On the morning of 18 December, the columns of the 7th
Armored Division were passing through Trois-Ponts on their
way to stem the enemy attack in the Vielslm-St. Vith
The 7th Armored had two accidents in twisting
area.
t h r o u g h Trois-Ponts, which rebounded to the benefit of the
A half-track with a personnel
defenders of the town.
complement of 12 men, towing a 57-mm. antitank gun, broke
down in Trois-Ponts. This half-track belonged to Company
(The 526th
B of the 526th Armored Infantry Battalion.
Armored Infantry Battalion was not a part of 7th Armored
Division; it was a separate battalion. Company B was on
Colonel Anderson directed his S-4,
its way to Malmedy.)
Captain Robert N. Jewett, to take command of the squad and
supervise the placing of the gun. Captain Jewett put the
gun and crew in position on Highway N23 on the road to
Stavelot, about a mile toward Stavelot from the two
railroad underpasses.25
The second accident benefited the defenders of Trois-
A tracked vehicle (obser-
Ponts a little less directly.
vers do not agree on whether it was an M5 light tank
or an M7 105-mm. self-propelled armored field artillery
"Priest") slipped off the road while making a sharp turn
at the bridge (674988). The vehicle went over on its side
into the river and was abandoned. Later in the day, when
the 51st was forced to blow the bridge, the ensuing fire
set off the ammunition in the tank. However, it did not
go off all at once but exploded at intervals all afternoon
and into the evening of the 18th. Enough time elapsed
between explosions to allow for loading an artillery
piece, possibly tricking the enemy into thinking that
artillery was available to the group defending Trois-
Ponts.26
Little by little, the 51st company picked up a few
more reinforcements.
Three men from the 341st Engineer
Battalion who had originally been in Trois-Ponts guarding
the bridge at (676989) were attached to Company C. A
17
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