UNIT HISTORY

143D SIGNAL BATTALION

 

1.              Unit Day: 1 October has been designated the Unit Day of the 143d Signal Battalion by the Department of the Army.  Although the unit was originally constituted in January 1941 as the 46th Signal Co and activated in April of the same year as the 143d Armored Signal Co, 1 October was selected as the unit day as it was on this date in 1957 that the unit was reorganized and redesignated as a Battalion.

 

  1. Brief History:

a.              Constituted 13 Jan 41 as 46th Sig Co of the 3d Armd Div; activated 15 Apr 41 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana.

 

b.              Underwent training 1 Sep 41 to 27 Aug 43 at Camp Polk, La; Desert Training Center, Indio Calif; Camp Pickett, VA; and Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Penn.

c.              Arrived in England 16 Sep 43 with the 3d Armd Div in preparation for Normandy invasion.

d.              Landed in France 29 Jun 44.  Personnel of the 143d Armd Div Signal Co were integrated with all the major units of the 3d Armd Div in its march across Europe during World War II.  Consequently, the 143d shared the distinction of being the first Americans to enter Belgium, the first to break through the Siegfried Line, and the first to capture a German city.  The 143d participated in the fight through the Normandy hedgerows and the subsequent crossing of the Seine River and swept through Belgium in eighteen days as an integral part of the Division.  As a member of the Spearhead Division the 143d led nearly every major attack by the First Army in Europe in 221 days of front-line combat, and participated in the longest advance in military history-101 miles in one day.

e.              Deactivated 9 Nov 45 in Aalen Germany.

f.              Reactivated 25 Jun 48 with the 3d Armd Div at Ft Knox, Kentucky.

g.              Arrived in Germany, May 1955.

h.              Reorganized and redesignated as 143d Sig Bn with HHC, Co A and Co B, 1 Oct 57.

i.              Reorganized 15 May 64, activating Co C and redesignating HHC as HQ & HQ Detachment.

  1. Battle Honors:

a.              Normady-6 Jun 44 through 24 Jul 44

b.              Northern France 25 Jul 44 through 14 Sep 44

Transcribed from an undated document provided by Dan Peterson.  I've tried to recreate the original typewriter look of the document.