Day 103

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge is sometimes referred to as something to with a weight loss program, however this time it refers to the Battle of the Ardennes which took place in the very cold winter of 1944/45 . The Bulge being the mountain ranges; the name refers also the same named war movie Battle of the Bulge.

There have been times that I have (re) visited a place because I have a friend who has an association with it and because of this I go there and take some pictures. My good friend Sander Beukema loves the true story of the TV series "Band of Brothers"

The story follows the tragedies and triumphs of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Easy Company lead by Major Richard (d*** ) Winters who, as the major risk taker, survives the war against all odds,. Their battles took place in Normandy, Bastogne, Nijmegen and Arnhem and they fought all the way into the south east of Germany where they captured Hitler's hide out “The Eagles Nest” at Bergtesgarten during the last days of the Second WW.

My friend Sander bought the metal boxed movie set for my birthday and having it watched twice I have to conclude that it is one of the best war movies series I have seen. It is interesting that at the start of each episode some of the original soldiers incl d*** Winters tell their story.

I had been through Bastogne a few times and knew they have an most excellent museum and war memorial which I planned to visit again; however, when I arrived there it was closed for renovation. Meanwhile some other smaller museum had to do.

Bastogne is also known as “Nuts City” . When the Germans had surrounded the city they sent a courier with a message from the German Command Post to General McAuliffe, demanding their absolute surrender. The General wrote across the paper “NUTS” and continued their fight which ultimately they won.

During the battles, the local church served a hospital. Also portrayed in the movie was that one of the solders (a medic) of Easy Company befriended a nurse who attended to the soldiers there. Their friendship lasted a few days until in view of the soldier the church was hit by a bomb killing all inside it including the nurse. Today the church is still there and rebuilt however the scars are still very visible both on the outside and inside of the church

Via the local tourist information office I was directed to a smaller but also interesting museum in the nearby town of La Roche- en-Ardenne just 20km down the road where I visited the 106 airborne museum. The place has an excellent layout of equipment including old stuff which has been found over the years. The display areas show what life was like at both the Allied and German sides.