Paul Shannon was a member of this unit. He was about to board the truck fro Christmas Dinner, but the truck was filled. He was told to catch the next truck. He would have been on the truck and died as did the others, except for being a muinute too slow.

He was my uncle.

Tragic Christmas for the 563rd Ordnance Maintenance Company

Written by Jean NINANE

Sunday, 07 January 2001

Tragic Christmas for the 563rd Ordnance Maintenance CompanyAfter its liberation on 7 September 1944, the Belgian village of Esneux, situated on the Ourthe River south of Liege, was home to numerous soldiers. In the village, the Raze factory, specializing in agricultural equipment, was requisitioned by the 563rd Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company. On 14 September 1944, they opened a tank repair and maintenance facility.

Their headquarters and mess were setup on a hill overlooking the river in the village school. Every morning, the American technicians (as well as the Esneux civilians whom they had hired) went down about two kilometers to the Raze factory, which was situated, on a strand between the Ourthe River and a disaffected canal. There were two access routes to the factory, one road following the river for heavy vehicles, and a path (formerly used by horses to draw barges) following the canal.

The Americans had been there for several months when on 16 December 1944, the Battle of the Bulge broke out. The Americans and their Belgian hosts lived in a double fear: the return of the nazi troops and the fall of V-1 bombs. Winter had also arrived and the canal was frozen over.

On 24 December, Midnight Mass was sung by the American troops; the hymns alternating with the sinister noise of the V-1 bombs.

The next morning, while the other GI's were still celebrating Christmas with the local residents, the American technicians of the 563rd went down to work, as heavy equipment at the nearby front was severely lacking.

After work, sixteen Americans boarded a canvas-covered truck for the return trip to their barracks. The driver, instead of taking the road along the river, started down the path bordering the canal.

The crowd on the other side of the canal, mesmerized, watched the truck slowly advance. A few more yards and it would make it to the bridge across the sluice. But catastrophe struck… the path gave way and the truck overturned into a icy water, trapping it's occupants under the truck. Other GI's in the crowd, despite the cold, dove in to try to save their comrades, but in vain. The cold and the water has done it work quickly, and soon, a dozen corpses were laid out in a nearby cafe. (The Kursaal)

Fifty-six years have passed, and the people of Esneux have erected a small memorial to the memory of these twelve Americans who died tragically on a Christmas day so that others could enjoy liberty.

Paul K Shannon