War Memorial US 2nd Armored Division

It is a small remembrance plate, in dedication of 3 members of the 2nd armored division, 67th Armored Regiment that were killed on site on September 13th, 1944.

"The dedication on the memorial states" "Here on the Trichterhiede were killed on the 13th September 1944 for our liberation :
Capt. Harold D. Smith
Cpl .Jack R. Chambers
Pvt. Clyde W. Madison
2nd Armored Divison, 67th AR "Hell ON Wheels" "

Captain Harold D. Smith was commanding officer of the Reconnaissance Company of the 67th Armored Regiment .A decorated officer who was awarded the Sliver Star for gallantry in action while serving in France and was awarded 3 medals from the French Government including the Croix de Guerre .Then in an action near St Sever Calvados in helping extract wounded comrades under fire in to armoured cars ,he surprised the Company that he got out at all .Along with a certain Sgt. William J.Huffman they were the last to leave .He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism in this action.
Private Clyde Madison was also a decorated soldier having been awarded the Bronze Star .Both he and Captain Smith would be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart as a result of the action on the 13th September 1944.

Although Hasselt had been liberated on the 7th September 1944 by the 2nd Armored Division ,the northern side of the Albert Canal was occupied by 4 companies of the 1st Battalion Waffen -SS Landstorm Nederland under the command of SS-Strumbannfuhrer Max Gebhardt ( ex guard battalion commander at Auschwitz ).They were centered on Kiewitt ,with elements dug in along the Genkersteenweg ,which runs parallel about a third of a kilometre north of the canal opposite Hasselt.

What happened next on that fateful day in September ,as Captain Smith led a reconnaissance patrol toward Godsheide Lock to observe artillery fire on the far bank of the canal is left to the report of the action made by the surviving comrade who was with Captain Smith at St Sever Calvados ;Sgt William "Billy "J.Huffman .

""On September 13, 1944, doing recon work in the neighborhood of Hasselt (Belgium), south of the Albert Canal, there were Germans everywhere you went. Captain SMITH and a scout section from third platoon under Sgt. FEATHERS, - twelve men, - myself (HUFFMAN), ASBELL, MADISON and two tank destroyers from the 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion , were cleaning out some Germans from a large field and wood. At one end there were haystacks, fifteen feet high. At the other side of the field there was a large area filled in with dirt about forty feet high, with a railroad track on top of it. They made it for some kind of dump. There was a dirt road from the main asphalt road over to the dump across the field. We got down the dirt road near the rail dump when the Germans opened up on us. We couldn't see them. The boys in the two tank destroyers answered fire on the haystacks and anything they saw. But the Germans were dug in and the terrain was brushy. Captain SMITH and his driver got shot. We got them back to the asphalt road. We put them in an ambulance. Sgt. FEATHERS 'section was still pinned down. The two tank destroyers were with us at the asphalt road. Someone had to take charge. I asked the sergeant on the tank destroyer if he would cover us to get FEATHERS out of there. The sergeant said, - 'I am with you.' ASBELL, MADISON and I went in front of the tank destroyer to where we thought they were. I got out of the jeep and ran down the road hollering, 'come on FEATHERS, we've got you covered.' I could see them jump up and run and fall, jump up again and run and fall. I could hear the .50 caliber guns on the tank destroyers shooting. Finally we got them out. I asked FEATHERS, - 'did you get all your men out?' He said, - 'all but CHAMBERS and he is on top of the rail dump in a foxhole the Germans made. I don't know if he is hurt or not? ' I said, - 'are you going to get him?' FEATHERS said he was not going back in there. I said that we could not leave him. FEATHERS, CHAMBERS and I are all three from West Virginia. I got a stretcher from an ambulance and put it across the jeep. ASBELL, MADISON and I headed for the rail dump in the jeep with the tank destroyer covering us. MADISON and I were at the foot of the rail dump. We grabbed the stretcher and ran for the top. CHAMBERS was lying in the foxhole with his brains blown out. We threw the stretcher on the ground. I said, - 'we'll take him with us.' I grabbed his shoulders and MADISON grabbed his feet. We laid him on the stretcher and stood up. Bullets were zipping by us. MADISON grabbed his stomach and said, - 'I am hit?' MADISON's guts were coming out. I ran backwards, down from the top of the hill holding his guts in, with one hand and pulling him with one leg. We got to the bottom of the hill and ASBELL and I put a shirt over his wound. We ran him to the ambulance. It was a rough day. I was soaked in blood of my friends" " (Factual account by Sgt. William J. HUFFMAN - US 67th Armored Regiment).

Note : Captain Harold D. Smith died of his wounds almost instantly as he was hit in the heart .

Originally the memorial was placed at the intersection of Trichterheide and Sasstraat ,but was reinaugurated exactly 70 years after the tragic events on the 13 September 2014 at its present location by two of the "Hell on Wheels " veterans.

Also, a local civilian from the "Kwakkel " was killed that day and her daughter injured as a result of the fire fight .
Both the 67th Armored Regiment and 702nd Tank Destroyers Battalion were part of Combat Command B of the 2nd Armored Division.