Memorial 612th and 801st US TD Battalion, Honsfeld

At this site in Honsfeld, the Kamfgruppe Peiper, 1st SS Panzer Divsion “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler,” carried out the 1st executions on disarmed American POWs at the start of the Ardennes offensive on December 17, 1944. Honsfeld was taken in the morning around 6 a.m. of December 17.

Victims of this execution were

BRADLEY William E., 22, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, reburied in the U.S. after the war.

MILLINER James M., 27, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave C-13-7.

STEGALL Edward L., 25, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, reburied in the U.S. after the war.

CROWELL John E., 24, Private 1st Class with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, reburied after the war in the U.S.

THOMANS Robert H., T5 with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, reburied after the war in the U.S.

MANN Cecil, age 22, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave C-15-59.


In addition, another mass grave was later found in Honsfeld containing 19 American soldiers, 15 of whom were allegedly executed. The statement of 15 executed comes from 18-year-old SS soldier Siegfried Jäckel (stated during his trial after the war at Dachau) who at the time was driving past the spot where the American soldiers were shot with their hands up. Later, he committed the same war crime at the Baugnez intersection. He not only fired from his Schützenpanzerwagen, SPW (halftrack) but then ran into the field to give a “mercy shot” to anyone still moving.

Victims of these executions included.

FARLEY Robert L., 20, Private 1st Class with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, reburied after the war in the U.S. Farley was captured along with Mc Ginnity and Kardos at Honsfeld on Dec. 17, 1944.

KARDOS Michael J., age 22, T5 with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Hamm (Luxembourg), grave A-10-24.

KROLL Leo J., age 30, private with the Private at the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave B-2-43.

LOCKE Elveret H. 19 years ! , private in the field artillery.

Mc GINNITY James J., age 29, private 1st class with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, body never recovered, wall of the missing Ardennes Cemtery at Neuville-en-Condroz.

REEDY Homer E., 23, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave D-13-56.

SAPP Edward C., 22, T5 with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave C-15-5.

WORTMAN David R., 22, Private 1st Class with the 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave E-2-58.


Also killed at Honsfeld but unknown if they were among the 19 soldiers murdered in cold blood.

ELLINGSEN Earl E., 30, sergeant with the 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, buried at Hamm (Luxembourg), grave H-14-47.

FRANYA James S., 25, corporal with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave C-12-14.

JOHNSON Clifford E., age 32, private with the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Hamm (Luxembourg), grave H-14-27.

JORDAN RAYMOND E., age 22, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave D-14-9.

LUJAN Pilar, age 27, private 1st class with the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave F-9-61.

PRASEK Delmar W., age 20, T5 with the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Hamm (Luxembourg), grave H-8-23.

SIMMONS Bufard C., 24, Private 1st Class with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave E-9-12.

SORTEBERG William C., 32, private with the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, buried at Henri-Chapelle (B), grave D-10-23.

Later that day, the Kampfgruppe committed 2 more executions, at Baugnez and at Ligneuville.

This site has remained virtually unchanged in the nearly 80 years (2023) since 1944. The spring and catch basin is still in the same spot as it was then.

The black-and-white photograph of Dec. 17, 1944, shows in the foreground an American soldier whose combat boots have been taken off. One of the soldiers of the Kamfgruppe Peiper took off the fallen American soldier's boots to wear them himself. Around this time in the war, the German army was short of not only materiel but also equipment.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Hans Tasma (1), Ed Lewandowski (2), Ed Lewandowski (3), Randy Brandt (4)
• -Kampfgruppe Peiper, de wedloop naar de Maas, D. Cooke en W. Evans
• -The Malmedy Massacre, the war crimes trial controversy, S. Remy
• -fieldsofhonor-database.com
• -foto 3 van U.S. National Archives / Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_Bulge_1944_HD-SN-99-02998.JPEG