106th Cavalry Regiment

From 1929 to 1940, Troop E of the Regiment was known as The Black Horse Troop and participated in parades and ceremonies as a horse mounted unit.[2][3] Businessman Samuel Insull raised funds to outfit the Troop and their Mounted Band.[4] The Troop wore a dress uniform of blue shell jackets.[5]

The 106th served in the European campaign. The unit comprised approximately fifteen hundred men and was given various typical mechanized cavalry missions later recognized by the French nation with the award of two Croix de Guerre. The unit finished its wartime duty with the 7th Army, XV Corps.

As a forward cavalry force, the 106th provided the first American troops to enter Salzburg, Austria. The 121st Squadron of the 106th received information that the Germans were holding the King of the Belgians and his family prisoner in a chateau near Strobl, Austria. Captain Benning, the commander of B Troop of the 121st Squadron, led some cavalrymen of his unit, including those who spoke German, on a rescue party. The group later served as Honor Guards for the King of the Belgians and his consort. The 106th secured a truce from the defending German Army on 7 May, the day before the German High Command surrendered to the Allies on 8 May 1945.[1]

The 106th Cavalry Group's purpose was to act as the "eyes and ears" of a field army or army group, scouting ahead of slower and heavier-equipped armored and infantry formations to locate the enemy and shield friendly units from ground detection. Whenever enemy forces were found, the cavalry was designed to determine opposing size and positions using reconnaissance-by-fire tactics, and report this information to higher command. The group was too lightly armed to engage in sustained combat, and regular infantry or armor was utilized if the opposition proved beyond cavalry-group capabilities. Another routine aspect of its reconnaissance duties involved employment of the cavalry group to fill measurable gaps separating frontline Allied units. The cavalry group was also assigned missions requiring rapid movement to bypass enemy forces, if opportune weaknesses or uncovered terrain was discovered by mechanized reconnaissance methods.[8]

The Bantam Jeep came in many configurations. The 106th Bantam vehicles were equipped with .30 caliber machine guns or mortars.

The M8 Greyhound was equipped with a 37 mm gun, three machine guns, and two powerful radios.

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank firing its 37 mm gun.

The 106th Cavalry was lightly equipped to allow it to move quickly and deploy rapidly. They fought mounted in mobile Bantam Jeeps and M8 armored cars. Each squadron's complement of troops and vehicles consisted of a headquarters troop that included communication, administrative, mess, maintenance, transportation, and supply support, a medical detachment, a cavalry assault gun troop, and three reconnaissance troops, lettered A, B, and C. A squadron of about 760 men was about the equivalent of a typical Army battalion in numbers, though Cavalry units were typically smaller.[9]

The three reconnaissance troops were each equipped with Bantam jeeps with a bracket-mounted .30 caliber machine gun, manned by a soldier sitting in the front passenger seat. A second Bantam jeep was mounted with a 60mm mortar manned by two soldiers. Sometimes the Bantam was mounted with a .50 caliber machine gun.[9] Each troop was usually equipped with a mixture of the three vehicles. To maximize speed and maneuverability on the battlefield, the Bantams were not given extra armor protection.[1] The only modifications the 106th made was to add a wire cutter. They mounted a steel pole on the front bumper that extended above the driver's head because the Germans would sometimes stretch piano wire over roads with the intention of injuring or decapitating the driver.[10]^: 80

The third vehicle used was the six-wheeled, light-weight M8 Greyhound armored car, mounted with a 37 mm gun in a movable turret that could swing a full 360 degrees. It also featured a .30 caliber coaxial machine gun that could move independently of the turret. The M8 was equipped with powerful FM radios to enable battlefield communications.

E Troop, the Squadron's mobile artillery, was the Cavalry Assault Gun Troop and consisted of three assault gun platoons. Each platoon was equipped with assault guns, short-barreled 75 millimetres (3.0 in) howitzers in an open turret on an M8 chassis. They also utilized two halftracks to carry their headquarters unit and an ammunition section. Two gun sections used an M8 Greyhound.[9]

The new M24 Chaffee light tank that was issued to the 106th Cavalry in February 1945. Its 75 mm gun was vastly superior to the Stuart tank.

