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Amonines incident, 22-28 December 1944
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| On the night of 22nd December 1944 the 83rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion moved back from their firing positions in the vicinity of Amonines (P-4587) and I was told to report to Colonel Orr, task force commander, with four of my tracks. I took two M-15A1 and two M-16 and we moved into position after dark in support of about a platoon of infantry and one battery of artillery. |
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| I placed one M-15A1 and one M-16 with Company “B” of the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, and one M-16 with Company “C”, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, and one M-15A1 with Company “H” of the 33rd Armored Regiment. The half-tracks that were with the infantry did most of the firing – they knocked out the five half-tracks in action on the night of the 22nd December. About 2 hours on 23rd December a column of armored vehicles came up the main southeast-northeast road into Amonines and one of the outposts opened fire with a caliber .30 machine gun. As soon as we saw the tracers bouncing off the armor, we opened fire. Daylight showed eleven half-tracks and personnel carriers destroyed, of which we claim five. One of these was exploded by a rifle grenade (AT). W e also got hits on almost all of the other vehicles in the column including a self-propelled gun. |
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On the 23rd December in the afternoon there was an attack by about one hundred infantrymen. They came up the road and we let them get to about four hundred yards before opening fire with an M-16. The Caliber .50 pinned them down and then one of my sergeants acted as observer for a mortar platoon.I don’t think that very many of these Germans left. We got seven prisoners in this action.
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On the 25th December eight Germans came down to the fork in the road (CR P-446869) and started to dig in a machine gun. We let them get the pit almost dug and then opened up with an M-16. Again one of my men acted as mortar observer in the barrage that followed. I don’t think that any of these Germans got away either.
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During our stay on this mission we lived in a barn. Artillery fire was heavy all the time and one large rocket came right in the room with us. In spite of all this, there were only two men lightly wounded in the entire period.
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| Total ammunition expended:
Caliber .50 = 1,550
37mm HE=100
37mm AP=50
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| Source: N.A.R.A. |
