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The II. Abteilung (Detachment/Group) of the 77th Artillery Regiment.
At Arras, the 7th Panzer Division was hit by a British counterattack on 21 May, but was able to repel it. That same day, the II./AR 77 changed position and withdrew. It headed southwest and was deployed at Wailly with a front to the north. Since the SS had left, the observation posts formed the front line. At the time when the 6th Rifle Regiment was advancing from Wailly towards the northwest and sought to overtake the Group's observation posts, the enemy, who was surrounded in the Arras area, made the first attempt to break through with about 60 tanks.
Parts of the 6 Rifle Regiment, the commander and the staff who had been hit on the flank by the tank attack fled to the observation posts, which were located in the small forest on Hill 105. At the same time, parts of the enemy tank formation advanced laterally beyond the observatory positions toward the firing position areas. The guns were forced to defend themselves in close combat. Communication lines were destroyed, so it was not possible to control the fire from observation points. The tanks destroyed the Group's scissor binocular and fired incendiary munitions, but failed to harm the command post personnel who remained well covered.
Four large tanks were destroyed in the firing positions with direct fire. The crew of the observation post went one by one to the firing points. Picking up the vehicles took some time. However, two hours later the old positions were resumed. The Abteilung played its part in this success against a large enemy armored force. The 5th Battery destroyed 3 armored vehicles and a larger number of unarmored vehicles, the 6th Battery eliminated one armored vehicle.
The division had ordered an advance towards Acq for 22 May 1940. Parts of the 6th Rifle Regiment, to which an artillery surveying team was assigned, had advanced during the night towards the ordered area and held the position there, isolated from the bulk of the division, until their arrival in the late afternoon. The surveying group had to mourn the loss of the officer candidate, Wachtmeister Steiss, during this operation. After the Group changed position in the area of Beaumetz and Berneville, a fierce tank attack near Berneville had to be repelled from open positions.
The 6th battery annihilated 5 tanks; otherwise fire was fired on the enemy near Berneville. Then, the II./AR 77 was deployed in the Acq area with a front towards the northeast. The Abteilung's mission was to defend against the superior enemy trapped north of Arras. The night passed peacefully. A repair squad vehicle hit a mine that day while in the Cambrai area and was completely destroyed. No one was seriously injured.
6th Battery Report: At 4:00 a.m., the battery commander received the order: The battery moves to a position on the northern edge of Berneville to defend against an expected tank attack from the north. For this, the battery is subordinated to the II. Battalion of the 7th Rifle Regiment. At 7:00 a.m. in the morning the first tank attack was carried out by 5 tanks and half an hour later by another 8 tanks. The cannons were deployed in a semicircle around the town so that they could have effect on three sides. There was no cover for the gunners. The fight takes place at distances of 1,300 m, 400 - 500 meters and once even at 40 meters.
This showed that the effect without delay at distances greater than 800 m is better than with anti-tank projectiles, since the dispersion is too large and the ability to observe the impact is too poor. In the fight against tanks, the forward gun especially stood out and shot down 4 of the 5 tanks destroyed by the battery. The battery then had to endure a fire attack and lost a wounded man. The French anti-tank gun, which we carried from Philippeville in place of our second gun, is rendered useless by two direct hits from a French tank.
Sources:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... orps-R.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... AR77-R.htm
Cheers. Raúl M
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Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada. General José de San Martín.
