The 558th Battalion was made up of five batteries: Headquarters (Command Staff), Service (Maintenance, trucks), and three firing batteries (A, B & C)
of four gun sections each with an ammunition carrier (tank) for each gun section. Each firing battery was made up of about 125 men; Service battery about 50: and Headquarters about 75 including firing control, medics, and pilots for air observation. The total force was near 500 men. With four guns per battery, they normally fielded a dozen M-12 guns and another dozen M-30 ammunition carriers.
6/7/09 The next reunion will be held September 20th through September 22th, 2009 at Reno, Nevada. The reunion hotel will be Circus Circus Hotel and Casino, 500 North Sierra Street in Reno, 800-648-5010 (mention 558th FAB Reunion for discounted room rate of $40). Reservation deadline with the hotel is August 21st, 2009. For more information contact Judi Penman at judiblu51@charter.net or 775-849-0409.
6/7/09 This site is being completely redesigned. The new site will be found at www.laxin.net/558thFAB
10/22/08 You Tube has a video clip of the M12 gun in action. Click Here to View
4/18/06 Captured a short two second clip of the M12 Gun firing. Click Here to view the video (a .WMV file, about a 100K download).
1/2/06
Tom Smicklas, the nephew of George
Michalek of the 558th, has submitted a series of links to detailed information on the Internet about camps, ships, and weapons tied in with the 558th FAB history. Click Here to find out more from Mr. Smicklas's research.
10/13/05 Following the 558th's return to the States, most men were discharged. But the unit continued to function in Camp Hood, Texas until February 1946. Click Here to read about the experiences of Ferrin Larkin who had to remain in Texas until his "points" got him his discharge from the 558th. Click Here for an explanation of the Army's point system.
10/4/05 For families looking for information about funeral benefits for veterans and funeral military honors, Click Here for links to web sites that can help you.
9/15/05 The 2005 reunion was a lot of fun with 15 veterans in attendance. I collected tons of new material. It will take me a while to get it all sorted out and posted on the web site. Keep checking back for a redesigned web site.
9/10/05 Added a letter from Lyle Armstrong ("Jack" Armstrong's brother) outlining the men in Battery A's gun sections.
9/6/05 There is now a database of 558th FAB members available online for research. This is a work in progress and will grow as I get more names and documents. Part of this effort is indexing each veteran with references to documents and pictures that are available on this web site. Look it over by clicking here for the 558th FAB Veterans List.
8/11/05 Though not directly part of this unit, the 557th was a "sister" unit also using the M12 gun in Europe. There is now a reformatted version of the 557th FAB History document in PDF format. The history contains 56 pages and includes maps of their travels. The PDF file is about 320kb. Click here to view the 557th history.
8/6/05 A reformatted version of the 558th FAB WWII History document written by Lt. Gilbert Hahn is now available in PDF format by clicking here for the 558th history. He traces the activities of the unit chronologically through creation, training, battle, and dissolution after WWII. This 22 page PDF file can be opened and then printed for your reading. Also, click here for Glendon Graff's Battery C Chronology in a PDF version.
