42nd Field Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army in Germany: Documentary Film

• published: 19 Nov 2011
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http://thefilmarchive.org/ DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018C6SKU/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag;=doc06-20&linkCode;=as2&camp;=217145&creative;=399373&creativeASIN;=B0018C6SKU The 42nd Field Artillery Regiment is an Field Artillery regiment of the United States Army. first Constituted 5 July 1918 in the National Army (USA). Campaign Participation Credit World War I: Alsace 1918 World War II: Normandy (with arrowhead); Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe Vietnam: Counteroffensive, Phase II; Counteroffensive, Phase III; Tet Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase IV; Counteroffensive, Phase V; Counteroffensive, Phase VI; Tet 69/Counteroffensive; Summer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Counteroffensive, Phase VII; Consolidation I; Consolidation II; Cease-Fire United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) of the United States Army and the land component of United States European Command. It is the largest American formation in Europe. After the Sicily operation, Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch took command of the Seventh Army. The Seventh Army was taken out of the frontline and transferred into the 6th Army Group. Its next action was the invasion of the south of France, code named Operation Dragoon, on 15 August 1944. This was conceived as a help to Eisenhower's forces fighting in Normandy by outflanking German forces in France. However, in the end, this was not crucial, in a way, since a breakout was achieved in Normandy before Dragoon was launched. Dragoon was a contentious operation, because its launching severely weakened the American forces fighting in Italy, thus limiting their offensive capabilities in the final stages of that campaign. However, it was instrumental in the rapid liberation of Southern France and providing new supply ports; the Allied supply lines from invasion ports in Northern France were overextended. The operation saw a fundamental difference of strategy between the British Chiefs of Staff and the American Joint Chiefs of Staff and their respective governments. Originally called Anvil, the name was changed by Winston Churchill, who claimed to having been "dragooned" into accepting it. (Some sources describe this as "Operation Anvil-Dragoon.") It was successful as an amphibious assault. Three divisions of the Seventh Army landed. The assault forces included units of the French Army B under Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. With French and American forces established ashore in significant numbers, the Seventh Army and the French First Army were placed under 6th Army Group headquarters, commanded by Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers. This Army Group took up its position on the right wing of the forces on the Western Front. Seventh Army succeeded in fighting its way through the defended defiles of the Vosges Mountains, and debouch onto the Alsatian Plain in late November, 1944. Seventh Army also became the first American army to reach the German Rhine River. Hard-fought battles were waged in the Alsace and Lorraine during the winter of 1944--45, in which Seventh Army got into substantial difficulties following the German Operation Nordwind. In the spring of 1945, Seventh Army crossed the Rhine River into Germany itself. Parts of the Black Forest and Bavaria were captured by Seventh Army, including Hitler's Alpine residence, the Berghof. The 103rd Infantry Division (United States) even entered into Northern Italy after taking Innsbruck, Austria on 3 May 1945 and linked up with the Fifth United States Army. The Seventh Army did not remain active long after World War II. Along with the Third Army, it commanded the U.S. forces of occupation until 31 March 1946. A consolidation of forces then occurred, which saw the Seventh Army inactivated, with Third Army taking over its responsibilities. Seventh Army was reactivated for ten months from 11 June 1946 to 15 March 1947 at Atlanta, Georgia before being inactivated again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_Field_Artillery_Regiment_%28United_States%29