Malmedy Belgium… At the end of the First World War Malmedy was separated from Germany and annexed to Belgium on March 6 1925. Historically Malmedy gained its fame when it became the focal point of a massacre that was committed on December 17 1944 by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division) a German combat unit commanded by Regimental Commander Colonel Joachim Peiper during the Battle of the Bulge.
Many have written about the Malmedy Massacres but as we have seen throughout history memories seem to be short lived and often those of succeeding generations fail to learn from the past. With this in mind and following on the heels of Veterans Day I have been prompted to re-visit of one of the worst war atrocities perpetuated by the Nazis on American soldiers during World War II during the Battle of the Bulge.
Malmedy is a small Belgium town which today numbers about 12000 inhabitants is locate about 40 miles northeast of Bastogne and located in the north sector of the Ardennes Forest. The site of the massacre was located at the Baugnez Crossroads just a couple of miles southeast of Malmedy. The Baugnez Crossroads was known as Five Points by the American troops.
Historically the Ardennes was the site of three major battles during the world wars the Battle of the Ardennes in World War I and the Battle of France and Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Many of the small towns and villages of the region were badly damaged during the battles which occurred there giving testimony as to the ferocity of each of the Ardennes campaigns…none were simple battles".
In both World War I and World War II the Germans used the Ardennes Forest route from Germany to successfully move into France to wage war. Nations are slow to learn from history which was illustrated by the French in defense of their country. The route through the Ardennes Forest is not seemingly conducive to massive troop movements because of the narrow roadways and unpredictable weather. Hitler predicted light opposition against his German forces as the Allies were looking at a lull in the European War as the Germans had been defeated soundly in the summer months in France.
To understand the events which lead to the worse atrocity perpetuated against American troops in World War II it is best to set the stage…Allied leadership was content to take a break as they laid plans for the final push into Germany while the troops looked forward to writing letters home for Christmas and a chance for a hot holiday meal. Like the stunning ease the Germans had in dispatching the French in previous battles by attacking through the Ardennes one would think the Allies would have been better prepared for a German onslaught or counterattack with Hitler facing imminent defeat on German soil when weather improved in the early spring of 1945.
Even with its history the Allied commanders considered the Ardennes area to be unsuitable for a large-scale German attack mainly because of the weather roads and forested terrain issues. U.S. intelligence reports suggested that only broken and weary German divisions were stationed in the area opposite the Allied troops and in the period prior to Hitlers assault no one saw reason to believe that an attack was imminent. Bastogne however was a town that commanded several important roads in the area and was defended mainly by the U.S. 28th Infantry Division and light armor. The 28th Infantry Division had been in fierce battles almost continually from the summer to late fall in 1944 and were assigned to the Bastogne region which was relatively quiet. Allied leadership felt that if any fighting were to incur it would be limited in scale.
This error in judgment by the Allies was what Hitler was counting on and could have cost them the war. Bastogne Belgium is a traffic hub in Belgium. There are seven roads in and seven roads out of the town. Since WWI these roads were important for the movement of German armor making Allied retention of the roads imperative. Like the French the pathway through Belgium was not taken seriously by the Allies or it would have been defended by a much larger force. In addition many of the soldiers were comfortably taking a break from the war in Paris and the towns and villages of the region… To many the war was temporarily forgotten.
The stage was set for one of the most significant battles in the European theater of the war and paved the road to the biggest atrocities committed by the Germans to the American military. Understanding many of the historian revisionists Nazi sympathizers and anti-American spinmeisters tend to varnish over the violations of the Geneva Convention and other rules governing war by civilized societies the Malmedy Massacre and subsequent prosecution of the German war criminals responsible began with the desperate Hail Mary Pass that Hitler designed in a effort to thwart the defeat of Germanys Nazism.
Hitler contrived the Ardennes counteroffensive which became known as the Battle of the Bulge after the collapse of his army in France during the summer of 1944 kicked off by the beach landing of Allied forces at Normandy. He received inspiration from a similar operation through the Ardennes region to take France in 1940. This time Hitlers goal would be to disturb communication lines and transportation centers of the Allied forces in Liege and retake the port city of Antwerp.
If the attack were to succeed in splitting the U.S. Twelfth Army and the British Twenty-first Army Group and then capture Antwerp four complete armies would be trapped without supplies behind German lines. Hitler believed the Americans were incapable of fighting effectively because of the strenuous trek across France the difficulty in resupplying the forces and the war weariness on the American home front was likely to crack upon hearing of a decisive American loss. Hilters concept was brilliant.
The major reasons stated by Hitler for his selection making his offense move through the Ardennes are listed below.
- The enemy front in the Ardennes sector was very thinly manned.
- A blow there would strike the seam between the British and Americans which would lead to political as well as military disharmony between the Allies.
- The distance from the jump-off line to a solid strategic objective the port city of Antwerp was not too great and could be covered quickly even in bad weather.
- The configuration of the Ardennes area limited the ground for maneuver thus requiring the use of relatively few divisions.
- The terrain to the east of the break-through sector was very heavily wooded and offered concealment from allied air observation during the buildup for the assault.
- An attack to regain the initiative in this particular area would erase the enemy ground threat to the Ruhr. Hitler knew that the terrain would be an important factor in his offensive battle and while he believed the overcast weather would offer an additional degree of protection for his advancing force particularly from Allied air power he underestimated the effects of weather.