Sgt. Giles W. Hayward, of Spokane, Washington, and with the Third Platoon of General Patton's 4th Armored Division was involved in a brutal tank battle of World War II, during the Lorraine Campaign. This battle took place in the town of Singling, France, on 6, December 1944, a few days before the 4th Armored Division reached the Battle of the Bulge.

"They were moving when Grimm [tank commander] casually turned his field glasses to a pillbox on the ridge 1,200 yards north where he had seen a few enemy infantry minutes previously. He got his glasses on the spot just in time to see the long gun tube of the German tank's 75 flame and fire directly at him. The round hit nearby, and Grimm had a split second to decide whether to shoot back or run for it. He figured that his 105 without power traverse could not be laid in less than 20 seconds. That was too long. He threw his tank in gear and backed out of the garden. He had just started when a second round hit [Sgt. Giles W. Hayward's] tank on the sprocket, crippling it. In the next few seconds Hayward was hit four times and the tank began to burn. Gunner, Cpl. Angelo Ginoli and the bowgunner Pvt. John H. Furlow were killed; Hayward and his loader, Pfc. Vern L. Thomas, were wounded. Grimm made good his escape through the opening between No. 9 and No. 11. Outside, the tank bogged down in the heavy mud, and the crew evacuated while Grimm got Sowers to pull him out."

Read more about this infamous battle at: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-singling.htm

Giles Hayward