The account was from Major Edward Hamilton 1st Btln 357th Infantry Reg. as part of the 90th Div. which Patton had taken control of just after the breakout of Operation Cobra... August 5, 1944.
Ordered to seize a bridge over the Mayenne river, which flowed through the centre of the town of Mayenne. 2 of 3 bridges had been blown; the last had been mined with aerial bombs, 4 along each sidewalk of the bridge.
"The Germnas were occupying the eastern part of town. The lead company worked its way along the wall that ran along the river. I had Turner tanks attached to my battalion, and I lined these up about two corners from the bridge in a side street."
He then went on to explain an attack with artillery and mortars, with resulting smoke enveloping the street leading to the bridge. He then called off the barrage and ordered his troops to cross at this opportune moment.
"At the same time I motioned to the tanks; they wheeled around the corner and charged across."
These are the only two references to the tanks in the passage.
So you can make your own conclusions here, but omit the 'dummies' suggestion. And if they were captured German tanks, I'm sure mention would have been made as such....
Hopefully someone can nut out something further from the info provided
