#Story
Fighting at the Ciply roadblock
The Ciply roadblock is controlled by two Tank Destroyers covering the Rue Brunehault in Mesvin, and two others supporting the top of the Chaussée de Maubeuge, between the By and the Hyon-Ciply station. They block the RN6 coming from Maubeuge, from which it is also possible to enter the bivouac area. From their vantage point, the two tanks can fire on any German vehicle coming out of the bend at the bottom of the slope. A place where vehicles are forced to slow down and are easy targets.
On Sunday September 3, a small German column of three semi-armored anti-aircraft vehicles passed through Ciply along the By (now Rue Fassiau), turning left to head up towards Mons and the American roadblock. When the first armored vehicle reached the Saint-Joseph school, it was hit by a direct hit. Monsieur Emile Dehon, perched on the hood of the vehicle as a human shield, was mortally wounded. The two semi-tracked vehicles following him were destroyed one by one. When the last one caught fire, it set fire to the house around the bend. The vehicles at the rear of the convoy, trucks and half-trackers, are then targeted by the Tank Destroyers, which we can well imagine coming down the road and firing. It's carnage. Wounded, some badly burned, moan and groan, scattered around the vehicles. The survivors flee. The Americans cleared the road, a strategic artery, by pushing the carcasses of the vehicles to one side. The morning saw a few more skirmishes and a second convoy repelled by the roadblock at the Hyon-Ciply station. By all accounts, between fifteen and thirty people were killed.