Note from JeannieN. : I talked to my uncle for a minute and he thinks Dad was in Company C (Engineers) of the 9th armored Division.
Doing the research on the actions of the 9th AD during the BOB, trying to determine which battalions, companies, etc were which Combat Command and where they fought provides a good illustration of why just looking at the usual Order of Battle lists will not show which higher command a unit was actualy under during the battle. Most Order of Battles i have seen place the 9th AD in VIII Corps under Patton`s Third Army.
During most of their part in the battle the 9th AD fought under command of Gen Middleton`s VIII Corps under Hodge`s First Amy. The 9th was assigned to the Third Army on 20 Dec which seems to be for administrative purposes only to begin the reconstruction & refitting of the division, CCR was still fighting in Bastogne with the 101st AB, remnants of CCB were scattered on the Northern shoulder hooked up with units fighting there and CCA was on the Southern Shoulder fighting with the 4th Infantry Div & the 4th Armored Div.
The 9th Armored Div. didnt have an official nickname, but the germans called them the "Phantom Division" because the seemed to be everywhere on the battlefield. In actuality, they were! Widely spaced along the front, the 9th's three combat commands were forced to fight separately.
At begining of the battle, CCB was assigned to V Corps as reserve for the 2nd ID attack toward the Roer dams. On 16 Dec they were assigned to Middleton`s VIII Corps. CC B was at Faymonville, Belgium, 20 miles north of St. Vith, CCB then was attached to the 106th ID fighting from the Shnee Eifel back to St Vith, units of CCB were intermingled with the 7th Armored at St Vith. On 23 Dec, the 14th Tank Bat. fought with the 82nd AB.
CC A, commanded by Brig. Gen. (then Col.) Thomas L. Harrold, Troy, N.Y., defended a front line sector near Beaufort, Luxembourg for time under command of 19th Armord Div. and in support of the 4th ID. Later CCA joined the 4th Armored Div in the drive to relieve Bastogne.
The third combat command, CC R, commanded by Col. Joseph Gilbreth, Columbus, Ga., perhaps had the roughest assignment of any outfit in the Ardennes. It was CC R that stood and slugged it out against the overwhelming might of the German panzers smashing toward Bastogne. Had it not been for CC R, Nazis would have taken the town before the 101st Airborne Div. arrived there to make its historic stand.
Small CC R task forces of tanks from the 2nd Tank Bn. and doughs of the 52nd Armd. Inf. Bn. took up positions along the roads around Longvilly leading to Bastogne from the east. Their mission was to block the roads at all costs. They clung to their positions even when surrounded. Masses of German tanks rolled around them; enemy infantry infiltrated in the darkness.
There were no front lines in this melee. Artillerymen, tankers and engineers fought as doughs. The 2nd Tank Bn, encountered elements of nine German divisions. The 73rd Armd. FA Bn. fought its way out of a trap, kept its guns in action.
Although casualties were heavy and all three of its battalion commanders lost, CC R was officially credited with delaying the enemy for 36 to 48 hours east of Bastogne. When its surviving forces fell back into Bastogne, CC R , intermingled with CCB of the !0th Armored & remnents of the 28th ID, was assigned to maintain a mobile reserve known as Task Force Snafu.
TF Snafu became a potent force in the ensuing battles. Organized chiefly as a trouble-shooter for the 101st, this unit operated on a 10-minute alert and sped to threatened areas as needed. Bolstered by armor, it proved to be an ace in the hole.
CC R received the Presidential Unit Citation for its action at Bastogne.
Company C 9th Armored Engineers received a Distinguished Unit Citation for 18-27 Dec action in Belgium.