The_Dutchman
Company Commander
I own several books from the series 40-45 Then & Now, including one titled Battle of the Bulge. For those unfamiliar with the series: the books contain hundreds of pictures taken during WW2 and pictures of the same locations, but then taken in the 1970's and 1980's. I always wanted to do something similar so I booked a hotel and drove down to the Belgian Ardennes. It was only a 2,5 hours drive until I arrived in Bastogne.
The main objective for this trip was to follow the route which Kampfgruppe Peiper had taken. It's objective was to reach the river Maas and if possible advance upto Antwerp. Peiper's force consisted of 117 tanks, including 22 Tiger II tanks and 14 Panther tanks, 149 Halftracks, 18 105mm and 6 150mm artillery and 4800 troops.
I found a dutch website with a detailed plotted route in Google Maps (http://www.ww2-experience.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=74). Using this information together with my car navigation it should be possible to follow the same route as much as possible.
Once I arrived at Bastogne I visited the Bastogne War Museum, which was renewed for last year's 70 year memorial. It's a nice museum but it has become a more general WW2 museum, with a lesser focus on BotB itself.
The next morning I left my hotel and drove to the starting position, just east of the German town Losheim. It took me four hours to complete the 85 km long route, along the way I stopped at Baugnez '44 Historical Center". This new museum is directly next to the field where a large group of American POW's was killed by members of Peiper's kampfgruppe. This is commonly know as the 'Malmady massacre'.
Peiper himself was not present, but since he was the commanding officer, he was sentenced to death after the war. The sentence was not carried out and after 11 years he was released from prison.
As I drove up to the museum I noticed several people walking towards a memorial site while carrying standards with flags. For sheer luck my trip coincided with a memorial ceremony so I decided to attend it before visting the museum. There were about 50 people attending, including representatives from various armies. After a small speech, flowers were laid, followed by 2 minutes of silence and concluded by playing several national anthems.
After the ceremony I visited the new museum. It's really nice , not big in size but instead big in quality. It has just a few vehicles: a jeep, a schwimmwagen and a weasel (in german hands) but there was plenty to see. Below are a few pictures to give an impression:
After my visit to the museum I continued Peiper's route. Near Cheneux I was able to locate a small pre-WW2 bunker. In this bunker Peiper and Knittel took cover when attacked by Allied airplanes. During this attack he lost several Panther tanks.
From this point it is about 7km to Habiemont, where Peiper's advance was stopped when the bridge over the river Lienne was blown up. This is the bridge today:
Next to the bridge a M3A1 halftrack stands guard:
What I found out from this little battlefield tour, is that it must have been quite an effort for Peiper's battlegroup to cross the Ardennes. Although most roads nowadays are wider and hardened, some of the little narrow and steep backroads were a challenge for my regular sedan car. It must have been really hard to drive a 70 ton Tiger II on those roads.
Offcourse, when driving around this area, there are numerous monuments remembering BotB. Here are the ones I came across in 1 day:
German Tiger II tank. The barrel is incorrect. It was severed during the battle and a 75mm barrel was welded on after the war.
US Sherman tank:
US 105mm Howitzer:
German Panther tank (in a very sad state):
British Sherman Firefly turret (missing mantlet):
British Archilles tank detroyer:
US Sherman M4A1 tank:
It was a good trip and I expect to visit the area a few more times.
The main objective for this trip was to follow the route which Kampfgruppe Peiper had taken. It's objective was to reach the river Maas and if possible advance upto Antwerp. Peiper's force consisted of 117 tanks, including 22 Tiger II tanks and 14 Panther tanks, 149 Halftracks, 18 105mm and 6 150mm artillery and 4800 troops.
I found a dutch website with a detailed plotted route in Google Maps (http://www.ww2-experience.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=74). Using this information together with my car navigation it should be possible to follow the same route as much as possible.
Once I arrived at Bastogne I visited the Bastogne War Museum, which was renewed for last year's 70 year memorial. It's a nice museum but it has become a more general WW2 museum, with a lesser focus on BotB itself.
The next morning I left my hotel and drove to the starting position, just east of the German town Losheim. It took me four hours to complete the 85 km long route, along the way I stopped at Baugnez '44 Historical Center". This new museum is directly next to the field where a large group of American POW's was killed by members of Peiper's kampfgruppe. This is commonly know as the 'Malmady massacre'.
Peiper himself was not present, but since he was the commanding officer, he was sentenced to death after the war. The sentence was not carried out and after 11 years he was released from prison.
As I drove up to the museum I noticed several people walking towards a memorial site while carrying standards with flags. For sheer luck my trip coincided with a memorial ceremony so I decided to attend it before visting the museum. There were about 50 people attending, including representatives from various armies. After a small speech, flowers were laid, followed by 2 minutes of silence and concluded by playing several national anthems.
After the ceremony I visited the new museum. It's really nice , not big in size but instead big in quality. It has just a few vehicles: a jeep, a schwimmwagen and a weasel (in german hands) but there was plenty to see. Below are a few pictures to give an impression:
After my visit to the museum I continued Peiper's route. Near Cheneux I was able to locate a small pre-WW2 bunker. In this bunker Peiper and Knittel took cover when attacked by Allied airplanes. During this attack he lost several Panther tanks.
From this point it is about 7km to Habiemont, where Peiper's advance was stopped when the bridge over the river Lienne was blown up. This is the bridge today:
Next to the bridge a M3A1 halftrack stands guard:
What I found out from this little battlefield tour, is that it must have been quite an effort for Peiper's battlegroup to cross the Ardennes. Although most roads nowadays are wider and hardened, some of the little narrow and steep backroads were a challenge for my regular sedan car. It must have been really hard to drive a 70 ton Tiger II on those roads.
Offcourse, when driving around this area, there are numerous monuments remembering BotB. Here are the ones I came across in 1 day:
German Tiger II tank. The barrel is incorrect. It was severed during the battle and a 75mm barrel was welded on after the war.
US Sherman tank:
US 105mm Howitzer:
German Panther tank (in a very sad state):
British Sherman Firefly turret (missing mantlet):
British Archilles tank detroyer:
US Sherman M4A1 tank:
It was a good trip and I expect to visit the area a few more times.
