Date of Award
Spring 5-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Allan R. Millett
Second Advisor
Gunter Bischof
Third Advisor
Robert L. Dupont
Abstract
During World War II, the United States Army employed a new weapon on the battlefield in an attempt to defeat German armor tactics: the tank destroyer. Tank Destroyer Force was created to stem the tide of German armored attacks and form an opening for American tanks to make their own counter-attacks. Since the end of the war, tank destroyer battalions have been regarded as a failed experiment, despite the evidence that they effectively did their jobs. The negative feedback in the immediate post-war period lead to the dissolution of the Tank Destroyer Force. Many of the studies of tank destroyers focus on the doctrine they followed and the faults in it. However, most of the studies do not look at the successful application of tank destroyer doctrine in the field by tank destroyer battalions. This paper will examine operations of the 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion and its application of tank destroyer doctrine during the Battle of Chambois from August 17-21, 1944, for which it won a Presidential Unit Citation.
Recommended Citation
Gross, Logan M., "The 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion at the Falaise Pocket, 1944: The Application of Tank Destroyer Doctrine in the Field" (2017). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2324.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2324
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.