Lt Edgar Danby, Cpl Steve Vargo, and Pvt Dual Dishner were assigned to the 756^th Tank Battalion. They were killed on August 27, 1944 in Allan, France. On April 29, 1949 they were buried in Section E Site 51-52 at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

1/LT Danby, Edgar R.

PVT Dishner, Dual F.

CPL Vargo, Steve

1st Lt Edgar R. Danby
Tank Platoon Leader: B Co / 756th Tank Battalion
from Wyandotte, Michigan — Killed in Action at Allan, France on Aug. 27, 1944.

He spoke fluent French and was a church organist by profession.

Company L was fighting in a small town called "Allan" in Southern France on August 27^th, 1944. This town is southeast of Montelimar by about 5 or 10 miles. The commander of this company at the time was Captain James Coles. The battalion commander was LTC Thomas R. Davis. Lt. Edgar R. Danby was the platoon leader for the 3rd Platoon, Company B, of the 756^th Tank Battalion. His tank platoon was attached to Company L/15th Infantry Regiment that day when he was killed. His tank was knocked out by a German tank hiding in a cemetery just north of town by about 400 yards. He and his turret crew were killed instantly, but the driver and bow gunner of his tank escaped and were subsequently captured. There were two other tanks from the 3rd Platoon that participated in the battle, but his was the only American tank knocked out that day in Allan.

There is a journal account from a French resident of Allan who witnessed the battle. It is quite detailed, giving an hour by hour account of the day's events. It talks of an American patrol of about 15 men who went down into a creek ravine near the cemetery at about 3:00 p.m. and came under attack. The journal account says that these men were killed or captured and did not return. It says that my grandfather then moved his tank to support this patrol before it was hit about 100 yards north of town on a small bridge over the creek. One of the men who got out of my grandfather's tank, and was captured, was a man by the name of Hubert S. Shew. He has since passed away, but his relatives tell me that he was captured along with about 15 other men (the missing patrol?) and held as a POW until the end of the war.

The battle for town was fairly intense at times, with some shelling of farmhouses, some "cat and mouse" between opposing tanks in the town's narrow streets, and the destruction of a German tank east of town. There were several firefights, particularly at the main intersection of town near the Catholic Church. There was also a firefight in the western gardens, with the Germans seeming to take a heavy beating. The main concentration of German activity seemed to be, however, in this cemetery just 400 yards north of town. This enemy force seemed to halt the American advance through town for a few hours, and I believe that the patrol was sent to scout out it's strength and location. During the day's events, the Company radio was knocked out and the radioman was severely wounded when night came, the town was safely under American control, but communications had been cut off. Captain Coles took his jeep with the wounded radioman and sped south of town back to the Battalion command post. He came storming back in a maintenance tank with a radio, crashing a German roadblock on the way back into town. For this action he received the Distinguished Service Cross.

The 756th Tank Battalion monument at Fort Knox credits the unit with 255 Bronze Stars.

Pvt Dual F. Dishner (B Co., France, Aug. 27, 1944) (Posthumous)

DAY OF THE PANZER

A Story of American Heroism and Sacrifice in

Southern France

Jeff Danby

This is a rarely detailed “you are there” account of World War II combat, describing a brief but bloody tank/infantry action in August 1944. Based on six years of research—drawing from interviews, primary documents, and visits to the battlefield—The Day of the Panzer transports the reader into the ranks of L Company, 15th Regiment, Third Infantry Division, and its supporting M-4s of the 756th Tank Battalion as they grapple head-on with the Wehrmacht.

On August 12, 1944, L Company hit the beaches in southern France, joined by the tank crews of 2nd Lt. Andrew Orient’s 3rd Platoon, all veterans of Cassino. After overcoming pockets of resistance––along the coast, the tanks and infantry swept inland, nipping at the heels of the retreating German Nineteenth Army.

A sudden German artillery salvo dispatched six L Company men and left Lt. Orient dead. 1st Lt. Edgar Danby, an armor instructor (the author’s grandfather), was flown in from Italy to replace him.

Despite logistics problems, the Third Division forged north through the Rhône River valley until they found the Germans holding fast, L Company and its supporting tanks leading the regimental charge. In the haste and chaos of the day, they managed to slip the German rearguard and unwittingly attacked the German LXXXV Armeekorps headquarters in the small town of Allan. Both sides were shocked by the ferocity of the battle.

Led by a rampaging Panther tank, the Germans counterattacked, knocking out the Sherman of Lt. Danby while threatening to cut L Company’s positions in half. Surrounded and facing annihilation L Company held fast despite dead and wounded on all sides and 13 men captured.

In this book, the minute-by-minute confusion, thrill and desperation of World War II combat is placed under a microscope, as if the reader himself were a participant.

Local writer follows grandfather's WWII journey in book

By TIFFANY EDWARDS
Advocate Reporter

GRANVILLE -- On Aug. 26, 1944, 1st Lt. Edgar Danby warned his wife in a letter he was headed into battle. "You are a remarkable woman, my dear wife, you are strong mentally and spiritually, and I know that you won't give way to any weakness such as anxiety or worry," he wrote from war-ravaged Europe. "I'll be back, never fear -- I wasn't made to die yet."

That letter, however, was the last family members heard from Danby, a platoon leader in B Company, 756th Tank Battalion, 3rd Division of the U.S. Army.

