Entry of Apr 29, 2000 at 15:18
[EST]
Name: Eddy Monfort - Manhay
Unit:
EMail: em11.freegates.be
How I found the 517th page:
Heard from a member of the 517th
Comments: Dear Mr Barrett and
veterans of 517th. Congratulations for your site. It is very
interesting and I'm enjoyed to watch every page of your site. I live
in Malempré, a village situated at four kilometers from Manhay
(Belgium). Manhay was liberated by the 517th during the night of the
26 to 27 December 1944. Thanks to all members of the 517th. Best
wishes.
Eddy
MANHAY
Hold At All Costs
Where are the worthy GI’s
running who liberated us,
They have their tanks, the Germans,
with their equipment,
Have been driven back. They seemed
powerful,
Invincible soldiers, masters for a very long
time.
Each time the return of the occupying forces is
precise.
For the veteran of the underground the decision has been
made.
Once again, in the Ardennes, there will be vengeance.
Flee people of the maquis, avoid judgment.
Civilians have
left, replaced by soldiers.
Speedily, they have been crowded into
truck beds.
Since Reims, in the rain, turning points, chaos,
For parachutists, what hell, no planes, no trucks!
They
were forewarned...in the winter by the fire.
A surplus of
potatoes, bacon, eggs.
The front has been made right.
Manhay is in the middle.
The site can be razed. Order
to leave the area.
The bolt on Fraiture has suddenly been
released.
Spreading out toward Manhay, grenadiers and
tanks.
Evening descending on the Ardenne obscures
The steel
worms spitting their fire bursts
Suddenly, from behind the
low clouds , the moon appears,
Unveiling the barrages, a chance
for the enemy.
Under a pale halo, appears the
reply.
Nine tanks will be destroyed, the snow has
betrayed them.
This Christmas Eve, will be the
breakthrough.
In the radio silence, for the imposed
retreat,
An audacious Panzer, between two Shermans, slips
in.
Spreading terror…a feat of great audacity.
The
artillery intervenes from Monchenoul to Deux-Rys
In three days
the batteries will destroy the dwelling
Through numerous battles, until body to body,
Face to face
with the enemy, their fate is sealed.
The region liberated,
the village
retaken,
The spoils of the sinister building will be counted.
Where
have the sheets gone, still so well-folded?
On a slain soldier,
is where they will be found.
Friends have left in pursuit of
the enemy.
But the heroic Ardenne regains his courage.
The
meadows are cleansed and the lodging is rebuilt.
At vespers they
tell the tale of this hard, cursed winter.
Today, the
village, fixed like a terrace
on the side of the green massif
where violent winds brew,
Has found peace, let us hope,
forever.
Manhay, her story, her central square: it was well worth
the detour.
Manhay “cost what it may”. The alarm has
sounded…and the order has come
Down.
Hold at all costs-“Tenir coute que
coute”
Emile PIRARD