743rd Tank Battalion
| 743rd Tank Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1942–45 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch |
 United States Army
|
| Type | Tank/armor |
| Size | Battalion |
| Motto(s) | "We Keep the Faith" |
| Equipment |
M4 Sherman M5 Stuart |
| Campaign credit |
|
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
The 743rd Tank Battalion was an independent tank battalion that participated in the European Theater of Operations with the United States Army in World War II. It was one of five tank battalions (all independent) which landed in Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944). The battalion participated in combat operations throughout northern Europe until V-E Day. It was inactivated on 27 November 1945.
The 743rd Tank Battalion was activated at Fort Lewis, Washington on 16 May 1942 as the 743rd Tank Battalion (Light), drawing its initial cadre from personnel transferred from the 757th Tank Battalion. It was redesignated as the 743rd Tank Battalion (Medium) in October 1942. The battalion drew their medium tanks and trained the next year at Camp Young, California and Camp Laguna, Arizona.
The 743rd embarked in New York on 17 November 1943 aboard the Aquitania and arrived at Monrock, Scotland on 25 November 1943. Soon after its arrival in Great Britain, it was again reorganized in a new table of organization, with Companies A, B, and C organized as medium tank companies with M4 Shermans. When Company D was formed as the light tank company with cadre from the medium tank companies and the 10th Tank Company, the unit took on the combat organization in which it would fight on the Continent and was redesignated as the 743rd Tank Battalion on 2 December 1943.
The battalion was selected to be one of the three tank assault battalions that would land with the first wave on D-Day. Companies B and C were selected to receive the amphibious dual drive (DD) tanks and began their special training in December 1943.
The battalion loaded into their assault craft on 2–3 June 1944 for the invasion landings. In the early hours of D-Day, 6 June, the three medium tank companies, the headquarters tank section, and the assault gun platoon launched in their LCTs. However, given the rough seas, the battalion commander decided not to launch the DD tanks into the water and all were brought directly ashore aboard the LCTs.
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