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2nd Armored Division
Hell on Wheels
Looking for more information from military/civilian personnel assigned to or associated with the U.S. Army in Germany from 1945 to 1989. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please contact me.













Combat Command "A"
 

CC "A" gate, Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, early 1950s (Webmaster's collection)
 

3rd Armd FA Bn motor pool, Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen (Webmaster's collection)
 
1952
(Source: SEVENTH ARMY STATION LIST 31 December 1952)
ORGANIZATION (Dec 1952):
  UNIT   STATION  
  Hq/Hq Co, Cbt Cmd "A"   Coleman Bks, Sandhofen  
  3rd Armd FA Bn   Coleman Bks, Sandhofen  
  12th Armd Inf Bn   Foch Ksn, Worms  
  41st Armd Inf Bn   Coleman Bks, Sandhofen  
  57th Med Tank Bn   Coleman Bks, Sandhofen  
  Co "A" 124th Armd Ord Maint Bn   Coleman Bks, Sandhofen  
Combat Command "B"
 

Main gate, Mangin Kaserne, Mainz-Gonsenheim, 1952 (Webmaster's collection)
 

A winter scene at Mangin Kaserne, 1955 (Madison Arnold)
 

Arnold Madison next to an M-47 medium tank
 

Pass in Review ceremony at Mangin Kaserne (Lee Barracks) (Madison Arnold)
 
1952
(Source: SEVENTH ARMY STATION LIST 31 December 1952)
ORGANIZATION (Dec 1952):
  UNIT   STATION  
  Hq/Hq Co, Cbt Cmd "B"   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  14th Armd FA Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  42nd Armd Inf Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  66th Med Tank Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  67th Med Tank Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  Co "B" 17th Armd Engr Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
  Co "B" 124th Armd Ord Maint Bn   Mangin Ksn, Gonsenheim  
 
1955
(Source: Email from Madison Arnold)
I served in Hq. Co. Combat Command B, 2nd Armored in Mainz-Gonsenheim, 1955-1956, as a radio operator (SCR-506).

My first CO was Lt. James Vance who was replaced by Lt. Albert Stubblebine lll (yes, that General!). It was his first company command.

Our 1st Sgt. was Sgt. Quarles and there was a Major Rasmussen whom I served as a translator.

I was studying German at the time, so I had a jeep and went to the small villages and met with the Burgermeisters to assess the damage our M47 tanks caused as we went through the towns on maneuvers.

I don’t recall which Tank and Armd Inf Battalions were in CCB.
 

1. Pass in review

2. Mangin Kaserne

3.  Mangin Kaserne



4. Three-quarter ton truck with radio shelter

5. APC

6. SCR-506


Combat Command "R"
 
1951
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, Sept 2, 1951)
The Reserve Command of 2nd Armd Div was redesignated as Combat Command "R" on September 1, 1951.

CO of Combat Cmd "R" is Col Robert G. Lowe.
 
1952
(Source: SEVENTH ARMY STATION LIST 31 December 1952)
ORGANIZATION (Dec 1952):
  UNIT   STATION  
  Hq/Hq Co, Cbt Cmd "R"   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  Co "B" 17th Armd Engr Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  29th Hvy Tank Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  43rd Armd Inf Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  82nd Armd Recon Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  Co "C" 124th Armd Ord Maint Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
29th Heavy Tank Battalion
 

Staff Sergeant Charles Echols in front of an M-47 of 29th Tank Bn
 

SSgt Echols in front of his unit's barracks at Baumholder
 
29th Tank Bn Crest
 
1952
(Source: Email from Charles Echols, III - son of SSgt Charles Echols, former member of 29th Tank Bn)
My dad was assigned to the 29th Tank Bn from the 3ACR the year after the 2AD went overseas. He left the States in November 1952, a month before my first birthday.

Most of what I known came from letters he wrote my grandmother.

The pictures are shots in the motor pool, on tank gunnery at Belsen and some of his tank and a few others. A number of individuals at the ball field.

By the way 30 years after my dad left Baumholder I was there on a field excerise. The barracks and motor pool looked the same from the pictures I have.

1. Barracks at Baumholder?
2. Remote-control airplane

3.  Cantonment area



4. Sergeant

5. Echols' first vehicle
6. Echols' "other" vehicle



7. Some of the guys

8. M-47

9. SSgt Echols


 

29th Tank Bn track park at Baumholder ("Division in Europe" - The Big Picture)
 

29th Tank Bn track park at Baumholder ("Division in Europe" - The Big Picture)
 
1953
(Source: Email from Darwin Beaufore)
I served with H/S Company, 29th Tank Bn. from July 1953 until Jan. 1955 and at that time we had M47 tanks armed with 90mm gun.

To my knowledge the M47 was always armed with the 90mm gun.
 
1954
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, Aug 11, 1954)
Annual Tank Gunnery

The 1954 Annual Tank Gunnery will be held at held at the Hohne-Belsen ranges Aug 15 - Sept 5.

The 29th Tank Bn (CC "R") will be the host unit this year and will be supported by Co B, 124th Armd Ord Bn, Co C, 48th Armd Med Bn, and a platoon of the 502nd MP Company.

In addition to firing both the 90-mm tank gun and the .30-cal machine gun at moving and stationary targets, the tank crews will go through two "battle runs." In these exercises they will fire both weapons at surprise targets along the course. Live ammunition will be used.

