Slag om de Ardennen - Battle of the Bulge

In de Ardennen vind men nog veel herinnering aan de IIWO "The Battle of the Bulge".

Er is een groot aanbod aan getuigenissen zoals musea, monumenten en tanks.

Deze pagina is overwegend in het Engels daar dit vooral het onderwerp van onze Engelstalige gasten is; dit zijn meestal Amerikaanse oud-strijdens en of hun familieleden.

A little if at all known house where Patton stayed; Mc Auliffe and an American Sherman tank in Bastogne
Vakantiewoningen in de Belgische Ardennen. Text says in French "Général Patton a logé dans cette maison du 28-12-1944 au 10-1-1945", or translated "General Patton stayed in this house from 28-12-1944 till 10-1-1945"

Vakantiewoningen in de Belgische Ardennen. Mc Auliffe with a Sherman tank in Bastogne

Commonwealth War Cemetery at Hotton (20 min away)
Vakantiewoningen in de Belgische Ardennen. Commonwealth War Cimetary at Hotton Vakantiewoningen in de Belgische Ardennen. A young chap of 18, dying in Jan 1945 to defend another country

Our area is brimming over with memorials, cemeteries, tanks on village squares and museums, all quiet testimonies of this last German offensive on the western front during W.W.II, the Battle of the Bulge.

We have a unique personal set of Battle of the Bulge maps and itineraries that we lend to visitors. We will help you plan your trip when you are here, and we can show you some memorials that are not well known.

In our village, still living eyewitnesses can tell you first hand about the fierce encounter in our village, when 4 German and 1 American tank were destroyed.

Here is a thumbnail summary of the Battle of the Bulge:

The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 - January 1945) was the last major German offensive on the Western front during World War II. The Battle of the Bulge is also known as the Battle of the Ardennes, or the von Rundstedt offensive (after the commanding German general). Following a rapid advance after the Normandy invasion in June 1944, Allied forces stalled along the German border. On December 16 the Germans launched a counteroffensive into Belgium and Luxembourg. Their advance was halted in late December. Heavy German losses contributed to their final collapse in the following spring.

Here are a few links on the Battle of the Bulge, worth visiting:

United States Army, 1940-1945, 84th Infantry Division, Railsplitters

Furthermore, other historical battlefield are within easy reach:

  • Waterloo: where Napoleon was finally defeated after 20 years of war in Europe by allied forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington.
  • Ypres and other places in Flanders: the scene of 4 years of trench war fare during WWI
  • Verdun: one of the biggest onslaughts of WWI (and human history for that matter), with the French loosing 350.000 men and the Germans 330.000, in an undecided battle that gave no strategic advantage to either side.