Category: Ardennes

Saint-Hubert

This week we are in the Ardennes, in Anloy. This mini village suffered greatly during the First World War, where several people from the village were used as shields and there were various reprisals on suspicion of helping the French. Near Anloy is also the village of Saint-Hubert, which was captured by the Germans during the offensive, but was eventually liberated by the Americans.

The photo shows Saint-Hubert with infantrymen from the 87th Div. entering the town of St. Hubert, immediately after the Germans have fled the town. December 1945. Only houses have been changed, but everything else looks the same. The Rue de la Vallee de L’Ourthe is the access road from the south where the American counter-offensive began.

Ardennes, Belgium

Stavelot and surrounding

kampfgruppe-peiper

During Peipers advance through the Bulge the Kampfgruppe of Peiper had to take several detours becaus of blow bridges of traffic jams. One of the famous pictures of the battle of the Bulge was taken at the crossroads at Kaiserbaracke. We see Peiper himself reading the map and looking at the road signs. He eventually took the road to Malmedy  

Today this intersection is no longer recognizable as such. An industry terrain next to the motorway, has swallowed the forest and the intersection. Now days this intersection has become a roundabout. The only thing left are the signs with the correct distances which indicate the routes the Kampfgruppe took.

kaiserbrackencrossing

Finally Peiper arrived in the evening at Stavelot where he was forced to withdraw till the dawn the next day. After heavy fighting they succeeded into crossing the bridge. What they did not know was that north of Stavelot a gasoline storage was placed. The American’s eventually set fire to the petrol dump to avoid it should fall in hands of the Germans. This event is to be seen in the movie ‘Patton’ which, following the story of the movie was the beginning of the end.

stavelot_petroldump
Kampf Gruppe Kiefer
Ardennes

Malmedy massacre

Malmedy_massacre_monument

The Malmedy massacre was a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors during World War II. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division), a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge.

 The massacre, as well as others committed by the same unit on the same day and following days, was the subject of the Malmedy massacre trial, part of the Dachau Trials of 1946. The trials were the focus of some controversy.

Malmedy_massacre04
Ardennes

Malmedy railwaybridge

Malmedy

On December 21 Malmedy was attacked by the Germans. Under command of Skorenzy the objective was to capture the River Meuse bridges. During the battle for Malmedy the railway viaduct was to be blown by the Americans. Problem was that it was an immense stone arched construction. Eventually at 2.00 p.m. on December 22 the bridge was blown with 1,800 lbs of TNT, completely blocking the road.

On December 21 Malmedy was attacked by the Germans. Under command of Skorenzy the objective was to capture the River Meuse bridges. During the battle for Malmedy the railway viaduct was to be blown by the Americans. Problem was that it was an immense stone arched construction. Eventually at 2.00 p.m. on December 22 the bridge was blown with 1,800 lbs of TNT, completely blocking the road.

Malmedy_viaduct
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Ardennes