Photograph 578th Field Artillery Battalion!

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A shell is being loaded into an 8-inch howitzer of the 578th Field Artillery Battalion (Bleialf, Germany, 9 February 1945). (Author collection)

578th Field Artillery Battalion

The 578th Field Artillery Battalion was a segregated unit of the United States Army that served during World War II. Equipped with 8-inch guns, this battalion provided heavy artillery support for Allied forces during key operations in the European Theater. They were one of the two Black American heavy artillery battalions. The other battalion was the 999th Field Artillery Battalion.

Constituted in 1942, the 578th Field Artillery Battalion underwent training and preparation in the United States before deploying to France late in June 1944. As a heavy artillery unit, the 578th Field Artillery Battalion was employed as a corps artillery unit and provided long-range fire support for infantry and armored units advancing across France, Belgium and later Germany. The 8-inch guns they operated were capable of delivering powerful, accurate fire against enemy fortifications, troop concentrations, and other strategic targets. The heavy artillery battalions generally had six guns per battalion. Heavy artillery units like the 578th were often used to soften enemy defenses before major offensives and to disrupt enemy movements and supply lines.

Obliteration was the Result

As Master Sergeant Floyd Jones, who served in the 578th Field Artillery Battalion, explained their guns: “Now, you understand we could spread fire; so many guns on several different targets. In short, we could batter the hell out of a number of targets at once or we could zero in on one. With all that firepower on one objective, obliteration was the result.” (Mary Motley Pennick, The Invisible Soldier, Detroit 1975, 181.)

The 578th Field Artillery Battalion performed their service valiantly during the Second World War. They contributed to the overall Allied victory in Europe and helped free the people in Europe of the joke of Nazism.

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