The 473rd Infantry was first constituted in the
Army of the United States as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Tank Group, and activated on 1 March 1942 at
Camp Bowie,
Texas. It was redesigned the 2nd Armored Group on 19 March 1944, and was disbanded on 19 December 1944 at
Montecatini, Italy, and concurrently reconstituted as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 473rd Infantry. The 435th Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion was concurrently disbanded and reconstituted as the 1st Battalion, 473rd Infantry, the 532nd Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion as the 2nd Battalion, 473rd Infantry, and the 900th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion as the 3rd Battalion, 473rd Infantry Most of the elements of the 473rd had been parts of
Task Force 45. This was a division-sized unit built around the U.S. 45th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade with attached British, Brazilian, and Italian elements. The 473rd Infantry, a white unit, was assigned for some time to the African-American
92d Infantry Division starting from 24 February 1945 until 17 May 1945. It was used to replace the African-American
365th Infantry Regiment, which was reassigned to
U.S. IV Corps. ==Components==