THE MALMEDY MASSACRE

We are now in Belgium and staying at a beautiful resort called Le Val d’Arimont a few miles away from the town of Malmedy. The resort is in the Ardennes forest, has a small river flowing by and its difficult to believe that such vicious fighting took place here 56 years ago a few kilometers away from the centre of Malmedy.

It was here at Baugnez, at the crossroad to Ligneuville, that an element of Kampfgruppe Peiper massacred some 130 American Artillery GI prisoners of war in a field – this was to become known as the Malmedy Massacre. The field stands vacant to this day and a memorial to the soldiers has been erected nearby.

 

 

 

Below are photos of the field in which the American prisoners of war were executed

 

 

 

After the war Peiper and about 40 of his men were tried at Dachau for war crimes pertaining specifically to this action. Although it could never be proved that Peiper had given the order for the massacre, nor was he at the scene at the time it when it happened, he was considered to be the person in charge of the unit and was sentenced to death. However, on appealing the case, the death sentence was commuted to a prison term and he was released in 1956. After several years of working for Porsche he went to live in a small town in France where he freelanced as a journalist for motoring magazines. On Bastille Day in 1976 his house was firebombed by ex members of the Maquis and he died in the blaze.

We went to visit the museum near the site which was opened only 2 years ago. This is an excellent museum and has many dioramas of the Battle of the Bulge, with the emphasis on the German troops and their equipment. Excellent light and sound presentations are to be seen there. Afterwards a film is shown which fully explains the battle and how it was fought.

At the museum a diarama has been built recreating the massacre

 

and there is a photograph of the bodies being exhumed by the American forces a month later after the Battle of the Bulge

 

CHARLOTTE'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE NORMANDY TRIP

Before I came on this tour, I thought it would be a trip that could only be appreciated from a man’s perspective.

Although there are lots of men visiting the battle sites of Normandy, there are also many couples and of course schoolchildren in their hundreds. Because of the great interest shown by the Americans and British visitors, the most important sites have been made very user friendly and interesting for both men as well as women. The museums have movies that recreate the battle scenes so that you feel like you were actually there. One especially good movie that I enjoyed is the 360° cinema at Arromanches where you feel like you are flying, sailing or driving through the area in 1944 and then again as it is now. I could compare what it felt like to the soldier and what it looks like now.

The tour through the underground German bunkers at Azzerville enabled me to see the war from the German perspective. The sound and light show in a bunker at the Merville Battery helped me feel what it was like to live through the noise of the bombing and shelling [louder than Dennis playing Private Ryan on his sound system!]. All these tourist-directed sites made it very interesting for me and not just a tour through dry museums and cemeteries. The stories of heroism by the soldiers, resistance fighters and local residents make for spell-binding listening.

The beautiful countryside that is very green at the moment with idyllic pastoral scenes of cows and sheep and the lovely little villages with their rose gardens belie the images of destruction that I saw on old photographs and movies.

The American and British tourists are welcomed everywhere with signs of welcome to ‘the Liberators’ despite the way their homes were completely destroyed. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor Frenchmen who had to endure so much. The number of graves in the cemeteries, both Allies and German, are heart wrenching as it made me realize the number of soldiers who died and all in the 19 and 20 age groups –so young!

DENNIS'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE NORMANDY TOUR

One of the longest wishes of my life has now been fulfilled – to visit the beaches and areas where the allies invaded fortress Europe in 1944

Did the trip meet my expectation? A definite thumbs up!

Names that I had heard about – Arromanches, Bayeaux, St Mere Eglise, Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge – now have a definite meaning to them

The Normandy Invasion of ’44 was one of the major events of the 20th century and its logistical scale remains to this day the largest in history. What I have written in my blog is but a miniscule of all the incidents which took place.

One is saddened by the massive loss of life and the destruction which took place here some 66 years ago. Whole towns and villages were destroyed, their inhabitants the collateral victims of war.

Fortunately the French nation’s resolve to rebuild and reestablish their towns and communities have proved fruitful. Today the area is as beautiful as ever, tourists abound, factories produce and agriculture thrives. After what they endured they deserve it all.

Although Operation Overlord was hugely successful I do believe that mistakes were made which could possibly have shortened the war, the main one being Eisenhower’s refusal to heed Patton’s advice to enclose the Falaise Gap more vigorously, thereby allowing a large portion of their army to escape over the Seine and the Rhine to fight another day. I also believe that Montgomery was more of a prima donna than a general – his failures at Caen cost the British, Canadian and Polish soldiers, not to mention French
civilians, many lives.

I believe that the American army was well led by Bradley and the quality of his commanders was superb, especially Patton.

All credit must go to the Allied troops and their field officers whose bravery and perseverance in the most terrible of conditions won the day. All free men owe them a debt that can never be repaid - by honouring and remembering them is all we can do. These young men offered up their lives, many making the supreme sacrifice, in helping to destroy the Nazi scourge.

