Let me start by saying that JB is as passionate about the Battle of the Bulge as I am about Spitfires. He is extremely knowledgeable and had a ton of photos for reference as we hunted down museums, memorials, monuments, relics, and the locations of well photographed hulks. JB knew where every vehicle was located and the story behind it. I can only hope to be as organized for a future self-tour like this one.
We left the States Tuesday evening and the overnight flight got us into Amsterdam on Wednesday morning. After getting our luggage and rental cars we then headed southeast towards the Ardennes. This was my first trip to the BeNeLux region.
For some reason I always pictured in my mind the Ardennes were flat, but heavily forested. Probably from all the Hollywood recreations of battle fought there. It’s absolutely beautiful country and I highly recommend visiting for a few days, even if just to relax. Reality was quite different as it was deep, narrow valleys with rushing rivers, windy roads, and occasional open pastures.
On our way to Clerveaux, Luxembourg, we stopped at Malmedy, Belgium via Liège. I’m pretty sure we stopped at another village on the way, and I was introduced to “then-now” picture taking. The idea is to try to stand where the original photo was taken, hold up the original “then” and take the picture, then lower it and take a second picture for the “now”. It requires a bit of alignment of buildings, corners, rooflines, and windows as well as being at the approximate distance. Sometimes that meant in the middle of a busy road. A variation is to make a short movie, slowly moving the picture down until the background came into focus.
Of course the “then” photos were of vehicles knocked out, both American and German. The above was a German Panther modified to appear as a US M-10 tank destroyer. JB says it created a little confusion, but soldiers weren’t fooled for long.
Malmedy was somber. There is a wall memorial there with all the names of the soldiers who were murdered. I understand the actual site is somewhere near the memorial, and we did not go there because the exact location remains a mystery.
We drove past Clerveaux and on to the Our River. Again we stopped along the way in another village for some pictures.
At the Our River we stopped at a village on the Luxembourg bank and took more photos of the bridge and locations where vehicles were knocked out. To my surprise I crossed the bridge for a better picture into the village and found myself in Germany! That was 4 countries in 1 day. Not sure I’ve ever done that before.
From there we headed back towards Clerveaux and stopped along a road to see where a vehicle was knocked out and just get a general feel for the open country here. I’m impressed by the number of houses and buildings that were repaired/rebuilt and are still standing.
Clerveaux is a quaint town on a river (and yes, it’s ON the river as portions of it flow under the town). I understand the US would station soldiers at the chateau for rest and recuperation. There of course were some combat ready soldiers there and they defended the town for some time, slowing the German advance.
TJ wants to make it his mission to get me to build a 1/35 Sherman. I was actually drawn to the anti-tank gun. It spoke to me for some reason.
Thanks for looking.
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