Another thread HERE
Another thread HERE

My threads are never short so be warned :) It's been another few weeks, and another few visits done.

TLDR:

First we remember WW1 with a visit to the Verdun battlefield and the Meuse - Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery in Europe with 14.246 American souls.
Second is about WW2 with a visit to Bastogne, the Mardasson Memorial site and the Easy Company positions in the Bois Jacques forest overlooking Foy.

Verdun: Site of the BATTLE OF VERDUN. It lasted for 300 days, 140.000 Germans and 160.000 French died. Pivotal point was the Douaumont fortress. Incredible. Very impressive.  What struck me was the reverie of the French for this place. They are usually a quite vocal lot, even at other memorials...but not here. This is their hallowed ground, and you can tell. There are no running children here, or loud voices. About half the cars we saw had German plates.  I already visited Verdun before on my motorcycle, this time we went into the ruins of the fortress itself. Also the American Meuse-Argonne Cemetery was very moving. I hope to do Belleau Wood maybe later this year.

Bastogne: The town is nothing special (nothing left from WW2) but the Mardasson Memorial and the Museum are well-worth it, and ofcourse the site of the attack into Foy. I want to REALLY point out that the Band of Brothers show did NOT cause all this, the memorial, museum and especially the close feeling the people of Bastogne have with the 101st existed way before even the book came out. Something to remember.

1. Verdun


Verdun was an artillery battle. Of the 800.000 casualties an estimated 80% were caused by artillery. The French alone fired 2000 shells at every square metre, of which 10% failed to explode. So that is 200 UXO every 10 ft². And that is just the French.  This is why this area is called THE RED ZONE. You are not allowed to wander unmarked area's. The total battefield is about 8 square miles.


On top of the fort. The objective of the German assault on the sector was 'to bleed France white'. France stripped Verdun of most men and arms to fortify other sectors before the attack. It was taken by 12 enterprising German pioneers.


Inside they have walled-off several passages because there are remains entombed, both French and German.


7 French soldiers lost.


May 8th, 1916. An EXPLOSION. Either a French artillery shell hits a stockpile of German flamethrower fuel, or German soldiers trying to heat up rations set fire to it themselves. Panic in the fortress. Some soldiers emerge from a bunker, their face black with soot. 'The French are here!" (they thought it were French colonial troops). Handgrenades fly. In the end, 700-800 Germans die. They are stacked into an ammunition bunker and the wall is sealed off.

I did not take pictures because there was a big German group present and I didn't want to intrude. The small picture shows the room. Incredible.


Next we visited the Ossuary (the massive white building). It contains the remains of about 130.000 dead (both French and German). When forest workers find remains (and they often do) they are moved inside. The bones are stacked all the way up to the ceiling at some places. It is not allowed to take pictures, you have to bare your head and no talking.


16.142 graves lie in front, all French soldiers.


To move between memorials and sites (I only include a few here) you are encouraged to follow these rebuilt trenches. This is the "Boyau de Londres" trench, dug in 1917 in defence of the fort. And my wife :)


We also visited the "Trench of the Bajonets". This marks the location where some dozen bayonets lined up in a row were discovered projecting out of the ground after the war; below each rifle was the body of a French soldier. It has been assumed that these belonged to a group of soldiers who had rested their rifles against the parapet of the trench they were occupying when they were killed during a bombardment on June 12, 1916, when the 137th Régiment d'Infanterie was annihilated almost to the last man, and the men were buried where they lay in the trench and the rifles left untouched. This is a bit of a controversial memorial, while there are pictures from 1920 that show a covered trench and remains were recovered, it is likely the rifles were placed afterwards. More pictures HERE. In 1921 a wealthy American, Mr. Rand, hearing of the story of 'The trench of bayonets', paid for the construction of a concrete shelter as a more permanent memorial to the men who had died there. Forty of the bodies were identified and were then re-buried in the nearby Fleuty cemetery.


Next we went to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. This is the biggest American Cemetery in Europe, with 14.246 dead.


Words cannot describe how impressive this cemetery is. This is one of the "boxes"


Now look at the overview.


Impossible to read them all, we walked untill we found Michael. He died November 11, 1918. Armistice Day.

2. Bastogne.

A few weeks later my wife wanted to visit Bastogne, in particular the museum and the Mardasson Memorial.


Mardasson Memorial outside Bastogne is very impressive. It sits right outside town on a hill and you overlook the entire area.


All the participating states and units are listed on the memorial.


On the corner of each "arm" you have a plaque where you can see the battlefield. The gold star indicates the memorial.


