"US Infantry Anti-Tank Guns?" Topic

Okay basic question and did know for sure were to put it but figured this was as good a place as any. Simple question. Towards the end of the war say after D-Day, what was the common size of the anti-tank gun(towed) used by the infantry, was it the same as the ones mounted on tank destroyers, did they lag behind and were still using smaller guns like the 57mm I believe it was? Did they ever field a 90mm or the 76.2mm I think it was? Thanks! Happy gaming all!

When they were present it was the 57mm in Infantry units. Regiments had a 105mm cannon company. IIRC dedicated AT guns were a Division or higher asset (assigned where needed)

Three 57mm at the Battalion level with 9 more in the regimental AT company. It would not be unusual for a regiment to be supported by a company from the attached Tank Destroyer Battalion. This would be twelve 3" (76mm) towed AT guns towed by M-2 half-tracks or M-10 tank destroyers.

I have heard that by the end of the war US infantry battalions were discarding their 57 mm guns and using the crews as infantry replacements. Not sure whether this means that they considered the 57 mm not worth the trouble or that they were desperate for infantry.

Probably Grumble that they weren't dealing with much German armor by then and having infantry was a bigger need.

Desperate for infantry, enemy armor was easily handled by the hundreds of Shermans and Jacksons running around. So many that Infantry companies sometimes had a platoon attached.

US Armored infantry companies had on paper a platoon (3 guns) of 5.7LATGs. Some sources claim almost all were reorganized as an extra Inf platoon.

An unattached Armored Inf battalion played a prominant role in some Bulge battles and seems not to have dropped its 5.7Ls.

Gave me a bit of trouble when I was trying to do Combat Command Battlegroup listings for US Armored Inf. To 5.7L or not to 5.7L that was the question.

Thomas J. Thomas
Fame & Glory Games

The 57mm ATG was the largest type directly attached to an infantry regiment. The towed 3" were part of tank destroyer units which were a higher level asset. There were also a few times where 90mm AA guns were pressed into service as AT guns, but they were also higher level assets.