Battle for Stonne
May 16th, 1940
Near the village of Stonne
Log entry No. 154
After a tough battle, we have taken the village of Stonne. We lost several tanks. But the German casualties are at least equal. I want to point out the exceptional performance of the vehicle Eure, a Char B1 commanded by Captain Pierre Billott. He brought 13 German Panzer down, including 2 Panzer IV and 11 Panzer III. In addition he destroyed 2 anti-tank guns. The vehicle took at least 140 hits from the enemy, but took no damage and returned safely, which highlights the B1's excellence. We have begun to raise our defenses around the now ruined village, but I fear if the Germans attack before nightfall, we will be unable to hold the village.
General Bruneau
41st Tank Battalion
They headed past a ruined building and turned left onto the damaged road. The many exchanges between the German forces and the French battalion had made the once beautiful village of Stonne a field of ruins. Their Char-B1, named Eure lurched, as they drove through a small crater, where previously a German anti-tank gun had landed. Pierre Billotte, the tank commander, ordered their 75mm gun to be loaded. He himself had been watching the surroundings in fear of an ambush, but now he took his eyes off the road and began loading the 47mm turret gun. In other battles, the 47mm gun had proved ineffective against the German Panzer III's and IV's, but it could prove useful having a second gun loaded.
Just a few seconds after he had loaded his gun, a call from below told him that the powerful 75mm was also ready for use. Now turning back to the road ahead of him, Pierre noticed a German Panzer IV behind the bushes. Before he could duck down and close the hatch, a shot whizzed towards them and bounced harmlessly of his tanks thick, 40mm metal plating. He ducked down into the tank and shot off his 47mm gun. It hit the Panzers track, immobilizing it. Shortly after, a loud boom echoed through the street and a bullet from the 75mm hull gun slammed through Panzers side armor. Relieved, they drove on, leaving the burning Panzer behind them.
They hadn't gotten far when a number of bullets hit them, but none doing more than a scratch. The driver stopped the tank and aimed the 75mm gun at the closest enemy. A minute later a Panzer III was engulfed by flames. The other attackers, another Panzer III and a Panzer IV started their retreat back towards the forest, but not without letting more bullets attempt to penetrate the Eure's hull. Pierre let loose a bullet from the 47mm gun, but missed by several feet.
The Eure's engine awoke with a rumble and they began to follow the retreating Panzers. After a few seconds, the Panzer IV came into range. With a boom, it too left the stage of functionality. Shocked, Pierre noticed the last Panzer III had appeared to the left of the Eure. It shot at the side of the tank, but other than a lurch to the side, no damage was done. The Eure's tracks dug into the soft forest floor, leaving clear marks. Slowly the Eure turned towards the Panzer, who shot again, but the bullet couldn't penetrate the Eure's plating. Then, noticing the danger, the Panzers crew let the engine howl as they attempted to reach the cover of the village, but a shot to the back of the tank destroyed it.
Back on the road, Pierre gave command to head towards the forest called Pain du Sucre on the slope of the mountain, on which the village of Stonne lay.
Shortly after entering the forest, five Panzer III's surrounded the Eure. After a nervous glance around the area, Pierre noticed a large rock to their left. If they got behind it, they would have cover and could prepare for the battle ahead. He told the driver to get behind the rock, and as they headed for cover, Pierre could hear shots ricochet of the Eure.
When the first Panzer drove around the rock, the Eure's 75mm hull gun finished it of. Now the broken Panzer gave them additional cover. A second Panzer drove up behind them, and after an exchange of bullets it too was destroyed. Before the other threer Panzer had time to attack, the Eure left the safety of the rock and rammed into the first one. Pierre shot off his 47mm gun, and it penetrated the weaker armor of the drivers hatch, causing fire in the interior. The Eure slowly turned towards the other Panzer, who's bullets had been ricocheting of them, and fired a salvo from its guns. To his shock, Pierre noticed that the enemy had gotten reinforcements. Now, a total of six Panzer III had spread in a half-circle around them.
The Eure slowly retreaded down the slope, all the while firing with everything it got. Half of the enemies were already destroyed when, with a moan of steel, the tank came to a stand. Pierre urged the turret to move quicker, and when it finally had turned far enough for him to see what had happened through the thin viewing slit, he saw that they had backed into another Panzer III, who was struggling to get its gun in a position to shoot the weaker armored rear of the Eure. Pierre cursed.
"What's up?!", the driver called from below.
"We drove into a Panzer!", Pierre replied with panic in his voice. He had to get his gun loaded quickly. He had just picked up a bullet when the Panzer shot. The tank shook, but luckily the Panzers bullet had hit them in a bad angle and had merely scraped the Eure's hull. Pierre shoved his bullet into the tube and aimed at the Panzers fuel tanks. He hit and fuel spilled out of the cracked tank, but it didn't catch fire. Pierre shoved a round of ammo into the machine gun and fired it at the tank. Of course, the shots didn't penetrate, but the sparks from the impact lit the fuel. Then the driver pushed the engine for all it had and brought the Eure away from the burning tank.
After a few minutes of driving in the now sweaty interior of the tank, the Eure reached the road, but, when it finally came into sight, a Panzer was waiting for them. From up the slope they could also hear two more Panzer closing ground quickly.
Pierre, who had opened the hatch on the top of the tanks turret for better view, pulled it shut and loaded his gun, ready for a final fight. As the Panzers closed in on their tank, Pierre made sure that the Eure was standing with its back to a half crumbled bulding, which once had probably been a barn, to make sure its vulnerable rear was safe from enemy bullets. The first Panzer blew up before it fired a single shot, leaving just the two Panzer who had been hurrying towards them. As the Eure's crew reloaded the guns, the Panzer took cover behind rocks or buildings and only occasionally left to fire a volley of bullets at the Eure. After the first few shots from the Panzer had either missed or harmlessly bounced of the Eure, the tanks loader reported that their ammo was running low. They only had three more shots left. Pierres 47mm turret gun had also just run out of ammo, leaving him only with a few magazines for the 7.5mm machine guns.
"We're loaded and ready!", the radio operator called.
"Good. Shoot the Panzer on the left next time he comes out!", Pierre replied, "but do make sure you hit!", he added. The next time the Panzer came out from behind cover, the Eure fired. It lurched back as the bullet left the cannon and hit the Panzer straight in the tracks. The crew reloaded quickly and the second shot ripped through the Panzers turret critically damaging it.
"Our last shot is loaded and ready, Sir!", the driver called.
"Shoot when you are ready..", Pierre called back.
"Yes Sir", the driver answered. The Eure fired its final bullet, but the Panzer noticed the danger and avoided the shot.
The Eures crew had already begun their retreat when Pierre noticed something: "Wait a minute! Look at that big tree behind the Panzer." The tree had caught the rogue bullet but in return had suffered a large hole near the bottom of the trunk. Because of the damage, the trunk couldn't hold the trees weight and was slowly tipping towards the Panzer, who's crew had apparently not noticed a thing. With a final crack, the tree fell exactly on The Panzer, pressing it to the ground.
"The crew will have survived.", the radio operator said anxiously. "Let's get out of here.", Pierre agreed, "I wonder if the other tanks from our unit have also succeeded in stabilizing their zones of Stonne.", he added as an afterthought.
On the way back to their camp, the Eure ran into two anti-tank guns, but it's 7.5mm machine guns easily solved the problem