Farmhouse in Sadzot
View to the west from just outside of Sadzot, on left is the CP of 2nd platoon of B Company, 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion. On right is CP of B Company, 87th. White arrow at left is where mortar Sergeant Alphonse Remillard killed and wounded several SS troops in a ditch with a grenade.
509ers set up and manned a machine gun on the night of the attack. Believing that Germans were advancing up the road, paratroopers opened up on figures moving up the road. The figures turned out to be withdrawing remnants of Company B, 87th Mortar Battalion. Sadzot is 500 yards to the front.
The view is from the same site facing to the north. The key Erezee-Manhay road runs left to right 300 yards in the distance (under the arrow) Photo by Luc Fairon
Looking southeast to Sadzot.
1. Company CP of mortarmen, later CP for B Company, 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.
2. and 3. CPs for 1st and 2nd platoons of Company B, 87th Mortar Battalion, before SS assault.
4. Is where Corporal William Cummings was shot down.
5. was where two mortarmen had verbal clash with 75th Division colonel.
Looking west towards Sadzot. Woods where SS troops assembled around midnight December 27-28 before attack on Sadzot and the 70 mortarmen. The houses in Sadzot were along the road running left and right in center of picture.
One of the stone houses in Sadzot before the attack
Paratrooper passing dead Germans recently killed in the fighting
Dead Germans killed while attempting to withdrawal from the house.
More Germans killed in the fighting during the night.
M5 Stuart light tank of the 3rd Armored Division in front of damaged houses in Sadzot
House burning as Germans withdraw to the woods.
German SS lays dead in street
Soldier takes cover behind halftrack
M1919A4 .30 Cal Machine Gun in fighting position covering the woodline in case of German counterattack
American tank crew with recently captured Germans
White camouflaged American tank moves to edge of woods
Paratroopers take cover behind M5 Stuart tank as it fires into enemy positions
Same M5 Stuart tank in woods near Sadzot
Paratrooper firing at Germans from fighting position.
509ers walk among dead Germans
Crew members of tank destroyer pose next to their vehicle in Sadzot shortly after the 509th secured the town. One of six tank destroyers that provided support. 28 Dec 1944
Two houses that remained standing following the battle. Photo taken in early morning hours on 28 Dec 1944
Looking south. The 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion attacked south over these fields with no cover or concealment to reach Sadzot. At center is the CP of Company B, 87th Mortar Battalion.
1. and 2. are where Germans assembled the night beore.
3. Approximately where paratrooper Sergeant Steve Justice was killed.
Corporal John Phalen and two other men of Company B of the 87th, all seriously wounded, took refuge through the night in a shed like this until rescued after daybreak by the paratroopers.
Looking north from lane 500 yards north of Sadzzot. 300 yards north of this position is the Erezee-Manhay road just on the other side of the structure on the left. The ridgeline beyond is where the Demolition platoon of the 509th PIB was in reserve positions when the SS Grenadiers attacked Sadzot. 509ers reported seeing houses burning shortly after teh attack began.
Three houses at the south side of the village where the 509th drove out the last of the SS Grenadiers. Arrow points to where Lieutenant Gordon Byers of Company B. 87th Mortar Battalion, dismounted after having made a one man piggy back charge atop a 3rd Armored Division tank during the nighttime fight.
Paratroopers taking SS Prisoners to the rear
Paratroopers taking SS Prisoners to the rear
Paratroopers taking SS Prisoners to the rear
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