267th Field Artillery Battalion

T he 267th Field Artillery Battalion was attached to the Third Army and served in the European Theater of Operation during World War II. Formed in March 1943, the Battalion landed in Normandy 1 September 1944 and served in four campaigns. Armed with 240mm howitzers, its men fired the largest mobile gun in the U.S. Army's arsenal during the Campaign for Northern France. It was one of only fifteen 240mm howitzer battalions. With the Battle of the Bulge, the 267th was reassigned from artillery to the Third Army's Provost Marshal, where its troops engaged in prisoner handling and guarding roads, railroads and Allied infrastructure. After VE Day, the Battalion administered a POW camp established on the grounds of a former German Army training center near Auerbach Germany.

The Battalion was ordered to the Pacific to participate in the invasion of Japan, but that order was cancelled with the end of the War in September 1945. The 267th returned to the U.S. on 11 February 1946 and was inactivated the following day at Camp Kilmer NJ. It was authorized four battle streamers including: Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. In the European Theater of Operation the Battalion had two men wounded and none killed. Three officers received the Air Medal. Four officers and forty-eight enlisted men received Bronze Star Medals, and two enlisted men received Purple Heart Medals.

The Battalion's only death occured during training on 15 November 1943 at Camp Van Dorn LA. An 81mm mortar fell short  and killed the Battalion's Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Hinsch and wounded Second Lieutenants James W. Pollard and C. K. Sparks, along with Private Clyde R. Minshall.

In March 1955, the Battalion was reactivated as the 267th Armored Field Artillery Battalion  and armed with 155mm self-propelled Howitzers. It deployed to Babenhausen Germany on 1 April 1956 and was inactivated on 1 December 1957 in Germany. It has remained inactive ever since.

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