Battalions participating in the annual gunnery will be the remaining tank battalions of the 2nd Armd Div (57th, 66th and 67th Tk Bns) as well as several other 7th Army tank units.
 
57th Tank Battalion
 
57th Tank Bn Crest
 
66th Tank Battalion
 
66th Tank Bn Crest
 
67th Tank Battalion
 

Tent city - probably at one of the USAREUR training areas, 1952 (Webmaster's collection)
 

A captain in "B" Co, 67th MTB, 1952 (Webmaster's collection)
 

Members of the 67th MTB perform maintenance on the main engine of
an M-47 medium tank at Mangin Kaserne, 1952 (Webmaster's collection)
 
67th Tank Bn Crest
 
1953
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, July 7, 1953)
The 67th Tank Bn has constructed a military stakes course at the Oberolmer Wald training area near Finthen.

The course is especially designed for tankers. It is two miles long and takes 60 minutes to complete.

Bn CO is Lt Col Thornton B. McGlamery.
 
1955
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, June 17, 1955)
Battalion maintenance, under the supervision of Capt Junior Covert, is divided into two sections, one for "wheel vehicles" and one for "track vehicles." Bn maintenance performs second echelon maintenance.

The battalion's wheels group has the primary task of administering 6,000-mile, semi-annual inspections. (The companies' task is to provide 1,000-mile, bi-monthly checks.)

Tank crews in each company are responsible for daily and monthly checks and perform their own first echelon repairs. The companies' track sections' work begins when the first echelon repair by individual crews proves inadequate and they handle the 250-mile, or monthly inspections (whichever comes first). The battalion's track section runs the 750-mile inspections.

Emergency repairs on both wheel and track vehicles are shared by the battalion and the companies, with mobility and improvisation the key factors.
 
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, Dec 16, 1955 & Jan 13, 1956)
The 67th Tank Bn (Combat Comd "B") at Mangin Kaserne, Mainz began replacing its M47 tanks with the new M48's in mid-December.

This replacement of the unit's main armament was known as "Operation Changeover." Eleven of the new tanks that were originally received by Company "B", 124th Armd Ord Bn, had already been assigned to the battalion by the time of the first S&S article. The remaining tanks were to be issued at a rate of six per day.

In Mid-January (1956) the battalion moved to the Baumholder training area for three weeks of firing and concentrated tactical training on the new tanks. (The firing at Baumholder was in preparation for the annual gunnery tests slated for later in the year at the Bergen-Belsen ranges.)

This marked the first time that any unit in the 2nd Armd Div had put its new M48 medium tanks through its paces. (This statement would indicate that the 67th was one of - if not the - first units in 2nd Armd Div to receive the M48s.)
Division Artillery
 

Organization of the 2nd Armored Division Artillery, 1952 (Walter Elkins)
 

A 155-mm towed howitzer of "A" Battery, 16th AFA Bn, 1952
 

Two of DivArty's units were stationed at McCully Barracks in Wackernheim
 
1952
(Source: SEVENTH ARMY STATION LIST 31 December 1952)
ORGANIZATION (Dec 1952):
  UNIT   STATION  
  Hq/Hq Btry, 2nd Armd Div Arty 1)   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  16th Armd FA Bn   Smith Bks, Baumholder  
  78th Armd FA Bn   McCulley Bks, Wackernheim  
  94th AAA AW Bn (SP)   McCulley Bks, Wackernheim  
 
1) Two other AFA battalions, organic to the 2nd Armd Div (3rd Armd FA Bn, Sandhofen (Mannheim) & 14th Armd FA Bn, Gonsenheim (Mainz)), are attached to and listed under CC "A" and CC "B" respectively.
 
If you have information, personal recollections and/or photos of the 2nd Armored Division Artillery in Germany 1951-1957, I would be very interested in hearing from you (webmaster).

MISCELLANEOUS

HHB, 2nd Armored Division Artillery, Baumholder
3rd AFA Bn, Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen
14th AFA Bn, Mangin Kaserne, Mainz
16th AFA Bn, Baumholder
78th AFA Bn, Wackernheim
94th AAA AW Bn, Wackernheim
3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 

An M-37 (105mm SP Howitzer Motor Carriage) of 3rd AFA Bn rumbles through a German
village during a field exercise, early 1950s (Webmaster's collection)
 
3rd Armored FA Battalion crest
 
 
 
94th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons)(Self-Propelled)
 
94th AAA AW SP Battalion crest

94th AAA Bn article, 1952
 
1952
(Source: Pictorial History, published by the 2nd Armd Div Public Information Office, on occasion of the division's 12th Anniversary)

Members of the 94th AAA near Bldg #6216, McCully Barracks (Gee-Gee Koble)
 

94th AAA track park and maintenance shops, Wackernheim (Gee-Gee Koble)
 
1953
(Source: Gee-Gee Koble, daughter of Gus Willie Geffert, 94th AAA AW SP Bn, 1953-1955)
My father was in “A” Btry, 94th AAA AW SP Bn. The battalion was part of the "Hell on Wheels" division (2nd Armored Division).

He was in the Army from June 16, 1953 until May 5, 1955. His name was Gus Willie Geffert.

I have a photo album of pictures – I would be willing to share with you and anyone interested. Unfortunately the pictures are not labeled with names.
 

1. M-19
2. M-16

3. M-19 crew



4. Rail transportation

5. Unidentified range

6. Live fire



7. 94th AAA formation
8. B Btry billets

9. Bldg #6206



10. Member of the 94th

11. Awards



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