6^TH ARMY GROUP, GERMANY- The thrill that comes with sinking

         the first shot in the bulls-eye is shared among members of the 533^rd Anti-Aircraft

         Battalion. While standing a recent “watch on the Rhine” in support of the U.S.

         Seventh Army in General Jacob L. Devers’ 6th Army Group, a section of one of the

         Battalions batteries fired a single round and bagged an ME-109.

                      Single-shot action is hardly routine for these ack-ack men.

          In numerous other engagements, their 40-mm. Bofors and multiple-mount 50 cal.

Machine-guns have poured a withering fire from deep-dug camouflaged emplacements at

enemy aircraft.

                      With organization streamlined to match the units mobility

and speed, the 533^rd, commanded by Lt. Col. Claude A. Dance, Shreveport, La. Has

acted in various roles of anti-aircraft defense and anti-tank defense.

                     “Assignments have included protection of bridges and headquar-

ters and support of infantry and field artillery,” said Col. Dance “Accustomed

to fighting in forward areas, my men recently began protecting one bridge before

the engineers even built it.”

                       Activated in 1942 at Fort Bliss, Tex., the 533^rd began

foreign services Feb. 28, 1943, landing at Casablanca. At Bizerte, gun crews

fought off as many as 100 attacking planes in four raids. The battalion spent

almost a year on Sardinia, protecting airfields and harbor installations, before

entering Southern France last November.

Members of this battalion include:

(See Attached List)