643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion


caption=3" anti-tank gun, possibly of the 643rd Battalion, guarding a crossroads in the Ardennes on 22nd December 1944
dates= 1941-1945
country= United States
allegiance= Army
command_structure=Independent unit
nickname=
equipment=3" anti-tank guns
M18 Hellcat
disbanded=1945

The 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War.

The battalion was activated on December 15th 1941, in line with the reorganisation of the anti-tank force, by redesignating the Provisional Antitank Battalion of the 43rd Infantry Division. It deployed into Normandy on 15 December, equipped with towed 3" anti-tank guns, and was rushed into action in Belgium seven days later during the Battle of the Bulge, attached to the 3rd Armored Division and to the 82nd Airborne Division.

In February, it was attached to the 83rd Infantry Division, with which it would serve for the remainder of the war, and re-equipped with M18 Hellcat tank destroyers in March. It pushed into central Germany with the 83rd, crossing the Elbe river before being withdrawn to take up occupation duties in the Harz Mountains at the end of the war.

References

* [http://homepage.mac.com/yeide/TDBattalionHistories.htm TD Battalion Histories]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/yeide/TDAttachments2.htm TD Battalion Attachments]