Whatever we might think of the Nazis and the German’s there is no doubt that their soldiers were brave men and excellent fighters. They too gave up their lives for a maniacal fanatic who only wished to pursue his own evil policies.

Most of the French population resisted the Nazis either covertly or overtly. The Maquis and other resistance organizations consisted of extremely brave men and women who risked their lives in the struggle to liberate their fellow citizens.

I am very grateful that I have been privileged to make this trip



N.B. WE ARE LEAVING FOR BELGIUM TOMORROW SO I WILL NOT BE BLOGGING FOR THE NEXT 2 DAYS OR SO

BAYEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY

The British Cemetery in Bayeaux is the repository of the remains of some 5,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers and was the main burial place of British troops who lost their lives in Normandy

There are Polish graves and 150 German soldiers are also buried here

 

 

 

 

BAYEUX NORMANDY MUSEUM

 

 

 

VILLERS BOCAGE

The Germans were unable to take the main Normandy city of Caen some 20 miles east of Bayeaux and which was of strategic importance – it took Montgomery 4 major battles before the city was eventually seized a month after the invasion began

Villers Bocage is town situated some 20 kilometers south of Bayeaux and the British hoped to launch a flanking attack on Caen from here.

While they were gathering their forces in this area ace German SS tank commander Michael Wittmann on his own snuck in behind a British tank and truck convoy destroying 14 vehicles in quick succession. He and five of his Tiger Tanks then entered Villers Bocage and took the British by surprise destroying several more of their tanks.

The British troops then rallied and retaliated. Wittmann’s tank was damaged but he managed to escape – he was killed about a month later near Caen during Operation Totalise

A statue to General Eisenhower is in the town centre

 

 

 

LONGUENS BATTERY

Three German artillery batteries were part of the Atlantic Wall defenses and were attacked by British destroyers before the invasion – two were destroyed but the one at Longuenes –su - Mer was repaired and operational within 24 hours.

The navy again attacked it and it was soon pounded into submission and its troop surrendered to British forces

One can now visit this battery which remains intact with its 152mm canons

 

 

 

 

GOLD BEACH - ARROMANCHES

Gold Beach was the centre of the invasion beaches and was assigned to the British forces,

After heavy fighting the British established a beach head at Arromanches, a town on the coastline of Gold.

Here they positioned one of the 2 “Mulberry Harbours” specially built for the invasion – the other was on Omaha but it was is destroyed by a storm a week after the invasion

The Mulberry was an engineering and logistical marvel. It consisted of a number of huge steel containers which were towed from England, then pinned and hinged together with a hinged ramp leading to the shore. Thousands of tons of equipment, tanks, trucks and other supplies were off loaded onto this harbour and brought to shore.s

At Arromanches is an excellent museum mainly depicting the Mulberrys and how they were operated.

A new 360 degree movie theatre using 9 projectors was opened in 2006. It is an amazingly realistic experience viewing the film shown there and combined with its special sound effects one feels that you are in the middle of the battle

 

 

 

 

ST-LO

The town of St-Lo lies south west of Bayeaux

As the American troops moved inland from Omaha and Utah Beaches they entered the bocage terrain between Bayeux and St- Lo. The high mounds and vegetation on the sides of the roads make for extremely difficult fighting conditions which you will see from the fotos below and from my explanation in a previous posting.

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually after 4 weeks of being bogged down in the bocage the American reached the outskirts of St-Lo which was vigorously defended by the Germans because of its strategically important position.

Heavy bombing raids were ordered on the town and it was virtually destroyed. Afterwards the 35th US Infantry Division led by Major Howie led the assault into the town. Howie wanted to be the first soldier to enter St-Lo so when he was killed his soldiers had his body taken to the ruined church in St-Lo where it was left covered with the Stars and Stripes. There is a memorial to Howie in the city.

 

The large cathedral in town was almost destroyed. The surviving tower and one side wall have been left as a reminder of the terrible destruction inflicted on the town.

 

 

To the west of the city the Americans bombed German troops with napalm and inflicted horrific casualties on them.

St-Lo has been rebuilt and is again a thriving modern town.

AVRANCHES

Avranches is one of the oldest towns in Normandy and is a key point of access to Britanny and to the south of France. It is situated at the south western point of the Cotentin Peninsular.

After the Americans seized St-Lo the Allieds decided that the time had come to take the initiative to breakout from Normandy towards Brittany, Paris and the south – Operation Cobra was to be effected.

Who better to lead this operation than General George Patton who was based at Avranches with his 3rd US Army. He stormed through Britanny and seized Brest in the west, Cherbourg in the north and powered on to Falaise in the east.

Patton was extremely popular amongst the French civilian population in Avranches and they have honoured him by placing a memorial near the centre of the town as well as a bust of him. This is real Patton country!

 

 

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