Formation
The battalion was activated on 15 December 1941, in line with the reorganization of the anti-tank force, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was formed from the 18th Provisional Anti-Tank Battalion, which had been drawn from the 77th, 142nd and 349th Field Artillery Regiments, and the 71st, 72nd and 83rd Field Artillery Battalions. It moved to Camp Bowie, Texas, early in the following year, and in June moved to the Tank Destroyer Center at Camp Hood. Whilst training there, it detached a cadre to form the 820th Tank Destroyer Battalion.
After a series of training posts in Louisiana, Virginia and New Jersey, the battalion was shipped out of New York aboard the USS Fairisle in October 1943, to be stationed in Northern Ireland. In May 1944, as part of the buildup to the Normandy landings, they were moved to a transit camp in Wiltshire, south-west England. The unit was organized as a self-propelled battalion, equipped with M10 GMC tank destroyers.
Read more about this topic: 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion
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