Amel

Amel (French: Amblève) is a Belgian municipality in the Walloon province of Liège, and is part of the German-speaking Community of Belgium (German: Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens). On January 1, 2013, the municipality of Amel had a total population of 5,466. The total area is 125.15 km² which gives a population density of 44 inhabitants per km².

There are eighteen villages in Amel: Amel (village),Born, Deidenberg, Eibertingen, Halenfeld, Heppenbach, Hepscheid, Herresbach Iveldingen, Medell, Meyerode, Mirfeld, Möderscheid, Montenau, Schoppen, Stephanshof, Valender and Wereth.

The name Amel is of Celtic origin and means water. The river Amblève (German: Amel) flows through the municipality.

Amel is the birthplace of Karl-Heinz Lambertz, current leader (Minister-President) of the community executive of the German-speaking community of Belgium.

History

In 716, the Battle of Amblève, between Charles Martel with the Austrasians on one side and the joined forces of the Frisians and Neustrians under Ragenfrid and Chilperic II on the other side, was the first victory for Charles Martel.

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 was organized during World War I but never saw combat. In World War II, they landed at Normandy in early July 1944 and saw continuous combat as corps artillery throughout the summer. Beginning in October 1944 it was located in Schoenberg, Belgium as part of the U.S. VIII Corps.

The unit was partially overrun by Germans during the onset of the Battle of the Bulge on 17 December 1944. 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 eleven men of the 333rd were massacred near the Belgian hamlet of Wereth. After the war, the battalion was inactivated and reactivated during various Army reorganizations.

Unit formation and history