From a young age, Jeff Danby was fascinated with the story of his paternal grandfather. In August 2000, Danby, now 44, decided the time was right to research the circumstances surrounding his grandfather's death. That journey since has taken him twice to Allan, France, where his grandfather was killed, and set him on the path to publishing his first book, "Day of the Panzer: A Story of American Heroism and Sacrifice in Southern France." The book, published by Casemate, is due out in April.

The son of a history professor who has his own degree in history from DePaul University, Danby was staying home with his three children in 2000 and working as a freelance artist. His wife, Melinda Woofter, is a Granville dermatologist.

He turned to the 3rd Infantry's veterans association for leads about Edgar Danby, a Canadian-born church organist who had moved to Detroit and signed up for the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Within days, Jeff Danby got a tip through the veterans' Web site and he was directed to Dave Redle, of Akron. Redle was captain of B Company when Edgar Danby served.

"He's got a fantastic memory," Jeff Danby said of Redle. "He was actually listening to the radio when my grandfather was killed."

Danby learned his grandfather died instantly, along with two other soldiers, when their tank was hit in Allan, France, on Aug. 27, 1944. The elder Danby was part of the Southern France Campaign, launched two months after the June 1944 landing at Normandy. Its intent was to supplement the Normandy effort and open a new supply route.

Casualties of that effort, Jeff Danby's grandfather and his two fellow soldiers later were buried together in Kentucky. "I wanted to find out more," Danby said. "What got him? What were the circumstances?"

Soon he was making contacts in France, obtaining documents from the National Archives and interviewing veterans. What started as a personal project for his family grew quickly.

A Frenchman he met through the Internet sent him an account of the battle between the Americans and the German 11th Panzer (panther) Division that had been chronicled in a slim book, "Allan, Moon Village."

More details fell into place.

"(His grandfather's tank) broke through German road blocks and ended up attacking German headquarters without realizing it," Danby said. "They stirred up a hornet's nest."

He said U.S. forces almost were split in two. That night, they regrouped under the strong leadership of Cpt. James Coles of L Company, whom he described as an inspiring "hell-raiser." The next day, the Germans continued their northbound retreat. Coles later was given a Distinguished Service Cross for holding his men together.

In 2001, Danby and his father, Russ, traveled to France, where the villagers of Allan greeted them warmly. In 2004, he made a second trip with his wife for several 60th anniversary celebrations. "These people are wonderful in this town," he said. "They gave us so much attention and many gifts. They remember the war and are grateful."

In all, Danby has talked to more than 30 L Company veterans of the Southern France Campaign, including five eyewitnesses to his grandfather's accident that fateful day. He also has built enduring friendships in France.

In 2006, encouraged by those he'd met along the way, Danby sought a publisher. Several months later, he'd signed a contract. Casemate recently informed him his book has been selected as a main selection of the History Book Club. It will be available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and the Casemate Web site, Danby said.

"Day of the Panzer," however, is not just about his grandfather.

"My grandfather is a supporting character," he said.

The story largely reflects the efforts of Coles and L Company. He said he thinks it will fill a gap in World War II literature, which tends to focus on the efforts in northern France or give more generalized accounts.

The first-time author now is turning his efforts to his next book, tentatively titled "Men of Armor," about B Company of the 756th Tank Battalion.

THE TANK KILLERS

A History of America’s World War II Tank Destroyer Force

Harry Yeide

The Tank Killers is the story of the American Tank Destroyer Force in North Africa, Italy, and the European Theater during World War II. The tank destroyer (TD) was a bold-if some would say flawed-answer to the challenge posed by the seemingly unstoppable German blitzkrieg. The Tank Killers follows the men who fought in the TDs from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affair.

Tank destroyers were among the very first units to land in North Africa in 1942. Their first vehicles were ad hoc affairs: Halftracks and weapons carriers with guns no better than those on tanks and thin armor affording the crews considerably less protection. Almost immediately, the crews realized that their doctrine was incomplete. They began adapting to circumstances, along with their partners in the infantry and armored divisions. By the time that North Africa was in Allied hands, the TD had become a valued tank fighter, assault gun, and artillery piece. The reconnaissance teams in TD battalions, meanwhile, had established a record for daring operations that they would continue for the rest of the war.

The story continues with the invasion of Italy and finally that of Fortress Europe on 6 June 1944.The TD men encountered increasingly lethal enemies, ever more dangerous panzers that were often vulnerable watched in frustration as their rounds bounced harmonly to their guns while American tank crews lessly off the thick German armor. They fought under incredibly diverse conditions that demanded constant modification of tactics. Their equipment became ever more deadly. By VE day, the tank destroyer battalions had achieved impressive records, generally with kill/loss rates heavily in their favor. The Tank Killers draws heavily on the records of the tank destroyer battalions and the units with which they fought.Veterans of the force add their personal stories.

In its combat debut in Tunisia in 1943 during the North African campaign, the M10 was successful as its 3-inch gun could destroy most German tanks then in service. Later in the Battle of Normandy, the M10's gun proved to be ineffective against the frontal armor of the newer German Tiger and Panther tanks but was effective against lighter tanks such as the Panzer IV medium tank and other lighter vehicles and self propelled guns. By the fall of 1944 the improved 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 began to arrive in Europe as well. In the Pacific war, US Army M10s were used for infantry support but were unpopular due to their open-topped turrets, which made them more vulnerable than a fully-enclosed tank to Japanese close-in infantry attacks.