773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion - Normandy and France

Normandy and France

After a brief retraining period, the battalion landed in Normandy on 8 August, equipped with M10 Wolverine tank destroyers, and was assigned to XV Corps. It entered combat on 17 August, fighting at the southern tip of the Falaise pocket outside Argentan; over four days it accounted for 41 tanks and 80 other vehicles, and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

It moved up to the Seine in late August, establishing a bridgehead over the river on the 27th, before being withdrawn to Paris for rest. It returned to the line on 10 September, attached to the 79th Infantry Division, and fought along the Moselle River until the 29th, when it was directed to help clear the Parroy Forest near the town of Parroy, Lunéville district in the Lorraine region. After intense combat, this was cleared on 9 October. The bodies of three MIA's killed in action during the battle, but were not identified until recently, were buried in Arlington National Cemetery on July 20, 2011. On the 19th the battalion was returned to XV Corps reserve. It was moved north to join XX Corps on the 16th, and attached to the 95th Infantry Division on the 25th.

It was briefly in the line outside Metz, holding defensive positions, but was withdrawn on 7 November (being replaced by the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion), and moved northwards to join the 90th Infantry Division. It crossed the Moselle for the third time north of Metz on the 12th, helping shore up a fragile bridgehead, then pushed south; on the 19th, elements of the battalion linked up with the 5th Infantry Division, sealing off the Metz garrison, then pushed east towards the Saar River.