‘On top of all other problems, the POWs presented another difficulty,’ Zgorzelski said. ‘By August 20, we held over 800 of them. We were all short of rations. At times we feared that the prisoners might mutiny and break out. That would not have been too difficult, particularly during the night if they had wanted to do so, seeing that there were more prisoners than captors. It seemed, however, that they did not particularly want to do so. Weapons and ammunition taken from the captured enemy were quickly distributed among the Dragoons, whose own ammunition was practically exhausted. I was relieved to hear from the prisoners that the Germans were running short of ammunition, too.’

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Although both the Americans and Poles were cut off from their supply lines at various times during the fight for Chambois, the Poles suffered most from logistical problems, so they began turning prisoners over to the 359th Infantry. ‘We in turn would march them back with our prisoners, of whom we were taking quite a number,’ noted Captain Waters, although the 2nd Battalion had established a prisoner cage in the center of Chambois until they could move them back.

On August 20, Zgorzelski thought, ‘Chambois took on the air of a besieged fortress. Our tanks, well hidden behind the thick walls of the buildings, pointed their guns menacingly, ready to greet the oncoming foe.

‘Suddenly,’ he continued, ‘a multiple-gun mortar salvo landed in the middle of the town square, where the prisoners were herded. The prisoners panicked, but were soon quieted by men of the 1st Squadron. Enemy mortars continued shelling the town, setting some houses on fire as well and a German ammunition truck, which burned in a series of explosions, sounding as if the enemy had broken through and were fighting inside the town perimeter. Now the German artillery started shelling the center of the town, leaving our defenses intact. Gradually, German aggressive activity was gaining in strength. The signs of something brewing were coming from the direction of St. Lambert and the Gouffern woods. Major Dull reported ‘tanks threatening the American sector,’ and asked for help. I quickly sent him four tanks with 17-pounder guns and regretted that we had only troops of anti-tank guns left with the 10th Mounted Rifles. A great help to the Americans was our artillery observer, who could call and direct our divisional artillery fire as well as that of some corps Royal Artillery regiments. A low cloud ceiling stopped all tactical air support on that day.

‘Soon after that incident, our sector came to life,’ Zgorzelski continued. ‘Enemy infantry were making use of natural cover as well as the abundant vehicles in their advance toward us. That was soon stopped. In view of the distance of about 1 kilometer, the only effective weapons were the 17-pounder guns which scored hits on a few of the enemy tanks. The enemy gave up his efforts in that direction and continued to move northeast from us, toward Hill 262 South.’

The Germans, aided by the uneven and covered ground in front of them, repeatedly assaulted the 2/359, and the Poles designated two infantry battalions and two tank companies to assist them. ‘It was a matter of holding on for an hour or so, until the relief came,’ wrote Zgorzelski. ‘It seemed that only 15 enemy tanks supported their infantry attack, and half of them were knocked out by the 24th Lancers’ tanks. Nevertheless, the enemy attacked in wave after wave, inflicting heavy losses on our neighbors, and succeeded in destroying five American tanks. The relief coming from the south had a dual task. Not only was the hard-pressed Major Dull’s ‘garrison’ to be relieved, but also the right wing of the attacking German force had to be attacked and destroyed. That soon came to pass. German troops, exhausted by the repeated attacks, were practically run over by the two American battalions and their 30 tanks. The enemy lost all their men and equipment.’

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