exceeding the previous standards; and Improve all aspects of the Task Force Area of Operations. All of these goals were accomplished, in addition to having the distinction of being the first unit to conduct "cross-border" discussions with our Serbian counterparts in Serbia.
During the deployment, the soldiers of Task Force 2-37 never had a dull moment. There was the normal routines of the day to be done, and at the same time improvements were happening. There are much too many to list but the bottom line was that the effort that all of the soldiers in the Task Force put in was very obvious to the many VIP's who visited and saw first-hand how a little motivation and desire could make a difference.
When Task Force 2-37 Armor relinquished command to Task Force 1-6 Infantry on 5 Sep 97, it was said that they had accomplished the mission while exceeding the standard and through hard work, dedication to duty and their positive attitude.
The 37th Armor has as its symbol a Wyvern, or winged dragon, with the tail of a serpent. Our battalion (The Wyvern), was activated on 15 April 1941 at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum), New York. On the evening of that day 600 officers and 3200 enlisted men stood at attention while orders activating the 4th Armored Division were read. The United states was not yet at war, but ten months earlier a group of military geniuses leading Hitler's armies had demonstrated a new type of warfare which electrified and dumbfounded the world. Their names were Guderian, Kleist, and Rommel, and they called their operations the "Blitzkrieg", which means lightning war in our language. Meanwhile an up-and-coming American named George S. Patton had already begun forging the US 2nd Armored Division in the mold of the German Panzer Divisions which had forced France to her knees in less than two months. The 1st Armored Division was at Fort Knox; the Second, under Patton, at Fort Benning. The Third, born simultaneously with the Fourth, originated in the warmer climate of Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. It was no secret that their mission would eventually be to tangle with the German gentlemen and defeat them on their own terms.
One group of the soldiers present when the 4th Armored Division was formed became the nucleus of the Seventh Armored Regiment, which in turn became the 37th Armored Regiment on 8 May 1941. The first filler personnel arrived at Pine Camp four days later, and two weeks after that a thirteen-week basic training cycle was begun.
By summer's end the old regulars and peacetime draftees were proudly wearing their caps cocked on the left side of their heads and looking like "Tankers". Training in the fundamentals of Armor began, despite the fact that there were only twenty one tanks in the entire division. Many of the 37th Armored's key personnel were selected to cadre the 5th and 9th Armored Divisions.
The blow that struck Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and subsequent declaration of war on Germany on 11 December brought new meaning and purpose to the training being conducted and Pine Camp. It also brought an influx of new equipment to the 37th Armored.
In October 1942, while the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions were staging for their baptism of fire in North Africa, the 37th Armored and the remainder of the 4th Armored Division moved to Tennessee for maneuvers. A month later the regiment moved again, all the way to the West Coast this time, establishing its CP near Freida, California, at the California Desert Training Center. Although most of the 37th's men were Easterners, they plunged into their work in the Mojave desert with a desire to prepare in training for what the 1st and 2nd armored Divisions were experiencing in combat. On its second birthday the 37th was razor sharp and ready in its own mind for shipment overseas. When in early June 1943 orders came for movement, it was thought that the regiment was on its way to a date with the Axis Powers-possibly in the forthcoming campaign in Italy. Instead the 37th dismounted at camp Bowie, near Brownwood, Texas.
The Texas summer passed. The men saw how their two years together had prepared them physically and professionally when they compared training and proficiency test results with other units. In September 1943, during a ten day period, the 37th was streamlined to the shape in which it would face the enemy. The 37th Armored regiment, as such was no more. First Battalion, Second Battalion and Regimental headquarters became the 37th Tank Battalion, composed of three medium tank companies (A, B & C), one light tank company (D) and a Headquarters Company. From this point on we will concern ourselves with only those who trained and fought with the 37th proper, for other histories have been written of the Third Battalion and the Reconnaissance Troop after they became the 706th Tank Battalion and 25th Cavalry Squadron respectively.
The 37th Tank Battalion was now, along with the 35th and 8th, the nucleus of the "light" armored division. On 15 November 1943, Major General Wood announced to the 4th Armored Division that they would go overseas. On 11 December 1943, the 37th moved northeastward by train, unloading at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, from which the main body sailed on 29 December 1943. Eleven days later they were training again in England.
The beginning of a long and fateful relationship was marked on 1 February 1944. The 4th Armored Division became part of General Patton' s Third Army.
On the morning of 6 June 1944, the American First Army and the British Second Army hit the beaches of Normandy. The 37th had missed the big one.