F Troop consisted of five light tank companies. Early in the war, each company had three light tank platoons, consisting of five 37mm M5A1 Stuart light tanks. While fast and maneuverable, the Stuart's armor plating and its cannon were soon found to be no match against the German tanks. In February 1945, they were replaced with the more heavily armed 75 mm M24 Chaffee light tank.[9]

The M5 Stuart light tank was capable of speeds up to 36 mph (58 km/h) on the road, while the M24 Chaffee could travel at speeds up to 37 mph (60 km/h) on paved surfaces. The M8 armored car was capable of speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h), while the Bantams could exceed 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). The officers usually rode with their enlisted men in the Bantams, while the squadron's support troops used a variety of vehicles including the Bantams, military trucks, and armored halftracks. At times, the men would dismount from their light vehicles and take on infantry roles, digging in to create a stronger defensive line.

Patrols were undertaken both on foot or mounted as the circumstances dictated. In this capacity, the cavalrymen would go into combat with M1 rifles and carbines, hand grenades, Thompson machine guns, and newly developed bazookas. When facing heavily fortified enemy positions or, later in the war, against the heaviest German tanks, the 106th was accompanied with supporting units, usually in the form of a small number of tank destroyers. However, the mission of reconnaissance units was not to fully engage the enemy when encountered, but to summon the slower moving and better equipped infantry and armored units to take on their counterparts.[1]

The headquarters, maintenance, mess, supply and medical units were equipped with a variety of military trucks, M8 Armored cars, halftracks, and Bantam jeeps.

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank passes through the wrecked streets of Coutances.

One of three tanks from the 121st Squadron of the 106th Cavalry that were put out of action by German anti-tank guns on August 6th, 1944 in Ahuille, France. One American was killed and several wounded in this action.

The 106th Cavalry Group arrived in France under the command of Colonel Vennard Wilson, a Regular Army officer. They were first committed to combat on 2 July 1944 with the VIII Corps. Its first mission was to assist in the reduction of German forces previously isolated during the VIII Corps advance in the Normandy Peninsula. The next mission was an offensive screening mission, which led from Normandy south through St. James, Isigny, La Haye-du-Puits, Manche, Basse-Normandie, Coutance, and Avranches, to Rennes.[13] With the quick advance, gaps appeared between VIII and XV Corps, and General George S. Patton plugged the gap between Louvigne and Rennes with the 106th Cavalry Group.[14]^: 369

When VIII Corps turned west to mop up and secure the Brittany Peninsula, the 106th Regiment was reassigned once again to XV Corps. As the XV Corps raced east towards Le Mans, the 106th provided reconnaissance and a screening force. Members of the 106th were among the first to enter Le Mans on 8 August. The German front in the Battle of Normandy had collapsed, and the XV Corps turned north to help close the Falaise Pocket and the 106th provided flank screening security.

The XV Corps then turned north towards the Seine and Paris. With the pocket closed, the 106th reconnoitered east through Alençon, Sarthe, Nogent, and Mantes-Gassicourt. On 15 August they covered the 50-mile (80 km) to Dreux, just west of Paris, in a single day.[14]^: 369 They remained there covering the XV Corps' flank until 27 August. This mission helped protect XV Corps against German remnants attempting to escape the Falaise Pocket.[13] The advance east from Auxerre to Gondrecourt was very fast against diminishing German resistance. Their screening mission took them along a 90-mile (140 km) front from the left to the right flank of the Third Army.[1][13]

The group was then transferred under the command of and assigned to protect the right flank of XII Corps for twelve days carrying out reconnaissance as that corps advanced east. In mid-September it was reassigned to XV Corps at Joinville. This marked a two-month and 400-mile (640 km) trek across France as they moved in to protect the right flank of U.S. Third Army during their rapid advance from Joinville au Marne to Charmes au Moselle. During this advance, the 106th along with the 2nd French Armored Division assisted in eradicating the effective combat power of the German 16th Infantry Division.[1][15]

The 106th's commanding officer, Colonel Vennard Wilson, later described the unit's action:

We used five of our six troops to contain those Germans, slipped around to their north, delivered our infantry on their objective at five in the afternoon after a fifty-mile advance. I wish to pay special tribute to B Troop 106th Squadron and their gallant troop commander, Captain Park, in this operation. This troop was one hundred miles in rear of us when the advance was ordered, came up during the night, arrived at the starting point after the other troops had departed, kept moving as rear troop during the day, and were sent into action late in the afternoon after I had committed the five other troops. Captain Park used one of his platoons on side blocking and reconnaissance missions, and when I arrived at Charmes we had only Captain Park, two platoons, and a platoon of tanks. It was enough to do the job.[13]

A combat patrol of 1st Platoon, B Troop, 106th Squadron in the woods near the town of Eguelshardt. 17 December, 1944.

