covering that road. Company B relieved Company C platoons at Exmes and Croiselles, permitting
Company C to concentrate on the Le Bourg St Leonard fight. Company B was in turn relieved by
Company A when the 358th Infantry was shifted to the south and west of Le Bourg St Leonard.
Later in the evening of August 19th Lt. George W. King’s platoon of Company C entered
Chambois. Feeling very much put out because the other platoons had all the tank shooting to date, he
personally requested his platoon, instead of the previously designated platoon, be given this mission. He
certainly got all the excitement he had asked for and got two tanks and a very large self repelled gun.
Lt. Richard A. Reynolds placed his 3rd Platoon of Company B in positions from which his three
inch guns, by accurate and effective fire, destroyed six tanks in the vicinity of Ste. Eugenie. During the
course of action, one gun received direct hostile small arms and artillery fire which could not be
effectively returned from its concealed location, but Lt. Reynolds, with his crew members Sgt. James W.
Bowman, Cpl. Russel L. Kunz, T/5 Homer E. Griner, T/5 Orville C. Zinc, Pfc. Harry W. Mowery, Pfc.
Paul F. Benito, Pfc. Robert L. Davis, Pvt. Theodore Sekulski and Pvt. Charles W. Sowders, in the face
of enemy fire, seized the trails of the gun and pushed it forward by hand to an exposed position one
hundred yards from the enemy’s line. From this position the gun destroyed an enemy tank, four other
vehicles, and an enemy self propelled gun which had prevented the advance of our troops. For their
heroic action Lt. Reynolds and all members of the crew received the Silver Star Medal.
On August 20th the enemy furiously endeavored to break out of the trap which had been closed
when the Poles reached Chambois. The enemy was stopped dead at the northwest entrance to Chambois.
In the 358th Infantry area, Company B, in position at Bon Menil, and Ste. Eugenie, continued to give
excellent results with flanking fire.
On August 21st the operations consisted in mainly rounding up stray Germans who wanted
desperately to give up. The trap had succeeded in destroying or capturing most of the German Seventh
Army [See Fig. 1]. The remarkable record of the Jerry equipment destroyed during the battles of Le
Bourg St. Leonard-Chambois by this Battalion can best be shown by figures. [Figure 2-1]
Co. A Co. B Co. C Total
Tanks, Mark and IV and V.
0
27
7
34
Self propelled guns
0
20
3
23
Armored half tracks
0
8
1
9
General purpose vehicles
6
54
4
64
Horse drawn Artillery Pieces
0
16
0
16
Total of all types
6
125
15
146
Prisoners captured 519.
The Battalion CP had moved to Nonant Le Pin, one mile southeast of Le Bourg St. Leonard and
back to a battalion assembly area at Nonant Le Pin. Here the Battalion remained in assembly until
August 26th.
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