WWII 2nd Armored Div.,
82nd Airborne Div.,
and 1st Engineer Battalion

S-2 Intelligence

by Greg Novak

2nd Armored Division

The personnel of this division were dissatisfied with the mixture of .30 and .50 machineguns mounted on their infantry halftracks. Starting in July of 1944, while operating in Normandy, elements of the division started a policy of sending troops out to attempt to reach any Allied aircraft which were shot down in the vicinity of the 2nd's lines. One of the goals was to rescue the pilot. However, the other was to reach the aircraft and strip it of its .50 machineguns. These were brought back to the divisional Ordnance Company, modified for halftrack use, and mounted on the infantry's halftracks. Other weapons were acquired in a similar fashion, so by September 1944, all halftracks in the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment had .50 AAMG in place of the usual mix of 50% MG, and 50% AAMG.

SOURCE: Hell on Wheels: The 2nd Armored Division, Donald Houston, Presidio Press, San Rafael CA, 1977.

82nd Airborne Division

The 82nd Airborne Division was very unhappy about the performance of the 2.36" rocket launcher, having learned as early as Sicily that while the idea was good, the warhead was too small. After the Market Garden Operation, the 82nd acquired a number of Panzerfausts, and wrote their own manual on how to operate them. The captured weapons were housed at the regimental level, and issued as needed for a particular operation. (For example, during a counterattack December 20 in the Bulge against a German panzer force at Cheneux, Panzerfausts were issued to the attacking platoons of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiments.)

Accordingly, after December 1, 1944, any infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne may include one ton of Panzerfausts in their ammunition stores. One ton will equip 25 stands with two shots, allowing this stand to operate with integral Panzerfausts as well as integral bazookas. This equipment must be issued prior to the start of the scenario.

SOURCE: On to Berlin, James M. Gavin, Viking Press, NY 1978

1st Engineer Battalion

The 1st Engineer Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division operated under a unique TO&E from December of 1942 to May 1943. It had the following:

1st Engineer Battalion
Troop Quality: Experienced
Morale: 8

Battalion Headquarters, with:

    1 command stand
    1 jeep
    2 engineer stands
    1 medium truck with class III bridge
    1 bulldozer
    1 tractor trailer (for bulldozer)
    1 medium baggade truck with field kitchen
    1 medium general supply truck with trailer
    1 compressor truck

3 Line Companies (A,B,C,), each with:

    1 command stand
    1 jeep
    1 gun crew stand
    3 engineer stands
    1 halftrack with AAMG
    2 medium dump trucks
    1 medium engineer supply truck with trailer
    1 37L53 AT gun

Weapons Company (D), with:

    1 command stand
    1 jeep
    1 recon engineer SMG stand
    1 halftrack with AAMG
    18 1 mm mortar stand (ds)
    1 medium truck with trailer

SOURCE: The Battle is the Payoff, Ralph Ingersoll, Harcourt, Brace and Company NY 1943

More S-2 Intelligence

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© Copyright 1993 by Greg Novak.
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