Finally, on 8 July 1944, the 37th moved to Southern England and prepared for its rendezvous with the Wehrmacht. Four days later it was in Normandy.
For the remainder of July 1944, the 37th waited in reserve while the 4th Armored's doughboys relieved elements of the weary 4th Infantry Division.
On 28 July 1944, the 1st Army launched its breakout attack. The Infantry divisions on both sides of the 4th Armored attacked and "pinched out" the division, whereupon this "left jab" was followed up by the "right cross" in which the 4th Armored attacked through the Infantry lines and began to race for the neck of the Brittany peninsula. The 37th was traveling on the fist of this blow with Colonel Bruce C. Clark's Combat Command A. Coutances fell the next day and Avranches, at the northern edge of the neck of Brittany, on 30 July.
On its way across Brittany, the 4th Armored resumed its working acquaintance with General Patton, for the 3rd US Army became operational on 1 August 1944. By 9 August the 37th was knocking on the door to Lorient, on the southern edge of Brittany. On 14 August the siege of Lorient was turned over to the 6th Armored Division and the 37th turned eastward with the rest of the 3rd Army, which was beginning its historic race across France. VII Corps was the southernmost corps of the 3rd Army, 4th Armored Division was on the VII Corps southern flank, and the 37th Tank Battalion was protecting the southern flank of the division. There was nothing south of the 37th except the Loire River and the Germans.
The 37th's Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Creighton W. Abrams (later, as a full General, commander of all US Forces in Vietnam and Army Chief of Staff), detached a task force under Major Edward Bautz to blow the Loire river bridges between Blois and Tours, but they found upon arrival that their work had been done by the Wehrmacht. This TF then followed the Loire's northern bank, paralleling the advance of the main body. On 16 August a German column was sighted on the south bank. Major Bautz's tankers pounded on this column unmercifully, inflicting severe losses and driving the Germans back from the river.
The 37th crossed the Seine on 25 August 1944, and the Marne on 23 august. The Marne Canal was bridged and the town of Chalons was attacked from the east, to the consternation of the defending garrison, which was expecting an assault on the western edge of town.
In another lightning thrust the 37th captured the bridge across the Meuse at Commercy. An attack in a driving rainstorm won this prize before the Germans could blow it up. Then, the next day, on 1 September, the 37th ground to a halt. The gasoline ration had run out. While the chain of command up through General Patton fumed and threatened, the 37th surveyed its accomplishments. It had advanced 700 miles in seven weeks, crossed three major rivers and was within one day's motor march of the German border, only seventy miles to the northwest.
On 13 September 1944, the M4 tanks of the 37th knifed across the Moselle River and, on the 14th overran the rear CP of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division at Arracourt and, in Valhey, caught the same division's forward echelon CP before it could displace rearward. It was at Valhey that Sergeant Joe Sadowski of Company A won his Medal of Honor. This Non-Commissioned Officer from Perth Amboy, New Jersey was commander of the second tank column as the 37th rolled into the French town. The lead had swung north around a corner as Sadowski's M4 clattered into the village square, where a German armor-piercing round found its mark and set the Sherman afire against the town's water trough. Sadowski had his crew dismount and got them to shelter behind a building after running a gauntlet of machine gun and small arms fire in the square. When noses were counted the bow gunner was found to be missing. A glance at the burning tank showed the gunner's hatch still closed tight. The history of the 4th Armored Division states succinctly: "The Sergeant ran back to his tank, clambered up the smoking front slope plate and tried to pry open the gunner's hatch with his bare hands. He stood on the smoking tank and strained at the hatch until he had been hit so many times he could no longer stand. He slid from his medium and died in the mud beside its tracks. His father and mother were given his posthumous Medal of Honor."
For three days Colonel Clark's CCA was behind enemy lines. The 37th spent those days spreading confusion and terror in the German rear areas. From 19 September through 22 September 1944 the Germans tried to push the 37th back across the Moselle. It was one of the largest tank-to-tank engagements of the war, at Mayenvie, the 37th lost 14 Shermans while knocking out 55 Panthers and Tigers. Needless to say, the German counterattack was unsuccessful.
