Got a few moments so I thought I'd post this FYI:-
Was getting some data for someone else and I came up
with this data which is the type we try so hard to forget
even after 63+ years but it just won't go away!!
On September 1st, 1944 before the retreating SS left the
area of Plomion, France, they murdered townsfolk including
many innocent women and children, burning down houses
with incendiary grenades. Sadistic evidence was everywhere.
Plomion is almost on the France-Belgium border in the vicinity
of Hirson. The SS unit was not identified.
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F. Y. I.
Data on the Plomion Massacre:-
951st Field Artillery Battalion with 9th ID - (the first US Corps
to reach Belgium.)
The day before (August 31), German SS troops executed 14
males of all ages in Plomion.
Later on the morning of September 2, we started to leave this
position. A young Frenchman about my age came up to my jeep
with his World War I rifle. He lived in Plomion and had escaped
from the SS troops before the massacre. He begged me to take
him with us to help in the war, but there was no way we could
take a civilian. He was a very brave man and would have been
worth his weight in gold. He was one of the few male survivors
of Plomion.
In April 1996, Lt. Russell Kelch and I went back to Plomiom, France.
We were able to get the complete story of the Plomion tragedy from
two kindergarten teachers taking children on a walk. The teachers
knew of this event and showed us a document about the massacre.
The German SS were looking for someone who had taken a shot
at them, and when the SS couldn't find the sniper, they ransacked
and burned the village. When the villagers wouldn't turn anyone
over, the SS arrested 14 men and boys who had not fled the
village. The 14 were beaten and executed.
A monument has been erected in the meadow where this
atrocity occurred. As we stood looking at the monument, Lt.
Kelch said, "You know, there were times in my life when I
wondered if this really took place or if it was all a dream.
That's why I never spoke of it much." I replied, "And now
we know it really happened."
Originally published in 951st Battalion FA Newsletter, Fire Mission
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A monument was erected in the meadow to commemorate this
atrocity. Haven't been able to find a picture of if but the inscription
reads as follows;
Quote "Ce monument a été élevé vers 1950 sur les plans du
sculpteur R. Antoine et de l' architecte R. Cabet. Les 14 stèles
s' élèvent à l' endroit même où sont tombés, lors de la débacle
allemande du 31 août 1944, quatorze plomionnais victimes d'une
ultime riposte".end Quote
(MY Free Translation = This monument was erected circa 1950
using the plans of Sculptor R. Antoine and Architect R.. Cabet.
The bas relief was erected on the same spot where they fell at
the time of the German Massacre of August 31,1944,
14 Plomion people ,victims of an ultimate retaliation).
These memories just won't go away!! Reason #3 for absence!!
Sgtleo 