It still shows some battle scars, including a hole where a German shell penetrated the armour on the left hand side, with another at the rear of the tank. Wallace Alexander, was put out of action near Renaumont, a few kilometres west of Bastogne, on 30th December 1944. The tank, called “Barracuda”, was under command of Staff Sgt. The main square is now named Place General McAuliffe, and there is a statue to honour the acting commanding officer of the 101st throughout the siege.Īlongside this statue is the most photographed monument in Bastogne, a M4A3 Sherman tank that had served in the 41st Tank Battalion, Company B of the 11th Armored Division. For a the visitor, this therefore makes it a great place to explore, but one that needs more than one day (which regrettably I didn’t have!). It was defended throughout by the 101st Airborne, along with Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division who became encircled in the town. Bastogne was central to the fighting, it’s network of 11 hard-topped roads providing essential routes for tanks through otherwise heavy countryside. The town itself remains one large museum to the Battle of the Bulge, 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945, which is otherwise known as Le Bataille des Ardennes. This was further immortalised in Stephen E Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, which focused on the story of Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, and the subsequent HBO TV mini-series that was a global success. Unsurprisingly, much of the town is given over to the tourist trade, and in particular the story of the 101st Airborne. Recently I was able to spend a day in Bastogne in Belgium tracing some of the history of the Battle of the Bulge.
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