On 22 September the 37th's M4s swept south again through Coincourt and Bures to the Rhine-Marne Canal. Counterattack followed counterattack as the desperate Wehrmacht tried to dislodge the 3rd Army from its position, but as the toll of Panthers mounted, the attacks dwindled in intensity and finally ceased. The 37th was relieved on 12 October 1944 by elements of the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division. For its tenacity in the Moselle Valley, the 37th was awarded its second Croix de Guerre with Palm by a grateful French Government (it's first coming in Normandy). The 37th's tankers were pulled off line for a rest after 87 straight days of combat.
Winter was quickly approaching. The 37th moved out in a downpour on 9 November to deprive Hitler of the industrial Saar Valley. On 11 November 1944 the 37th was caught on the road and lost six tanks because it could not deploy in the bottomless mud. Still the Shermans pushed on. On 8 December the 37th smashed through the old French Maginot Line and took Singling. Two days later it was relieved again, by elements of the 12th Armored Division, and sent to the rear for another rest, although not so far back that elements of the battalion were not in contact. On 16 December, Shermans of Company A were the first 4th Armored Division vehicles to enter Germany when they chased several German tanks back into the woods near Rimling.
The 37th was unaware that the same day Company A entered the Reich, Hitler had played his last trump north of where the 4th Armored was resting from its five months in action. The 5th German Panzer Army, last of the German Strategic Reserves, spearheaded the attack by Model's Army Group B that opened the "Battle of the Bulge". its objective was the port of Antwerp and allied depots nearby. Its political motives were to inflict such losses on allied forces that the western powers would accept a negotiated peace. On 18 December the 37th got its march order---to move north against the German penetration, which was causing alarm to the Allied High Command.
On the same day the 101st Airborne Division was moved by truck to establish a strongpoint at the key road and rail junction of Bastogne, in Belgium. By the time the 37th arrived at the south flank of the German penetration, the 101st was cut off on all sides by the enemy drive. The 37th became a point of the 4th Armored Division's drive to relieve the paratroopers in Bastogne. The 37th moved out in a feathery snowfall at 0600 on 22 December 1944, attacking northward against German airborne troops. The 37th Tank Battalion and the 53rd Armored Infantry made up the 4th Armored Division's Combat Command B, which was committed on the right of the other two combat commands when they were slowed up. In a bloody engagement against German paratroopers wearing American uniforms, CCB took Bigonville.
At 0200 Christmas morning CCB marched thirty miles west to the 4th Armored Division's left flank. At 0700 the 37th jumped off from Bercheaux and swiftly took Bauxles-Rosieres, Nives and Remoiville. At dawn on 26 December the 37th struck again, taking Remi, Champagne, and then seizing the high ground near Chochiment, only three miles from Bastogne. LTC Abrams, commanding the 37th, made the undramatic statement, "We're going in to those people now."
The lead vehicle in that attack was a Sherman named "Cobra King" and commanded by Charles Boggess Jr., of Greenville, Ill. LT Boggess was CO of Charlie Company, 37th Tank Battalion. There were but eight other tanks in Company C when the "move out" order came, but at 1515 hours all nine sets of sprockets turned, leading the 37th armored northward to the embattles 101st.
Two towns lay between the 37th and Bastogne. Their names were Clochimont and Assenois, and they were both heavily defended by elite German troops. Beyond Assenois was a heavy wood, concealing the blockhouses that enclosed the road to Bastogne. Company C's mission was to barge through these defenses in high gear, stopping for nothing and leaving the mopping up to the companies following, which were supported by the 53rd Infantry. At 1645 1LT Boggess shook hands with LT Webster of the 326th Engineers, 101st Airborne Division and in twenty-five minutes LTC Abrams and his S3, CPT William Dwight, reported to BG Anthony G. McAuliffe, acting CG of the 101st.
The fight was not over. LT Boggess' company now consisted of but four M4 tanks, and the rest of the 37th suffered similarly. The corridor to Bastogne had to be held. By now the 37th and elements of the 26th Infantry Division were joined in fighting to hold the road open. Still, it was not easy. Counterattack followed counterattack until at last, on 9 January 1945, the German penetration had been pushed to the east of Bastogne. A shattered enemy began to withdraw to his homeland to resume the last ditch struggle that could end only one way. And for its relief of Bastogne the 37th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation that members wear today.
On 10 January the 37th was attacking east of Bastogne when the order came to halt. After a masterful disengagement and an icy road march south to Luxembourg, the 37th again found it was in the 3rd Army reserve, ready to answer a fire call. In the rugged country of the Rhineland, it was mainly an Infantry war, but the 37th followed close behind the attackers, ready to knife through the West wall when a breach was secured. Finally, on 22 February 1945, General Patton uncorked his tanks and Outscheid, Mioderwinger, Baustert, Feilsdorf, and Koosbrisch quickly fell to the 37th, which was then with CCB, attached to the 60th Infantry Division.
