Memorial

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Albert Hop enlisted on 18 March 1941 in Providence, Rhode Island.

On the morning of the 20th the 3rd Armored combat command, organized as three task forces, was moved south by Brigadier General Raymond V. Boudinot. From the Spa area a task force under the command of Captain John W. Jordan was to attack towards Stoumont; one commanded by Major K. T. McGeorge was to move against the flank of the penetration north of La Gleize at Borgoumont and from Francorchamps; and the stongest of them, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William B. Lovelady, was to move south along the little Roannay valley to cut the Trois-Ponts - La Gleize road near Coo. Task Force Jordan made little progress. The column was confined to the road by high banks on either side as it appoached Stoumont a panzer knocked out its two leading tanks. As no other means of approach was available, the task force halted for the night. Similary, Task Force McGeorge was stopped around midday when it came up against a road-block south of Borgoumont. To the east, Task Force Lovelady was more successful; pushing determinedly south, by 1.00 p.m. its tank battalion crossed the 117th Regiment’s positions at Roanne and got onto the main N23 between La Gleize and Coo without any opposition. There they took by surprise and destroyed five trucks and two cars of a small, heavily comouflaged convoy which had crossed Petit-Spai bridge and was trying to resupply Peiper at La Gleize. Led by E Company under 1st Lieutenant Hope, the tanks headed towards Trois-Points and by 3.00 p.m. they had surprised another small convoy near Biester. Althrough a car, two trucks, five SPW, one “Hummel” self-propelled artillery gun and three prime-movers (one towing a 150mm gun and two towing 75mm anti-tank guns) were knocked out and denied Kampfgruppe Peiper, four Shermans were lost and 1st Lieutenant Hope was killed.