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Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

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166 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry <strong>Of</strong> field arTillery<br />

Self-propelled 105-mm. howitzer (“Priest”)<br />

from the 58th Armored <strong>Field</strong> Artillery Battalion<br />

division. The M2A1 howitzer was the same as that used in the infantry division<br />

but was mounted on an M4 mount (105-mm. howitzer motor carriage M7), which<br />

the British nicknamed the “Priest” because of the pulpit-like appearance of its<br />

machine-gun compart ment. As in the supporting field artil lery battalion of the<br />

infantry divis ion, the antitank battery was deleted. 18<br />

Around the same time the 1942 tables appeared, the Armored Force became a<br />

component of the <strong>Army</strong> Ground Forces. General McNair decided to postpone any<br />

reorganization (and reduction) of the armored division until after some combat experience<br />

had been gained. New tables were published in September 1943, and all but<br />

two of the armored divisions were reorganized; the 2d and 3d Armored Divisions<br />

remained under the 1942 (heavy) tables with modifications. Although the reorganization<br />

did little to change the basic structure of the armored division artillery (except to<br />

separate its headquarters from the division headquarters), personnel were cut about 25<br />

percent through a severe reduc tion of head quarters and service batteries. Nevertheless,<br />

the division’s firepower remained unchanged. Elimination of the tank and infantry<br />

regiments and the creation of self-contained tank and infan try battalions allowed the<br />

18 TO 17, 1 Mar 1942, and related tables; Lawrence Collins, “Armored <strong>Field</strong> Artillery in the Tennessee<br />

Maneuvers,” <strong>Field</strong> Artillery Journal, September 1941, pp. 698–99; Edward H. Metzger, “Artillery Support<br />

of an Armored Division,” ibid., November 1941, pp. 818–20; F. A. Doniat, “<strong>Field</strong> Artillery Organization<br />

Armored Force,” ibid., March 1941, pp. 147–53.

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