About: 333rd Field Artillery Battalion (United States)

The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion was a racially segregated United States Army unit of African-American troops during World War II. The unit landed at Normandy in early July 1944 and saw continuous combat as corps artillery throughout the summer. In October 1944, it was sent to Schoenberg, Belgium, as part of the U.S. VIII Corps. At the onset of the Battle of the Bulge on 17 December 1944, the unit was overrun by German troops. While most of the 333rd FA Battalion withdrew west towards Bastogne, in advance of the German assault, Service and C Batteries remained behind to cover the advance of the 106th Infantry Division. The unit suffered heavy casualties, and 11 men of the 333rd were massacred near the Belgian hamlet of Wereth.