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184th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion (Mobile)
Entering the war as 1st Battalion, 61st Coast Artillery (AA)
Regiment, the battalion was initially deployed to Iceland in March
1942. The battalion arrived in England during August of the
following year and was redesignated as the 184th AAA Gun Battalion
in keeping with the reorganization of Antiaircraft Artillery.
Trading in their old 3-inch guns for up-to-date 90mm pieces, the unit
began training on the new equipment and took their place among the
organizations providing antiaircraft defense for England.
While on the Continent, the 184th protected Paris, held a defensive
position along the Meuse River at Namur, Belgium during the Battle
of the Bulge, and participated in the famed Antwerp diver belt.
The organization chalked-up the best record against German buzz
bombs in the Antwerp X command.
For its performance at Antwerp, the unit was twice cited in the
Belgian Army Order of the Day.
The unit history reproduced here in PDF format was originally
printed in Fulda, Germany in 1945
and was
provided by Susan J. (Johnson) and David J. Anderson.
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DEDICATION
This history is presented in memory of William R. (Bill)
Johnson and David B. (Andy in the service, Dave in later life)
Anderson. They were two farm boys from Minnesota who became
friends at the University of Minnesota, graduated in Civil
Engineering and received their commissions as Second
Lieutenants via the ROTC program in 1940. They began active
duty at Fort Sheridan, IL in July 1940 and served together for
a time in the 61st Coast Artillery (AA). Bill
later served with several AA units, including the 203rd
CA (AA) in the Aleutians. Andy served with the 61st
in Iceland and then made all the “stops” in Europe, per the
184th history. They were both separated from
active duty in early 1946, but continued to serve in the Army
Reserve.
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The history is also dedicated to the soldiers with whom these
two served. The last stanza of a “poem” written and presented
by Andy at an Ack Ack Gunners Reunion Association meeting in
1985 summarizes their war years as follows:
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We all fought lonesomeness, fear and sorrow
Sometimes we wondered if there’d be a tomorrow
We goofed off now and then, but it’s understood
That most of the time we did the best that we could
Through all the lonesomeness, toil and ache
We created bonds you cannot break. |
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