558th Field Artillery Battalion, U.S. Army, World War II
Unit History
The 558th Battalion was made up of five batteries:
Headquarters (Command Staff)
Service (Maintenance, trucks),
and
three firing batteries (A, B & C) of four gun sections each with an ammunition carrier (tank) for each gun section
Each firing battery was made up of about 125 men; Service battery about 50: and Headquarters about 75 including firing control, medics, and pilots for air observation. The total force was near 500 men.
With four guns per battery, the battalion normally fielded a dozen M-12 guns and another dozen M-30 ammunition carriers.
A reformatted version of the 558th FAB WWII History document written by Lt. Gilbert Hahn is now available in PDF format by clicking here for the 558th history . He traces the activities of the unit chronologically through creation, training, battle, and dissolution after WWII. This 22 page PDF file can be opened and then printed for your reading.
Also, click here for Glendon Graff's Battery C Chronology in a PDF version.
Though not directly part of this unit, the 557th was a "sister" unit also using the M12 gun in Europe. There is now a reformatted version of the 557th FAB History document in PDF format. The history contains 56 pages and includes maps of their travels. The PDF file is about 320kb. Click here to view the 557th history.
