745th Tank Battalion in combat World War II: VHP Video #2 1988.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in the Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Footage includes officers and men of the 745th Tank Battalion in camp, scenes of the English and French countryside, wreckage of German convoys, German prisoners, river crossings, tanks cutting through hedgerows in Normandy, and scenes in Aachen, Germany.

Cite as: 745th Tank Battalion in Combat World War II (VHP Video #2), William W. Dick Jr., World War II Series, Veterans History Project Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

Copyright retained by William W. Dick Jr. until January 1, 2015, at which time copyright transfers to the Nashville Public Library.

William W. Dick, Jr.;,Gift;,2003.,Acc. 2003.014.

William Wilson Dick Jr. enlisted in the 29th Tank Company of the Virginia National Guard in 1934. In 1941, this unit became the 191st Tank Battalion, Virginia Army National Guard, Company C. In August 1942, elements of this unit formed a cadre of the 745th Tank Battalion, Armored, serving in Texas, England, and across Europe with the First Infantry Division during World War II. Dick was promoted to Warrant Officer (jg) in August 1944 while in France, later rising to Chief Warrant Officer. He left Europe in August 1945 and was discharged in October 1945. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the American Defense Service medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He married a woman from Nashville, Tenn. in 1941, and he returned to Nashville after the war to raise his family.

In English.

Finding aids: Finding aids available in repository.

Finding aids: Timed index available in front of VHP Transcripts Box 1.

Videotape made in 1988 and 1989 by William W. Dick Jr. with narration and music added, from original silent 8mm motion picture film in black and white and color taken by Maj. Miles R. Patterson and Chief Warrant Officer Dick during World War II. The original film was mailed to European Theatre of Operations headquarters for processing and inspection at no cost. The censored film was then mailed to Patterson's home. Censors kept footage of the Normandy beach landings, and perhaps more, according to Dick in 2003. Chief Warrant Officer Dick returned home in October 1945 and had a copy of the film made for his own use (black and white). Six hundred feet of film was put on VHS videotape in July of 1988 by Dick, when he also included a brief history of the unit as an introduction, based upon a published history. On April 28, 1989, he received the original (color) film from Mrs. Patterson, and added this film to the videotape he had already created from his own (black and white) film. There is much duplication between the two versions, although some scenes are unique to each film.

Forms part of the World War II series of the Veterans History Project collection.