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Tec5
Lewis Szakacs
1916 - April 13,
1945
Turin,
New York -
Klötz, Germany
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Lewis Szakacs was
born in 1916 in New Jersey. At some point he
moved to
Turin, New York were he worked as a truck
driver. He enlisted in the Army on April, 30
1940.
He was
with HQ Battery,
561st Field Artillery Battalion.
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[No Patch Available]
561st Field Artillery
Battalion |
The 561st landed at Utah Beach
in Normandy on June 29, 1944.
From that point on the men of the 561st were
continually involved in combat until the War
ended on May 8, 1945. They were involved in five
major campaigns, including the battles for
Normandy, and Brest in France. From October of
1944 until December 16, 1944 the 561st was dug
in just East of St. Vith, Belgium, near the
village of Schlerbach. This was the exact spot
where German Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von
Rundstedt sent his Panzers to attack the
American lines in what became the Battle Of The
Bulge.
The 561st Field Artillery Battalion was an
Artillery Battalion consisting of five
Batteries. Three of these Batteries were firing
Batteries, with each firing Battery having four
Guns. The Guns were 155 mm, known as "long
toms." The barrel was 19 feet long. Each Gun
weighed 9,595 lbs., and each Gun was pulled by a
Prime Mover (a 6X6 truck weighing 43,570 lbs.).
The projectile fired by these guns weighed 95
lbs. The muzzle velocity was 2,800 feet per
second. The range was approximately 13 miles.
The 561st was known as a "Bastard Battalion" in
that it was not assigned to any particular
division or unit. It was a Battalion which was
built right into the system, meaning that it
could pick up and move to provide artillery fire
support to a division whose own artillery might
not have had enough fire power to get the job
done.
T5 Szakacs died on April 13, 1945. He was a member
of an "advance party" comprised of about 15
American vehicles. The Colonel in charge of the
"advance party" decided to bypass the American
Infantry and to take the group further than was
ordered. As the American vehicles approached a
hill, German troops hiding on both sides of the
road ambushed them with machine-gun and rifle
fire. Capt. Holliday, 1st Sgt. Mac Donald, T5
Lewis Szakacs and one other man from his
jeep jumped into a shallow ditch. Capt. Holliday and
1st Sergeant Andrew Mac Donald both carried
Thompson Submachine Guns. They stood up
and started firing at the enemy. Both were hit
by fire from a German Burp Gun and killed. Some
of the Americans at the rear of the column were
able to get away. Those that were not
killed were taken prisoner. One of the Battery
Commanders raised his hands to surrender and a
German soldier walked up to him and shot him in
the arm.
T5 Lewis Szakacs
is buried at Margraten American Military
Cemetery, Plot J Row 15
Grave 17.
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