SERVICE UNITS
“Good Old Maintenance”
Books and poems will never be written about the transportation crews which tirelessly supplied
the iron horses with vital fuel and ammo, the long hours of reparations performed by highly skilled
maintenance crews, the ingenious ministrations of the first aid men to the wounded, sick and weary, the
undramatic labors of the S-2, S-3, and S-4 Sections, and the processing of essential administrative
details in the face of great discomfort and privations. But the truth is that without the service elements
the most fearless and aggressive army is helpless.
The tank-infantry team cooperated as effectively in tackling problems on paper as it did in
tactical operations against the enemy. During the Battalion’s initial commitment in Normandy,
typewriter keys played a shrill obbligato to the thunderous booming of heavy artillery nearby as the first
casualty reports filtered in from the front. Speed and accuracy were essentials in the preparation of
statistical reports, and one could not be sacrificed for the other. Every name, number, figure, and letter
must he checked and double-checked to obviate the erroneous reporting of a casualty. Message Centers
“burned the midnight oil” feverishly receiving, receipting, registering, and dispatching important
documents and messages. When the Normandy breakthrough came, the Personnel Section joined the
90th Division Rear Echelon for obvious reasons. Cooperation with the Division and higher headquarters
was simplified by this action, but the distance between Battalion Headquarters and the Rear Echelon was
often extended to a point where communication was rendered extremely difficult. Frequent transfers
from one corps to another complicated but did not impede the continuous flow of administrative detail,
for in this respect as in any other, the 712th quickly adapted itself to the situation.
During the entire combat period the 712th drew all supplies, with the exception of rations, from
Army Depots. Rations were procured through 90th Division Quartermaster. Although supply lines in
Normandy were relatively short, difficulty was encountered in securing numerous items due to existing
shortages. Gasoline and ammunition were in constant demand – vital necessities for moving the tanks
and blasting the enemy from his entrenched positions. Transportation crews worked relentlessly under
hostile observation to fuel and refuel the tanks. Tirelessly they labored to keep the guns belching a
continuous hail of fire. As the supply lines stretched across France and Germany, drivers pitted their
courage and initiative against comparatively uncharted routes in locating supply dumps. Weather
conditions were no barrier to these men; the word “impossible” had been discarded from their
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