740th Tank Battalion
Daredevil Tankers
The 740th Tank Battalion was activated at Fort Knox, NY on
March 1, 1943. It trained at Fort Knox and at Camp Bouse,
AZ as a Canal Defense Light (CDL) uit, and as a Standard
Medium Tank Battalion from October 15, 1943 to April 24, 1944,
then sailed to England on July 16, 1944. It landed at Utah
Beach, Normandy, France on November 1, 1944 and entered
combat on December 19, 1944. During the Battle of the
Burge. In it's first half hour of combat, it stopped the
furthest advance of the German 19T 99 Banzer Division at
Stoumont Station, Belgium. Fighting it's way toward the
German border, it breached the Siegfried Line near
Lidenbreth, Germany. It then fought on the Cologne Plain
at Duren and Cologne, Germany, shifting to the south,
the Battalion again breached the Siegfried Line near
Saarbrucken, Germany. It was then sent back north to
Bleckede, Germany on April 30, 1945, after which it
proceeded north, joining the British and 2nd Army at Schwerin,
Germany on the Baltic Sea at War's End.
The Battalion fought in the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland
and Central Europe Campaigns having served under the
1st, 1st allied Airborne, 3rd, 7th, 9th, U.S. Armies and the
2nd British Armies.
Army of occupation duties were performed until the
Battalion was deactivated on July 23, 1946.
43 members of the Battalion gave their lives for our
country. May they never be forgotten.
Plaque placed by the veterans of the 740th Tank
Battalion Association, the Lost Dutchman & Billy
Holcomb Chapter of the Ancient & Honorable
Order of E. Clampus Vitus in cooperation with
the Bouse Chamber of Commerce.
January 10, 1998
