Sherman tanks battle of the bulge12/6/2023 force of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division and elements of an armored combat command lay surrounded and besieged. The command’s orders were to reach Bastogne, where a mixed U.S. They left their temporary barracks in Lorraine, France, and set out for Belgium. Combat Command B (CCB) also contained an armored infantry battalion, a self-propelled artillery battalion, and supporting attachments of engineers, cavalry scouts, and tank destroyers. The 8th Tank Battalion formed part of the division’s Combat Command B each armored division divided its battalions into Combat Commands, designated A, B, and R (Reserve). The battalion commander, Major Albin Irzyk, wasted no time getting his unit moving. Third Army, would head north and tear into the enemy’s flank. The 4th Armored Division, as part of General George Patton’s U.S. “The rest of you put the machine guns back on your tanks and gas them and be ready to roll in two hours.” The company’s senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) went on to explain the German army had broken through American lines in the Ardennes, north of their current location. The soldiers of D Company let out a collective groan of disappointment and frustration, but the First Sergeant kept issuing instructions. Now that rest period seemed over just as it started. “One man go to the kitchen and take any food you can get.” Their unit, D Company of the 8th Tank Battalion, part of the 4th Armored Division, was on their first break from the front lines after over 80 days of combat. Private Bruce Fenchel was writing a letter home when his first sergeant burst into the barracks room. “Pack your duffel bags and get ready to roll,” the NCO said ominously.
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