Kall Bridge (Cold
Brook) Bridge
Hürtgenwald-Vossenack, Germany
Dec 13, 2019
In November 1944, worn-out American units were forced
to
retreat from the village of Schmidt, they had to pass the
Kall bridge
under fire. In the midst of the bitter fighting,
Dr. Stüttgen, a German
Medical Officer, organized several
short cease-fires over six days to tend
to the dead and care
for the wounded. As a result, wounded soldiers from
both
sides could be treated by German Doctors and paramedics.
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Kall-Brücke
Hallowed Ground: Kall Trail, Germany
Dec
13, 2019
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The Ceasefire at the Kall Bridge Across this
way, the
so-called “Kall Trail”, troops of
the 28th US Infantry
Division pushed forward at the
beginning of November
1944 to capture the village of
Schmidt. After a few
days, the so-called
"Allerseelenschlacht" resulted in a disaster for the
Americans. As surviving American troops tried to retreat
across this bridge to Vossenack, great parts of the Kall
Valley were already cut off by
the Germans.
From November 7 to 12, the German regimental doctor,
Captain Dr. Guenther Stuettgen, managed to
negotiate an unofficial ceasefire with the Americans
here at the Kall Bridge in order to attend to the
wounded of both sides. The lives of many G.I.s were
saved by German paramedics. After the war, Dr. Stuettgen
was honored by the Governor of the State of
Pennsylvania for this act of humanity. This incident at
the Kall Bridge is
documented in the Museum of the National Guard
on
a painting entitled "A Time for
Healing". |
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The
Sigfried Line / Dragon's Teeth
Hargard, Germany
Dec 13, 2019
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the Westwall,
was a
German defensive line built during the 1930s opposite the
French Maginot
Line. It stretched more than 630 km (390 mi);
from Kleve on the border with
the Netherlands,
along the western border of the old German Empire, to the
town of
Weil am Rheinon the border to Switzerland – and featured more
than
18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps.
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The
Sigfried Line Hargard, Germany
Dec 13, 2019
Siegfried Line: A system of pillboxes and strongpoints built
along the
German western frontier in the 1930s and greatly expanded in
1944.
In 1944, during World War II, German troops retreating from
France
found it an effective barrier for a respite against the
pursuing Americans.
This respite helped the Germans
mount their counteroffensive in the Ardennes
forest,
and the Allies did not break through the entire line until early
1945.
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Manhay
Belgium
Dec 14, 2019
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Manhay
Belgium
Dec 14, 2019
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Manhay
Belgium
Dec 14, 2019
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Manhay
Belgium
Dec 14, 2019
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Manhay
Belgium
Dec 14, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
Convoy to Bastogne
Dec 15, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
The Bastogne Barracks
Dec 15, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
101st Airborne Museum
Bastogne
Temporarily occupied by The NAZI Regeme
1941-44
This prestigious building was used by the German army
as
"Unteroffiziersheim" during the occupation of Bastogne in WWII.
Dec 15,
2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
The Bastogne Barracks
Dec 15, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
The Bastogne Barracks
Delta Company 49 Calvary Fort Hood
Dec
15, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
McAuliffe Square
Dec 15, 2019
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Bastogne
Belgium
McAuliffe Square
Dec 15, 2019
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Pont-de-Rensiwez-Bridge Belgium
Dec 16, 2019
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Pont-de-Rensiwez-Bridge Belgium
Dec 16, 2019
In 1944-45 every US Soldier crossed this
bridge
to get from Bastogne to Hoffalize
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Foy Belgium
St.
Barbara Chapel
Dec 16, 2019
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Foy Belgium
St.
Barbara Chapel
Dec 16, 2019
Foy was occupied by German forces during the Battle of the
Bulge.
The U.S. 101st Airborne Division held the Bois Jacques
just
outside town. After being relieved by General George S.
Patton's
U.S. Third Army, the 101st retook the town.
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Foy Belgium
Temp
Cemetery Foy - Recogne
Dec 16, 2019
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Foy Belgium
Temp
Cemetery Foy - Recogne
Dec 16, 2019
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Ardennes Forest
near Foy / Bastogne Belgium
Dec 16, 2019
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Mardasson War
Memorial Bastogne Belgium
Dec 16, 2019
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Malmedy
Belgium
Dec 17, 2019
On December 16, 1944, at 05:30 a.m. the German
military
launched the “Aedennes Winter Counter Offensive.”
The
Allied Armed Forces responded in Belgium.
It was dubbed: The Battle of The
Bulge.
It was a last-ditch German military counter-offensive
against the
Allied armies in the West.
Hitler hoped that the German counter-attack
would
split the British and American armies,
allow his forces to capture
the port city of Antwerp,
and ultimately stall the Allied offensive against
Germany.
He hoped for a peaceful surrender where he would prevail.
On
the day after the German offensive began,
Waffen SS units captured and
murdered more
than 80 US soldiers and Belgian prisoners.
This atrocity is
known as the “Malmedy Massacre.”
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Malmedy
Belgium
Dec 17, 2019
The junction of the N-23 and N-32,less than
two miles
southeast of Malmédy, was known locally
as the Baugnez crossroads.
Since it was the round-a-bout
junction of five roads, the Americans called
it Five Points.
On December 17, 1944, Battery B of the
285th Field
Artillery Observation Battalion was
heading south from Hürtgen Forest
toward Ligneuville.
The two forces converged just before noon at the
crossroads
hamlet of Baugnez, two and a half miles south of
Malmedy.
Colonel Joachim (Jochen) Peiper, The 1st SS Panzer Division
of
the Sixth Panzer Army, gave the order to kill the
American Prisoners or
War.
German troops walked among the bodies and shot any
who appeared to
be alive. Survivors of the atrocity
recalled being fired upon several times,
and even
hearing laughter as the Waffen SS troops killed the Americans.
When the Germans left the site, at least 84 US soldiers were dead.
Just over
40 Americans survived the incident,
now known as the Malmedy
Massacre,
either by fleeing into the woods or pretending to be dead.
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