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The United States Fifth Army was one of the principal formations of the U.S. Army in the Mediterranean during World War II, and was the first American field army ever to be activated outside of the United States. It was officially activated on 5 January 1943 at Oujda, French Morocco and made responsible for the defence of Algeria and Morocco. It was also given the responsibility for planning the American part of the invasion of mainland Italy, and therefore was not involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky), where it was instead assigned the role of training combat troops destined for Sicily. The United States Fifth Army was initially commanded by Lieutenant General Mark Wayne Clark, who would lead the Fifth Army for nearly two years, and was to experience some of the toughest fighting of World War II, where it was engaged on the Italian Front, which was, in many ways, often more reminiscent of the trench warfare of the Western Front in World War I. Writing to Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers (American deputy to Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Mediterranean Theater commander) in late March 1944, Clark explained the difficulties of the fighting in Italy so far, which could be said of the whole campaign. They were, he claimed, “Terrain, weather, carefully prepared defensive positions in the mountains, determined and well-trained enemy troops, grossly inadequate means at our disposal while on the offensive, with approximately equal forces to the defender.”[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Seventh Army” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSeventh_United_States_Army|||”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and France and Germany in the European theater between 1942 and 1945.

Originally the I Armored Corps under command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton, it made landfall at Morocco during Operation Torch as the Western Task Force, the first all-U.S. force to enter the European war. Following successful defeat of the Wehrmacht under General Erwin Rommel in North Africa, the I Armored Corps was redesignated the Seventh Army on 10 July 1943 while at sea en route to the Allied invasion of Sicily as the spearhead of Operation Husky.

After the conquests of Palermo and Messina the Seventh Army prepared for the invasion of France by its Mediterranean coast as the lead element of Operation Dragoon in August 1944. It then drove a retreating German army north and then west toward the Alsace, being absorbed into the newly created Sixth United States Army Group in mid-September. In January 1945 it repelled a fierce but brief enemy counter-offensive during the German Operation Nordwind, then completed its reduction of the region by mid-March.

In a lead role in Operation Undertone launched March 15th, the Seventh Army fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, capturing Nuremberg and then Munich. Elements reached Austria and crossed the Brenner Pass into Italy by May 4th, followed shortly by war’s end on VE-Day, May 8, 1945.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Tank Destroyer Battalion” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTank_destroyer_battalion_(United_States)|||”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

The tank destroyer battalion was a type of unit used by the United States Army during World War II. The unit was organized in one of two different forms—a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a self-propelled battalion equipped with Self-propelled guns. The tank destroyers were formed in response to the German use of massed formations of armored units early in WW2.

The tank destroyer concept envisioned the battalions acting as independent units that would respond at high speed to enemy tank attacks. In this role they would be attached to divisions or corps. In practice, they were usually attached to infantry divisions. Over one hundred battalions were formed, of which more than half saw combat service. The force was disbanded shortly after the end of the war when the concept had been shown to be unsound.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Technician Fifth Grade” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTechnician_fifth_grade|||”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Technician Fifth Grade (abbreviated as T/5 or TEC 5) was a United States Army technician rank during World War II. Those who held this rank were addressed as Corporal. The wearers of the rank were often called “Tech Corporal”. The pay grade number corresponded with the technician’s grade. T/5 is under the pay grade 5 along with Corporal. Technicians were easily distinguished by the “T” imprinted on the standard chevron design for that pay grade.

The Technician ranks were removed from the U.S. Army rank system in 1948, although the concept was brought back with the Specialist ranks in 1955.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]