In late September, the U.S. Army transferred the XV Corps from General Patton's Third Army, 12th Army Group to Seventh Army, 6th Army Group. Reassigned with the XV Corps, the 106th—without moving positions—switched from guarding the Third Army's right flank to guarding the Seventh Army's left flank and maintaining contact between the Third and Seventh Armies.[1]

The 106th was then tasked with reconnaissance in front of the XV Corps. They led the XV Corps from the Moselle River to Lunéville, and supported by the 813th Tank Destroyer Battalion,[16] attacked northeast into the Forêt de Parroy, northeast of Lunéville, France. For two months they fought as infantrymen, dismounted alongside the 79th and 44th Infantry Divisions, enduring winter weather and minefields. Major General Wade H. Haislip characterized Forêt de Parroy as being "in reality a jungle."[14]^: 392

During what was said to be the worst winter in 30 years, the 1500 men of the 106th held up to 125-mile (201 km) of the front. Staying in contact with the XII Corps right flank to its north was difficult because its lines were so thinly spread. Maintaining relatively static lines from 20 September through 5 November, they took the opportunity to rotate the two squadrons in and out of the line as trench foot took its toll on the soldiers. On several occasions the 106th was ordered to counter German probing attacks. The 121st Cavalry Squadron was later awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm for its combat participation during this extended period.[1][15]

When the XV Corps' infantry attacked the German defensive line, the 106th, once again supported by the 813th Tank Destroyer Battalion,[16] preceded the 2nd French Armored Division in maneuvering through the Vosges Mountains to within 1-mile (1.6 km) of the Rhine River. The 106th screened the north advance, leading the attack on Sarrebourg and then advancing 16-mile (26 km) to the east to seize the Saverne Gap. Once through the Gap, the 106th guarded the northwest flank near Sarrebourg as the rest of the Corps advanced east another 33 miles (53 km) to capture Strasbourg.[15]

On the American's Thanksgiving Day, 23 November 1944, one of the most élite units in the entire German army, the well-rested and refitted Panzer-Lehr-Division counterattacked, trying to recapture the Saverne Gap and cut off the XV Corps from its supply lines. The 106th was forced back (militarily credited with the usual propaganda of "completing a brilliant delaying action") but the retreat gave XV Corps Commander Major General Wade H. Haislip enough time to reinforce and the counter German advance.[15]

Two weeks later, on 16 December 1944, the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge). The 106th was placed in a dismounted (infantry) patrol mode north of Sarrebourg to scout German forces.[15]

On 23 December the Group relieved the 6th Cavalry Group of Third Army in its zone to the north. The 106th Squadron relieved the 28th Squadron near St. Avold and the 121st Squadron relieved the 6th Squadron near Freyming-Merlebach. The 106th Cavalry Group maintained position on the shoulder of the bulge, helping maintain contact with Third Army and check the German attack.[15]

As the Ardennes Offensive faltered, the Germans launched Operation Nordwind in the Alsace just before midnight on New Year's Eve to try to relieve pressure on its troops in the Ardennes. They once again sought to recapture the Saverne Gap and join up with the German 19th Army, enveloping seven American divisions along the Rhine River. The Germans attacked the right center of the Regiment and the group temporarily withdrew. The bitterly cold winter weather made fighting more difficult, but the 106th finally forced the Germans to retreat.[15]

When Nordwind was stopped on 28 January 1945, the Seventh Army and the French First Army resumed the offensive the following day. The 106th continued to patrol until 11 February 1945, when it was relieved by the 101st Cavalry Group. The regiment moved outside of Merlebach for rest, refitting, and equipment maintenance. They were outfitted with the new M-24 'Chaffee' light tank with its improved 75 mm gun mount, a huge improvement over the M5A1's 37 mm gun.[15] Upon receiving the tanks in mid-February 1945, soldiers said, "The light tank companies of both squadrons turned in their 37 mm gun-toting M5A1's and drew the new M24's Armed with a 75 mm cannon and twice the size of the precursors, these tanks seemed beautiful to us. Our tankers itched to try them out. On 15 March, they got their chance. We were back in the line."[17]^: 14

American soldiers cross the West Wall or Siegfried Line.

After just over a month's break, the 106th Cavalry Group returned to the front lines. From 15 to 26 March it led XV Corps' offensive through the Siegfried Line near Saarbrücken. Leading the advance across the Rhine were A and B Troops of the 121st Squadron, the first to attack a town south of the West Wall.[18] Finally reaching the Rhine River, on 27 March 1945 the 106th crossed the river and cleared and secured Salzbach. The Group then covered the advance of XV Corps to Aschaffenburg am Main. The 106th secured the Corps' left flank and maintained contact with the 44th and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Cavalry Division.[15]

From 1 to 5 April, the regiment assisted the 2nd Cavalry Group, advancing north to Bad Orb, Germany and secured an Allied Prisoner of War camp. The Regiment's 121st Squadron was then charged with reconnoitering the main road to Neustadt.

