While doing research on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 9th U.S. Armored Divisions, I came across some information on the 9th Armored that was useful to myself and the other members of my wargaming club. The references are all from the book "Phantom Nine, Remagen. 1942 to 1945". Written by Dr. Walter E. Reichelt and published by Presidial Press, 1987. ISBN 0935978-03-8. M4A3s with 76mm guns While the 9th Armored was preparing to leave the U.K. for France, on page 18: "Probably the major achievement of the advance party was to have the 9th Armored fully equipped with the M4A3 version of the Sherman medium tank." The 2nd Tank, 19th Tank and 14th Tank battalions of the 9th Armored Division were all equipped with 76mm guns. Even the division armored Field Artillery forward observer tanks were armed with 76mm guns. The only except to this were the close support Shermans, which had 105mm guns. Shermans and Tank Destroyers firing indirect Every few years, I encounter a non-believer (usually playing the Germans) that does not believe Shermans and the M-10 and M-36 tank destroyers can fire indirect in a secondary role as artillery. On page 29: "The Division Artillery asked VIII Corps for permission to reinforce the fires of the infantry divisions. Then it was decided to attach the tank battalions to the artillery. While there was no present need for tanks, they could be given battle conditioning by having the tankers perform their secondary role. As part of their preparation for overseas shipment after maneuvers, the three tank battalions had practiced laying down indirect fire in support of the field artillery batteries. They had learned how to set up the necessary communications and how to operate a fire direction center." Later on page 29: "Officers from the 16th (Field Artillery) also assisted the 14th Tank Battalion in setting up and registering their guns for indirect fire." There are intermittent references in the book around these pages about which Tank Battalions or companies fired in support with which Field Artillery batteries and that line Tank companies and the battalion "assault guns" (105mm Shermans) were used in support of which division. Back to MWAN # 126 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com