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Show Famous Old 213th Field Artillery Battalion Returned to N. G. Control According to word received by the 202nd Field Artillery Artil-lery Battalion in the form of a telegram signed by the commander-in-Chief, Far East Command, Tokyo, Japan, it was learned that the famous old 213th Armored Field Artillery Ar-tillery Battalion was to be deactivated as an active Army unit and returned to National Guard control. Late in 1933 the counterpart of this unit was organized organiz-ed in southern Utah as the 213th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (NGUS) under a joint Army-National Guard regulation permitting the reorganization of NG units at home stations while the original unit was on active duty. Tins provision however, did not ' allow the National Guard to -change the type of unit from that type that went on active duty, i This meant that the 213th had to he reorganized as a 105mm howitzer unit. I In December of 1!)."3 the 21.3th' was placed on on an inactive Na-; tional Guard status so that the artillery units in southern Utah could he" organized as 8-inch howitzer units. This of course meant that the "number" of thej unit had to tie changed and so the 202nd Field Artillery Battalion Bat-talion came into being. Now with the 213th released from active duty the National Guard can organize or-ganize the 213th not as a 105-mm 105-mm howitzer unit but as an 8" howitzer unit. Word was received late Saturday evening from Gen-j eral Maxwell E. Rich, Adjutant General, State of Utah, that nec-' ossary paper work has been in-iated in-iated to complete this change and that the local units would again bear the famous number of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion Bat-talion by the later part of De cember or early January. 1 Following is a brief history furnished for appropriate publication publi-cation information purposes. 213th' FA Bn. National Guard unit from Cedar City, Utah, was first organized as 3d Battalion 222d FA Regt with Headquarters at Richfield. Utah. Battalion was inducted inlo federal service and ordered to San Luis Obispo, California, Cali-fornia, in March 1951. In March 1912 Battalion was redesignated the 201th FA Kn, the number it was to serve under until the end of World War II. Serving in 'the European theater, thea-ter, Battalion earned campaign streamers for Normandy, Northern North-ern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns. cam-paigns. On 2!) November, 1915 the 201th was inactivated at Camp Kilmar, New Jersey. On 11 March 1917 The 201th was reorganized and redesignated redesignat-ed the 213th FA Bn, Utah National Nation-al Guard. For the next three years the battalion was attached to the 115th FA Gp and participated partici-pated in regular National Guard training assemblies and encampments. encamp-ments. Called to Active Duty After the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, the 213th was alerted for active duty and was inducted induct-ed into federal service on 19 August 1950. An advance party left for Fort Lewis, Washington, the new station of the Battalion, on 2nd A 1 1 m i IQn TInnn nrriv.-il ..v.0.,..- ......W. WJ,.,.. at Fort Lewis the Battalion began be-gan an intensive training program pro-gram in preparation for the combat com-bat service that was to come. Battalion was moved to Far East Command in January 1951, arriving in Yokohama, Japan, aboard the US MTS General M. C. Meigs after a 11-day voyage from Seattle. The battalion departed de-parted the following day for Korea Ko-rea still anoard the General M. C. Meigs, arriving in Pusan, Korea Ko-rea 15 February 1951. For the next two months the Battalion underwent further training, reorganization reor-ganization and testing as a 105-mm 105-mm self-propelled battalion. On April 23, 1951 at 6:33 p. m. Baker Battery fired the first of 240.496 rounds that were to be fired by the 213th during the Korean Ko-rean conflict. In October 1951, the 213th was converted from a 105mm self-propelled self-propelled battalion to a towed 155mm battalion. From December, 1951 until the (Continued on Page BG) 213th REVERTS TO FIG CONTROL (Continued from Page Bl) midle of March, 1952, the 213th remained in tactical position sup- 1 porting the area formerly identi- I fied as the Eastern Perimeter of the "Old Iron Triangle" extending extend-ing from Kumwlia to Kumsong. 1 For their impressive performance ! in the successful attack out of, perimeter, Hq Btry and A Btry j were awarded the Distinguished, Unit Citation. The awards were' presented on January 25, 1952 by' Major Cent ral Wyman, com-' manding general of IX Corps. In October 1952, when the Chinese Chi-nese launched a large scale assault as-sault on Wlu'e Ilnrse Mountain,; a critical terrain feature, in thej 9th ROK Division area, the 213th; provided outstanding observation; and a tremendous volume of fire, in the face of heavy enemy shelL I :ing. The exemplary performance! of the 213th in surmounting hea-1 w rir.eliln firr t.i Tirnvirln murn I I than 20.000 rounds of 155mm Artillery Ar-tillery support, greatly contributed contribut-ed to the defeat of five enemy regiments, resulting in over 9,0001 I enemy casualties. Conducts Training Phase ' The 213th spent March, April! and May 1953 training personnel I in the technique and functions! of the 210mm howitzer, and in May the Battalion was converted from the 155mm howitzer to the heavier 210mm howitzer. Battalion moved back on line in June 1953, between the "Iron Triangle" cities of Kumwha and Chorwan, and on July 27, 1953, at 6:42 p. m., the gun crew of Nnumber One gun of B Battery rammed and fired the final round of 210,496 rounds fired by the Battalion prior to the cessation of hostilities. After the signing of the Armistice Ar-mistice and until late in 1954, the Battalion has engaged in training programs designed to maintain a constant state of battle-readiness.. The 213th FA Bn earned battle participation credits for following follow-ing campaigns during the Korean operations: First UN Counter Offensive, Of-fensive, Chinese Communist Forces For-ces Spring Offensive; UN Sum-mei Sum-mei Fall Offensive, Second 'Korean 'Ko-rean Winter, Korea Summer and Fall, 1952, Third Korean Winter, Korean Summer Fall 1953. On 28 October 1954 the ,213th Field Artillery Battalion was returned re-turned to the Utah National j Guard. |