In the next eight days, the group moved northeast into Germany, rapidly cleared the towns of Alsberg, Siedensroth, Steinau, Schlüchtern and Flieden. From 5 to 13 April, the regiment cleared the enemy eastward to the Main River, a tributary of the Rhine River, covering the advance of the 45th Infantry Division into Lauda-Königshofen and then on 20 April the capture of Nuremberg.[15]

On 21 April A Troop of the 106th Squadron was charged with leading the 2nd Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division about 160-mile (260 km) south to the Danube River, and to secure and hold a crossing near Neuberg.

During the next two days, the 106th Cavalry Group fought its final major engagement. From Neuberg, the unit attacked southward towards Augsburg. Leading the 45th Infantry Division rapidly east 60 kilometres (37 mi) down the autobahn towards Munich as it tried to locate the rapidly retreating Germans, Troop C along with two light tanks from Company F, drew a concentrated attack from German forces only 5.6-mile (9.0 km) from their objective. The German self-propelled guns, tanks, and small arms fire left four dead and destroyed four armored M8 vehicles and four Bantams.

On 29 April, during the assault towards Munich, the 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp. The 45th Infantry Division for which the 106th had reconnoitered for several months, battled diehard Nazi troops and took Munich on 30 April 1945.[19]^: 441 After helping to capture Munich, the 106th lead the XV Corps into Austria. On 2 May, they received orders to capture Salzburg. En route, they captured the remnants of the Hungarian 9th Infantry Brigade, about 8,800 men, who were retreating eastward, fighting the advancing Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Ukrainian Front. Salzburg surrendered on 4 May, and the local German commander offered a truce.[15][19]^: 441

The group's final mission involved the release of the King of the Belgians. Held in internal exile by the Germans since his small nation had withstood a German attack for three weeks in May 1940, German-speaking members of a small recon party from B Troop, 121st Squadron of the 106th learned while searching the towns of St. Wolfgang and Strobl that King Leopold was under guard in a villa in Strobl. Travelling in a six-wheeled Mercedes previously owned by Germany's Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop,[20] the troopers located the villa. The SS Guards were still present, however when the Americans Arrived the German Guards Immediately surrendered without a fight and the troopers disarmed them without any resistance, freeing King Leopold.[15] The King and his family later awarded the officers with medals of the Order of Leopold II and addressed them at an awards ceremony.

Blazon

Shield Per fess dovetailed Or and Gules, in base four fleurs-de-lis, three and one, of the first.[28]

Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Illinois Army National Guard: On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules upon a grassy field the blockhouse of old Fort Dearborn, Proper.[28]

Motto UTCUMQUE UBIQUE (Anywhere At Any Time).[28]

Symbolism

Shield The shield is divided per fess dovetailed Or and Gules (yellow and red), denoting that the organization has served as Artillery as well as Cavalry. Red and yellow, being the Spanish colors, also indicate Spanish–American War service within the continental limits of the United States. The fleurs-de-lis on the red portion symbolize the combat operations of the organization in Europe during World War I and World War II.[28]

Crest The crest is that of the Illinois Army National Guard.[28]

Background

The coat of arms was originally approved for the 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois and Michigan National Guard on 17 December 1930. The description wording was modified on 30 December 1932 to show the unit's correct period of service on the Mexican Border. The unit was redesignated as the 106th Heavy Tank Battalion, Illinois and Michigan National Guard on 3 October 1949. The shield was amended to delete the crest for organizations of the Michigan National Guard on 6 October 1949. Four years later, on 19 October 1953 the unit was redesignated as the 106th Tank Battalion, Illinois National Guard. The insignia was redesignated for the 106th Armor Regiment, Illinois National Guard on 13 December 1960. It was redesignated once again as the 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard on 7 January 1965. It was amended to change the symbolism of the shield of the coat of arms on 7 October 1969.[28]

The unit device is a gold-colored metal and enamel device 1 1/32 inches (2.62 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Per fess dovetailed Or and Gules, in base four fleurs-de-lis, three and one, of the first.[28]

The shield is divided per fess dovetailed Or and Gules (yellow and red), denoting that the organization has served as Artillery as well as Cavalry. Red and yellow, being the Spanish colors, also indicate Spanish–American War service within the continental limits of the United States. The fleurs-de-lis on the red portion symbolize the combat operations of the organization in Europe during World War I and World War II.[28]