Most of the testimony provided by the survivors stated that on December 17, 1944 about 120 Americans from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion (FAOB) were surprised by the German armored advance on Baugnez, and surrendered. They were then gathered in a field near the Baugnez crossroads, at which time the SS troops fired on their prisoners with machine guns. Several SS prisoners later testified that a few of the prisoners had tried to escape. Others claimed that a few of the prisoners had recovered their previously discarded weapons and fired on the German troops as they continued their progress toward Ligneuville. Of the 84 bodies recovered a month later, most showed wounds to the head, seemingly much more consistent with a deliberate massacre than with self-defense or with injuries inflicted on prisoners who were attempting to escape.