Sector of Team Desobry and later II/506PIR.


All around the memorial are maps with the defensive zones.


In front of the memorial you have the Eagle Memorial to the 101st and it's attached units.


HH-6 in front of Blockbuster inside the museum.


The original one.

The Bastogne Museum is VERY well done, does a very good job of explaining the entire interbellum era all the way up to VE-day. Very busy, packed with families learning about history, very interactive. Maybe not a must if you know alot about history, but I see the advantages to having schools come over and spending the time doing the tour. Very good.

Next, the "Band of Brothers" location. I think most of us have seen the epic Band of Brothers, and we know about the time they spend in Bastogne overlooking the town of Foy, with finally the push into Foy.


From the center of Bastogne 5 roads lead out (like a wagon wheel). This is why it was such a crucial spot. From the center of town, it's about 2500m to the Mardasson Memorial. Next, another 3000m gets you to this spot. Behind the memorial you can see the Bois Jacques. Follow the road on the right about 2000m to arrive at the crossroads at Foy. This memorial is on the location of an old chapel (now removed) that was set up as an aid-station for the sector to collect wounded before they were driven to the hospital in the church downtown. It has the names of the members of Easy Company who died in the fighting.

After about 500m you can park and walk into the forest. These forests are 'planted', as in they are used to grow trees. The trees that exist now are not the ones from during the war. But the distances, the location, it's the real deal.


We are at the green circle. 2nd Ptn jumped off from the left finger, 3rd Ptn from the old track and 1st 'straight up the middle' as they say.


Moving through the Bois Jacques forest. Road to Foy on the right.


Edge of the line. The white house in the distance is Foy. It's 1000metres from the forest to the houses. The slope is downward. While 1000m might seem easy, it isn't. I know this, because in 2008 I walked it in knee-deep snow and it kicked my ass. I also didn't have an 88 shooting at me, so that helped.


Inside the forest a makeshift memorial. This existed way before BoB came about. You bring a stick from where you live and you leave it there.

That's it. I hope this was interesting to some of you. I am forever grateful to those who came here for my liberty. Let's remember them!

Have you been to the Caverne du Dragon outside Laon?  It's an incredible museum and site, and we were extremely well treated there.  Medieval monk's chalk mine turned underground ww1 battlefield...

That's on the planning for when we do Belleau Wood, for us it's more in the direction of Paris so it makes sense to group those up. Had a friend who went there, said it was very impressive.

Thank you for the post. The tours that you pictured are a bucket list item for me.

I went to Bastogne in '75.  I recall there was a Sherman turret set on top of a brick or stone platform in the area of the Museum.

Is it still there?

Thanks for the post OP.

Definitely don't miss it!

Thanks for your threads, they are really incredible!

I’ve been to that museum. All my pics have been lost to time.

Guess I’ll just have to go back!

There are 8 Sherman turrets scattered about Bastogne. Everything and all you EVER wanted to know about those turrets you can find HERE

I think you have seen turret number 6 (with the 10AD patch), and it is still there I can confirm!

If you ever get the chance, do it.

We are "lucky" that we have major WW1 and WW2 battlefields in daytrip distance. But on the other hand, I drove across the USA in a month sometime in 2005 and after 10 days I was told I was going to be left behind if we stopped at another Civil War memorial. Good thing I was the driver

One of my fondest memories is my dad taking me up to Bastogne during the annual rememberance of the battle, in our crappy car sliding all the way on the snowy highway, and eating heaps of waffles in the restaurant on the main square of Bastogne (in an old railway carriage). My dad would always pick a veteran (you would have loads of WW2 veterans sitting there, it was basically the only place in town) and he would ask the waitress to pay their bill. Now, this (like tipping) is not something you ever do in Europe so the waitress would always ask 2-3 times because she didn't understand. And afterwards we would go outside and look if we could when they found out that the bill was paid. Good times.

And now, yesterday the restaurant was still there (closed on Monday sadly) and my dad is gone. That's life.

EDIT found it, it's called Bistro Léo, the carriage is now part of the building (it used to be just the carriage standing on the square and they would bring the waffles from the kitchen in the building)

Question- does your wife actually enjoy going to battlefield tours? The ones I’ve seen usually have this ‘I can’t wait for this to be over’ look on their face.

It's usually her idea.

/Longwinded response coming

In 2010 I was with the Combat Engineers in Antwerp. One of our voluntary activities was helping the construction of a new visitor centre at Fort Breendonk. That fortress (part of the fortress belt around the Port of Antwerp) was used by the Germans during WW2 to house the detainees before transporting them to the camps in the East. When we were helping the construction, we got to talk to all the tour guides. In Belgium it is our 'national memorial' about the holocaust.