On 25 February, Company B, with Company B of the 51st Armored Infantry, took the bridge over the Prum at Remesdorf. Companies C of the 37th and 51st took the high ground around Rittersdorf and established a base of fire while the combined A Companies of the two battalions took Rittersdorf and shot a bridgehead over the Nimes River. More than 1,000 prisoners were taken in this action. In four days the 37th had led the 3rd Army in its piercing of the Siegfried Line. A stiff counterattack near Sefferweich was beaten off while the 37th caught its breath for the next venture. Farther north, the US 1st Army was fighting its way into Cologne to set the stage for the dash to the Rhine.
On 5 March 1945 the 37th's M4 tanks attacked through the 5th Infantry Division's bridgehead over the Kull and immediately cut across German combat zones to a distance of 13 miles. On the 6th of March a distinguished prisoner fell to LT Joe Liese, the CO of Company B. General von Rothenkirch, CG of the 53rd Army Corps, was driving his car on an inspection tour near Putzberg, where he stumbled on Company B. By the afternoon of that day, the 37th was even past German artillery positions. Prisoners from the 10th Woodchopping Battalion surrendered to the advancing tankers. The 37th sped on to Ochtenburg, captured there a billeting party from the German 7th Army Rear Cp. When almost to the Rhine, LT Liese's company overtook a German wheel column and, with assistance from artillery light aircraft, shot it up badly. Then the 37th moved to the Rhine and took up positions overwatching the river.
During the night remnants of the Wehrmacht tried to get back across the Rhine. In doing so, numerous enemy vehicles which stumbled into the 37th's position were either captured or destroyed. On 7 March 1945 the US 1st Army thrust north from Cologne, pinning what was left of the German 7th army between it and the 4th Armored Division. It was in this drive that the 9th Armored Division captured the Remagen bridge intact. On 8 March 1945 Colonel Abrams left the 37th to command CCB and Major Bautz assumed command of the battalion. For the next two weeks the 37th was engaged in cleaning out the Palatinate, the triangle formed by the Saar, Rhine and Moselle Rivers. On St. Patrick's Day 1945 the 37th entered the Spa City of Bad Kreuznach, and on 21 March it arrived again on the banks of the Rhine at Worms.
On 25 March 1945 the 3rd Army crossed the Rhine. The 5th Infantry Division crossed in Navy landing craft near Oppenheim before the Germans could fire a shot. When the east bank was secure, a pontoon bridge was quickly constructed, and by 0300 on 26 March 1945, the 37th was across with the rest of the 4th Armored Division. The 37th exploded through the Red Diamond (5th Infantry Division) perimeter; by nightfall Company D's light tanks and Infantry from the 10th AIB captured the railroad bridge over the Main River. Meanwhile, CCA (Combat Command A) had secured the Main crossing near Hanau. The 37th, with the rest of CCB, sideslipped west and followed CCA across the Main on 28 March 1945. By dusk, the 37th's M4s were in Giessen, 40 miles north of Hanau. The Frankfurt-Berlin Autobahn was the 4th Armored Division's axis of advance. The 37th reached Hersfeld (today Bad Hersfeld) the last day of March. On 2 April, under heavy air attack, the 37th crossed the Werra.
In actuality, the entire 37th Tank Battalion did not reach Giessen the night of the 28th, for Company C and one platoon of Company D's tanks had been detached for a special mission. They did not know it at the time, but these two elements would never rejoin their organization. They reported on 26 March 1945 to CPT Abraham J. Baum. Besides elements from the 37th, it consisted of Company A, a reconnaissance platoon, and an assault gun platoon from the 10th AIB. The mission: liberate 1500 American prisoners in the Stalag at Hammelburg, sixty miles behind German lines. The orders came direct from "Lucky Forward", General Patton's CP.
