European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Robert Hamsley As an army officer during world War ii. By Ike Flores associated press n August 1944, . Army it. Robert Hamsley led a five tank platoon into the French Village of Pylelo and vanquished a contingent of heavily armed germans. Two Days later German gunners knocked out four of the five tanks and damaged Hamsley s own m4 Sherman before he and the three Crew members recovered. They destroyed the attack guns killed and routed some 100 germans and rescued the wounded. The second action earned Hamsley the Bronze Star and a promotion to Captain. The successful attack at Pylelo a Hamlet near Brest in Brittany went practically unnoticed and was unreported in the official diaries of the 15th Cav regt of Gen. George Patton a third army. But the people of Pylelo never forgot. Now 46 years later the mayor and the Village Council of Pylelo have officially declared Hamsley a hero and the town s Liberator. They have named him an honorary citizen and Are recommending that he be awarded the French legion of Honor. Hamsley now 71, a resident of Lawrenceburg tenn., who Winters in Orlando fla., is overwhelmed by the attention. He and several family members will travel to Pylelo in june for a Celebration in his Honor. By most accounts the appearance that Day of the five tanks and 20 men under Hamsley a command saved Many of the Village residents from almost certain execution by German troops. In addition a Small Force of French resistance fighters were in danger of being wiped out. At the precise moment the american tanks rumbled into town one published report narrates the German soldiers had lined up against a High Wall an elderly woman her daughter and the Village pm Eloy a unforgettable hero priest to be shot As resistance collaborators. Others had been picked for execution. But the germans were routed during intense firefights in the Village Square and at a nearby Field where they were garrisoned. The american tank platoon assisted by the resistance and some of the villagers killed about 50 enemy soldiers and captured 60, according to the accounts. After the skirmish Hamsley and his tank platoon quickly left Pylelo met up with their main column the next Day and were soon engaged in a Battle near Plo Vigneau which earned him the Bronze Star. Hamsley says things were moving too fast for a debriefing of his platoons activities at Pylelo. By the time a sketchy report was made it became a footnote to ensuing Battles. A we just did our Job. We figured it was just another Day s work Quot Hamsley says. He never knew the full significance of the Side trip to Pylelo or that his platoons actions would go Down in Village history a until Robert Hamsley now 71, holds a medallion bearing the coat of arms of the French town of Pylelo that he helped liberate from the germans in world War ii. This past year. Amateur French historians and a retired american colonel pinpointed Hamsley As the Man on the spot and researched the details of the military encounter. They pieced together eyewitness accounts and consulted military records and Village archives. The sex colonel Robert Dwan of Tucson ariz., spends much of his time a trying to get belated recognition for deserving members of the 15th cavalry Quot in which he also served As a platoon Leader in France. Dwan contacted Yvon Herve a history Buff who lives near Pylelo and Roger Gedgaud another resident of the area to uncover details of the Battle. Herve sought out a number of the Rural areas older residents among them a former mayor of Pylelo who was a boy of 15 and one of those scheduled for execution in the town Square at the time of the German american Battle. In a 1975 French history entitled a the Battle of Brittany a author Jean Joseph Barsel writes that the americans Quot saved the people of Pylelo from death As the germans had put everything into place for the total destruction of the  Jean Querro a member of the French resistance at that time told a newspaper recently that Quot we old combatants recall with our heart Quot the american officer they had helped Quot to save the inhabitants of Pylelo from a dramatic  pm Eloy a current mayor Yves Lecoque wrote Hamsley last August informing him of the councils action in naming him an honorary citizen of the Village Quot in testimony of our gratitude for your courageous action of aug. 6,1944, which led to the villages  the mayor wrote again in november to thank Hamsley for accepting their invitation to visit in june. He was overjoyed the mayor wrote Quot at the idea of finally being Able to Welcome a 46 years later a the Man who was our  Hamsley will Fly to Paris and then travel to Pylelo on june 16 for a Celebration in his Honor. Most accounts of the Battle mention the Quot providential arrival of the american soldiers Quot particularly because Many of the inhabitants had gone to the Village Church to Pray that they be spared from the German occupiers. Hamsley agrees with the use of the word Quot providential Quot because he and his platoon were reluctant participants in the Pylelo fight. Quot it had to be providential that we wound up there when we were separated from our main unit for a couple of Days a without radio Contact Quot Hamsley says. Quot our main concern was to get to Brest not to engage in an out of the Way  the still slim Hamsley who in civilian life became a horse auctioneer a Law enforcement officer and businessman looks Forward to seeing Pylelo again. Quot i remember it As a pretty town a Hamsley says. Quot i remember Well the town Square or Plaza and a Park. I want to see the High Wall with its Iron Grill work where much of the fighting took place. It will be like they say  Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes sunday april 22,1990