When I met my now-wife she wanted to go out on a date "but let's not do something cliché like going to the movies". So I took her to Breendonk and gave her the tour. Now, I've been to pretty much all major battefields, but she never did any of that. So she wants to catch up.

Ever since then we do something every year to commemorate both our meeting and events in history. We've been to major sites like Dachau, Arnhem, now Bastogne and Verdun, but we like to visit the small memorials just as much (because these are often overlooked). See my other threads linked above.

I will say when we met her knowledge of modern history (say 1900+) was very lacking. Problematic of schools is she knew all about the Greek gods but nothing about 'why did the Germans attack us twice?'. Typical. Now however I can say (not without pride) that she gives alot of people a run for their money when it comes to modern history.

We constantly spam eachother with Wikipedia links "you HAVE to read this" and it's usually about something we visit later.

What can I say, we are strange


Fortress Breendonk


The overview. Normally you would only see the entrance and cupola's, but when the Nazi's were in charge the prisoners had to excavate the fortress as 'punishment'. So now you can actually see the hallways connecting the different parts. Incredible.

Fantastic

Amazing

Thank you for this!

I went on an Army NCO tour of Verdun in '92.  Our docent was a retired Belgian LTC that had been a paratrooper in the Congo.

I did almost the exact same trip in 2006, it was amazing.  Thanks for the memories.

Great post, thanks for sharing.

Went to Verdun 2 summers ago.  Crazy.  Great little town though.  

Considering we just had the 'I have nothing in common with my SO', good on you for finding someone who shares your interests.

Dachau would make for an interesting date idea.

This is great thread, my Dad lives close to the American cemetery so I always go and pay my heartfelt thanks and respect.
It's so beautifully kept.

Douamont Ossuary is a strange place, it sometimes has a really odd atmosphere.

Good job OP!
What I found interesting was how the memorials had dozens, if not hundreds of names of the fallen from WWI and very few from WWII.
That and statues of Woodrow Wilson, I guess they appreciated his help.

Thank you for this post.

Again, her idea...we were in the Strasbourg area so we took the opportunity to drive there. Very humbling. One of these days we will go to Auschwitz aswell, I'm sure.

Big Time Tag

Wife and I spent a couple of days in Bastogne in 2014. I hired a guide for a full day, and he gave us a fantastic tour of the whole area. He picked us up at 9AM at our hotel on McAuliff Square, and finally dropped us off shortly after 5PM. We went to "Jack's Woods" (Bois Jacques) and found Easy Company's foxholes. I have a couple of pine cones in my den that I picked up there.
Our guide was also a relic hunter, and told us a neat story. He said that he usually gives free tours to US veterans of the BoB. Several years earlier, about 2011 or so, he was giving a tour to a BoB vet. As they were driving along a road in the area of Bois Jacques, the old vet started yelling, "Stop! Stop!". The guide thought that the old guy was going to be sick or something, so he stopped the car. When he did, the old guy jumped out of the car and ran into the woods. He told the guide "This is my foxhole! When I was here in '44 I lost my goddam glasses." The guide had a metal detector in the trunk of his car, and within a few minutes found the old guy's gold-filled wire-rimmed glasses. Both lenses were broken, but the wire rims were in pretty good condition. As he held out the remains of the glasses for the old guy to see, the old guy grabbed them, and said "Gimme. Those are mine."
He said that the cranky old bastard never even said thank you.

That is awesome!

And he deserved those glasses. Bigtime.

Thanks for the pictures.

I'd love to do a WW1 tour someday.

The Ardennes is one of my favorite areas to visit, I've been there several times to visit the Memorial to the 551st at Rochelinval.

Wife and I ate there the first night we were in Bastogne.

The food was pretty good, but the service sucked big time.

The restaurant was 2/3 empty, but the staff was pissed because we didn't have reservations. And they let us know they were pissed, too.

Will never go back.

Great Uncle died at Croix Rouge Farm, finally figured that out just this past year. Company A, 167th Inf Reg from Alabama. Bayonet charge into machine guns.
Intend to go there as soon as I can to visit the area.

I really enjoy your posts, thank you

Great thread. Thank you, OP.

That's the service industry here for you. Because the no-tipping-system they pretty much know they get paid at the end of the evening regardless of their effort. I still remember the first few times in America when we went out to eat, such a difference.

Bloody foreigners

Too-Tall,

Thank you!