Back to Normandy - Recently Added Listings - 333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) https://backtonormandy.org/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 22:22:03 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) Wereth 11 executed https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15662-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-wereth-11-executed.html

Shortly after the Battle of the Bulge commenced, eleven black American soldiers surrendered to the Nazi SS troops who had overrun the small hamlet of Wereth in Belgium. Some were wounded but this didn't stop the SS from marching them to a field during a severe blizzard and shooting them in cold blood.

All were members of Battery-C of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion and were from Alabama. The bodies were found covered in snow two months later when the villagers directed members of the US 99th Infantry Division to the site. Seven of the murdered soldiers were buried in the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle in Belgium, and four were returned to their families in the USA.

In 1994, three local residents of Wereth built a monument to the eleven slain black soldiers at the corner of the field where they were shot and on May 23, 2004, a rejuvenated memorial was dedicated to the victims. This memorial is believed to be the only memorial to African-American soldiers in Europe.

In the USA another memorial was built especially to memorialize the eleven victims and also to pay tribute to the 260,000 African-Americans who fought on European soil during WWII. The memorial is in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Winchendon, Massachusetts.

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fredvogels Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:51:09 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15662-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-wereth-11-executed.html
333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) at Schönberg https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15670-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-at-schoenberg.html

333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) at Schönberg

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fredvogels Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:51:21 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15670-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-at-schoenberg.html
333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) supported 82 Airborne https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15668-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-first-reports-begin-battle-of-the-bulge.html

333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) supported the 82 Airborne by hitting 2 Tiger tanks with 4 rounds of 4 guns. Over a distance of 15 KM!

On 5 July 1944, the 1st American Army launched an offensive toward La Haye-du-Puits. The Americans engaged in a “battle of the hedges” that was going to be very costly. Before entering La Haye-du-Puits the Allied had to push back the Germans from two hills that framed the city : Montgardon and Le Mont Castre. On 6 July, the 79th American Infantry Division seized Montgardon. On 8 July, the 90th Infantry Division took the northern slope of the Mont Castre, after the parachutists of the 82th Airborne Division captured several hills at the foot of the Mont. The battle caused heavy human losses; at the end of the day, the 79th Infantry Division cleaned La Haye-du-Puits of the last snipers from the 35th German Infantry Division.

 

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fredvogels Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:16:16 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15668-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-first-reports-begin-battle-of-the-bulge.html
333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) first reports begin Battle of the Bulge https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15663-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-first-reports-begin-battle-of-the-bulge.html

333 Field Artillery Battalion (USA) at 03:00 Observation Post with first reports the  begin of extensive artillery fire

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fredvogels Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:51:50 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/army-groups/12-army-group-usa/3-army/333-field-artillery-battalion-usa/15663-333-field-artillery-battalion-usa-first-reports-begin-battle-of-the-bulge.html