The immediate effect was to create an anti-tank battalion in infantry divisions, but this organic anti-tank capacity was not deemed sufficient. In April 1941, a conference focused on the future of antitank operations. The American armed forces, aware of the possibility of war against Germany, began to reorganize to meet this threat. Even to armies which had previously experimented with large-scale mechanized warfare, the effects were remarkable the collapse of Poland in 1939, followed by the defeat of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940, gave rise to an impression that massed tank forces were effectively invincible when used against unprepared defenders.Įxperience showed that neither infantry, anti-tank guns, or tanks, when used statically could withstand the deep envelopment maneuvers of armored "spearheads". In the opening offensives of the Second World War, the German doctrine of blitzkrieg-armored forces concentrated and used in a fast-moving offensive-shocked military observers. 1 Development of the tank destroyer doctrineĭevelopment of the tank destroyer doctrine.Over a hundred battalions were formed, of which more than half saw combat service, but the force was disbanded shortly after the end of the war when more effective and powerful tanks were developed. In practice they were usually parceled out in smaller units and used to support infantry units. The tank destroyers were formed as a counter force to massed formations of enemy armored units, acting as independent battalions attached to divisions or corps. Army doctrine held that tanks did not fight other tanks but supported infantry.
The unit was organized in one of two different forms-a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a self-propelled battalion equipped with armored tank destroyers. The tank destroyer battalion was a type of unit used by the United States Army during World War II. It was widely used at Camp Hood where Tank Destroyer forces were trained, and on equipment, uniforms and official U.S. For more details on this topic, see Tank destroyer.Įmblem of the U.S.
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