| 761st Tank BattalionOfficers of the 761st Medium Tank Battalion, await action near Nancy, France on 5 November 1944. L-R: Captain Ivan H. Harrison, Captain Irvin McHenry and 2nd Lieutenant James C. Lightfoot. |
The 761st Medium Tank Battalion fought mainly in platoon or company sized elements attached to various infantry regiments or divisions. Piecemeal employment was not unusual for separate tank battalions. It was attached at various times to the 26th, 71st, and 87th Infantry Divisions, the 17th Airborne Division and the 17th Armored Group. The battalion was committed with the 345th Infantry around Bastogne and had successful operations at such places as Bonerue, Recogne, and Tillet. During operations in the Ardennes, when trucks could not reach elements of the unit, the light tanks of Company D towed ammunition trailers from ammunition dumps to supply the medium tanks.
The 761st motto, "COME OUT FIGHTING," exemplified the spirit and the attitude of Blacks in World War II. It was an opportunity to show what Black soldiers could do.
"The Ardennes was one of our roughest fights. The 761st had just punched a hole through the Siegfried Line. It had taken ... days of steady fighting and then Patton's 4th Armored division started pouring through that hole into Germany. As the the 4th entered, the General and the 761st was diverted north along with other Patton tankers. The 761st was given as its objective a town called Tillet. It took one week to drive the Germans out of this town ... I mention Tillet because every group that had been assigned to it had taken a severe beating. Of all the tankers with Patton it was the 761st that was given Tillet. We took the town." Mary Motley, in her book "The Invisible Soldier," quoting Eddie Donald, a member of the 761st.
SOURCE: "BLACK SOLDIERS OF THE ARDENNES," by Major Gerald K. Johnson. Published by Soldiers Magazine, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
RETURN TO 761ST TANK BATTALION
RETURN TO AFRICAN AMERICANS WORLD WAR II
