(12-27-2011, 04:44 PM)Armored Inferno Wrote: I have Order Of Battle US Army World War II by Shelby Stanton. And the US Army Green Book for the Ardennes. But if the 7th Armored was broken into CCA, CCB, and CCR, which battalions/regiments from the division were in each combat command?
The combat command was a flexible organization that did not have dedicated battalions. Instead, tank, armored infantry, and armored field artillery battalions, as well as smaller units of tank destroyers, engineers, and mechanized cavalry were assigned as needed in order to accomplish any given mission.
While flexible, this task-force organization lacked the high cohesion characteristic of traditional regiments that always kept the same group of battalions together. The organization of the combat command contrasted with that of the infantry, who employed reinforced infantry regiments with permanently assigned infantry battalions. This type of infantry organization was called a Regimental combat team.
Use of combat commands was first specified in Armored Force Tentative Table of Organization A, for armored divisions, dated December 22, 1941. The initial organization envisioned two combat command headquarters at the disposal of the armored division. The combat command headquarters themselves were small, fielding only five light tanks and 56 men. Revisions to this structure in 1943 resulted in a headquarters of 3 light tanks and 99 men. The 1943 structure also allowed for three combat command headquarters in an armored division.
Within the armored division, the combat commands were named "A", "B", and later, "R" (for Reserve).Thus, historical accounts of U.S. armored divisions of this period refer to "Combat Command B" or "CCB" and so forth. During the latter stages of World War II in Europe, armored divisions tended to fight with CCA and CCB, while moving worn-out battalions into CCR for rest and refit.
I found a doc, which will kind of show you how diverse this could get from battle to battle. To nail it down, as it were, I would recommend searching for a specific battle (Bulge), and even then, for certain special assignment it could get even more diverse! The above was from Wikipedia, so take it for what it's worth. I have a lot of US unit histories, unfortunately 7th was not one of them!
Hope you find this helpful!?
Mike
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