The battalion was activated at Camp Bowie on 6 March 1943,[1] formed around a cadre drawn from the 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion.[2] After early training on self-propelled tank destroyers, it was converted to a towed battalion equipped with towed 3" anti-tank guns in March 1944. It sailed for the United Kingdom later that year, and was deployed into the European theater in February 1945.[1]
On 20 February, the 648th was attached to the 70th Infantry Division,[3] fighting in the Moselle region on the French-German border. During the next month, the 70th Division captured Saarbrücken and closed off the defending forces in the Saar region in a large pocket.[4]
The battalion was relieved from attachment to the 70th Division on 31 March,[3] and withdrew into reserve to re-equip with self-propelled M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. However, this process was delayed, and was not completed before the end of the war.[5] Elements of the reconnaissance company were attached to the 36th Infantry Division from 11 to 14 April,[6] and the entire battalion returned to combat duties under the command of the 86th Infantry Division on 15 April, operating in Bavaria.[7]
Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP) Structure - March 1944
^Yeide, p. 266, merely notes that they "began conversion". Nafziger gives a reequipment date of 24 May, and Zaloga suggests the conversion did not happen at all until after the end of the war. The 86th Infantry Division combat record for mid-April confirms this, noting them as the "648th (T) Battalion", the notation for a towed unit. It is not clear if any early-arriving M18s were active before late May.
