grease gun on the suspension system, and a goldbrick asleep in the Bog seat. Over at the gas dump a
truck would be gassing up while the dispatcher checked the trip ticket. At the stables several attendants
would be grooming the horses while some supermen employees “policed up” behind them. Back at the
barracks a gang lines up for early chow preparatory to going on AMBERG Guard. Chow over the relief
loads up while the truck driver impatiently toots for some last minute Joe. Afternoons meant organized
athletics, swimming trips and bunk fatigue. Swimming at first could be enjoyed in the Lake about 3
Km. east of the Camp, or in the pool in Amberg. But toward the last the water became rather bad in
both places and the boys came up with another answer. Back of the Mess Hall there was a large
concrete water reservoir which through the efforts of the Fire House Crew was converted into a
respectable pool. The Fire House boys also put the big tower clock back into operation, besides keeping
their fire equipment in inspection order.
The last scheduled formation for the day was Retreat which single Companies stood in rotation
with a weekly Battalion Retreat Parade at which awards were presented. It was at one of the first of
these formations that Brig. Gen’l. Joseph M. Tully presented the standard to the Battalion and shortly
thereafter the camp was named “Camp George B. Randolph” in honor of the late Battalion Commander
who had given his life in action on 9 January 1945. In honor of these occasions the Battalion newspaper
“Tank-Tracks” was born and it continued to make its appearance for 12 successive weeks.
A history of the 712th would he incomplete without a page on AMBERG. This little Bavarian
town had not been hard hit by the war and retains much of its old world charm, With narrow, crooked
streets, tiny dark alleys, an ancient moat and wall, battlements and arched gates at every entrance. As
the personnel of the AMBERG GUARD the tankers saw the town from the Duty side as conquerors and
governors; directing traffic, halting and questioning suspicious persons, listening to the varied
complaints of civilians and DPs, and shivering through the long, gray hours on the first shift from 0100
to 0500. As soldiers with considerable free time they saw the town from the pleasure side. The long,
shady promenade around the Stadtmauer or City Wall, the quiet parks with convenient benches, the
friendly frauleins everywhere, and the beaucoup kinder who can smell gum or candy a mile away. A
completely modern Movie Theater had everything but a place for your best girl. Beer was plentiful but
none too good. And toward the end the Red Cross took over the EM Club with their menu of mud and
sinkers.
It is difficult to tell just when the breakup began. All during the later part of combat men had
gone home on rotation furloughs. Then after the point system was instituted they began to go in small
bunches, and when the transportation system got into high gear several large groups took leave. But the
Battalion was still essentially the 712th when on the memorable Sunday noon Col. Kedrovsky broke the
news in the Mess Hall. It appeared as though the men who had worked and fought together would go
back home together. But the highly impersonal point system stepped in and separated friend from
friend. Low pointers went to the 2nd Cav., middle pointers to 90th Recon. and 315th Eng., while the
high pointers – above 65 – stayed. The redeployment took place on 11 Sept. 1945. The 712th was still a
Tank Battalion on paper, but the 712th of FORET DE MONT CASTRE, FALAISE GAP, MAISIERES,
METZ, DILLINGEN, OBERWAMPACH, THE SIEGFRIED LINE, and CZECHOSLOVAKIA was a
thing of the past. The “best tank battalion in the U. S. Army” that the Boche could hurt but never whip,
an outfit that never retreated in the face of the enemy – broken up by the point system.
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