At 2100 hours on 26 March, Company B of the 37th and Company B of 10th AIB punched a hole in the German line at Schweinheim. Through this hole went Task Force Baum, which in turn found itself alone in the enemy area. On 27 march a weak radio transmission was monitored reporting enemy troops marshaling at Gemunden As Gemunden was halfway to Hammelburg, it was an indication that TF Baum was well on its way. messages later that afternoon told of losing four medium tanks and two officers. Then the messages petered out. On 29 March, Division reported "No news of Baum". At 2000 that night Radio Berlin reported that a great victory had been achieved by the German army near Hammelburg; later reports even claimed annihilation of the entire 4th Armored Division, which was known to the enemy as "Roosevelt's Butchers". On 6 April 1945, by which time the rest of the 37th was deep in Saxony, Company C and Company D's platoon were written off the books. The personnel were reported missing in action; replacements for them and their equipment was requisitioned. Finally, on 9 April, CPT Baum returned to American lines and the entire fate of the TF was determined.
As the 4th Armored Division history states, "the task force battled through more than two German divisions to the Hammelburg Stalag. On the way, the column took 200 prisoners, including a general and his staff, destroyed enemy troop trains, shot up towns, knocked out German tanks, vehicles and uncounted Krauts. The light force suffered. Bridges were blown in front, both sides and behind the onrushing tanks. A span was blasted as American and German infantrymen fought on it. The task force smashed road blocks, raced down highways, sneaked on back roads and followed compass courses across country."
"When they reached their objective, half of Task Force Baum was left in fighting shape. The Armored Infantrymen who had not been wounded rode the remaining tanks. Wounded men lay on the gas cans in the half-tracks and helped steady each other at the machine guns. The seriously wounded were left behind with the dead along the side of the road."
Against ever-stiffening resistance by an enemy who thought an entire division had broken through the Main River defense line, CPT Baum's decimated column finally reached the stockade near dark on 27 March. After a hot fight, the prisoners were released, armed, and mounted on the back decks of Company C's tanks for the ride back to friendly lines. CPT Baum directed the remnants of his force northeastward, but by now the area was swarming with German infantry and armor. By morning of the 28th all the task force's vehicles had been knocked out. The force then broke into groups of fours and fives and attempted to exfiltrate back to American lines. Finally, about 35 men made it. The rest were killed or captured. Of the 293 officers and men of TF Baum, 32 were wounded, 9 killed and 16 who were missing in action are still unaccounted for. Of the remaining 236, virtually all, including CPT Baum, were prisoners at one time or another.
Although they did not accomplish their mission successfully, the tankers and infantry of TF Baum contributed a great deal to the Central European Campaign. No less than an entire German Corps was diverted to the seeking out and destruction of the two company task force. Only the loss of the means to fight on kept them from continuing. The story of TF Baum will serve as a stirring example of individual courage and small unit leadership as long as nations have armies.
By April 1945 the 37th had driven deep into central Germany when it was relieved by elements of the 80th Infantry Division. The 37th then marched south and drove into Czechoslovakia, where the war ended on 6 May 1945. The 37th then participated in the Herculean task of disarming the Wehrmacht and set up shop in Bavaria as part of the occupation forces on 27 May 1945.
On 1 May 1946, when the 4th Armored Division was inactivated, the 37th traded M4 Sherman tanks for armored cars and motorcycles with the red, yellow an blue insignia of MG Harmon's U.S. Constabulary. The 37th Tank Battalion became the 37th Constabulary Squadron. Later on 20 September 1946, the 37th was placed on the inactive list
On 11 December 1951, still on inactive status, the 37th was converted and again designated as the 37th Tank battalion. It was assigned to the 4th Armored Division on 25 February 1953 and then activated on 15 June 1954 with the rest of the division at Fort Hood, Texas. Company B of the 37th Tank Battalion became the nucleus in April 1957 for the 2nd Medium Tank Battalion (Patton) 37th Armor and the battalion was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division in Germany. When the division rotated to Fort Hood in early 1958 the 2nd battalion, 37th Armor found itself back in the USA, this time until July of 1963, when it was assigned to Germany and the 4th Armored Division. In May of 1971 the division was redesignated the 1st Armored Division (Old Ironsides).
The 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor continued its service in Germany as part of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. The 37th moved to Ferris Barracks, Erlangen, Germany in August 1971. On 28 February 1983 the battalion was relieved from assignment to the 1st Armored Division and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division (Forward). The 2nd Battalion, 37th then moved to Panzer Kaserne, Boeblingen, Germany. On the 28th of April 1987 the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor colors moved to Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany to become part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. On the 16th of August 1991 the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division was redesignated as the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, and the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor became a member of the largest Division in the U.S. Army; the 3rd Infantry Division.
On the 15th of February 1996, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor was deactivated at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. The colors remained cased until the 21st of February 1997, when the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment was brought back into service at Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany as part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
