US 6th Armored Division, 1944-1945

The statistics below are from the Combat History of the Super Sixth, not an Army publication, but compiled largely by the G3 and G2 officers of the 6^th Armored Division. The booklet has no publication date but seems to be late 40’s or early 1950’s. It is the property of my father in law, who commanded a heavy weapons platoon in Korea during that war.

US 1944 Armored Division strength ~11,000

All internet images removed from this post, sorry.

According to the medical service:

Battle casualties 5,704

55.5% shell fragments, 26.2 other types, 15.9 gunshot, 1.5 burns, .9 missing in action

Non-battle casualties 10,695

56% disease, 19.4 neuropsychiatric, 15.2 non-battle injuries, 9.4 frostbite and trench foot

Total casualties 16,400, 34.7% battle, 65.3 non-battle

[One might question calling combat fatigue cases non-combat. Non-combat losses would still be higher than combat losses even if that were changed.]

According to the Adjutant General:

Battle casualties 5,307  non-battle casualties 4,865        total 10,172

[The booklet does not explain different totals. AG figures only include battle casualties out of line 24 hours or more and non-battle casualties evacuated from the division. Medical records noting ~ 400 more battle casualties might include troops patched up and sent back into the line that day. Over 5,000 more non-battle casualties might include troops who were kept in divisional hospitals. Those are my guesses.]

Casualties 10,842         casualties returned to service 3,353                   reinforcements 7,454

Total of returns and reinforcements 10,807

Vehicles landed on Utah Beach, June 18, 1944, (same vehicles still in service VE day)

Medium tanks	168	7	4%
Light tanks	83	29	35%
Tank destroyers	36	17	47%
Armored cars	91	36	38%
Halftracks	547	443	82%
M7	54	37	69%
Jeeps	551	318	58%
Trucks	509	421	83%
Observation planes	8	0	0%

[woe to the medium tank crews]

Vehicles destroyed: 449

Direct fire 51%, artillery and mortar 20%, bazooka 14%, mines 9%, other 6%

Vehicles disabled: 588

Artillery and mortar 52%, direct fire 28%, mines 13%, bazooka 5%, other means 2%

(direct fire does not include small arms)