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Last December some returning American veterans of the severe battlethat took place in the Belgian Ardennes, during the terribly cold winterof 1944-45, were pleased that old Europe still remembers their courage,

sacrifice and suffering caused by Hitler’s last offensive.

By Alain Henry de Frahan, #20768, Brussels, Belgium

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Didier Ruth’s jeep in Baseilles,the BMVT’s headquarters. © 2009 A. Henry de Frahan.

Jean Weiler’s G13/Hetzerphotographed before thereenactment performedin Remagne by the ‘DutyFirst’ club. © 2009Benoît Henry de Frahan.

The Royal Museum of the Army’s M7B2 Priest and a French owned Ford M8 in Remagne. © 2009 Frédéric Mousset and Anne Blondiau.

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Many reenactmentactivities were organizedfor December 12 and 13,2009 under the authorityof the committee set upto optimize thecoordination between thevarious public and privateparticipants. It wasimpossible to attend allthe events. The finaloutcome was encouragingbut there is room forimprovement.

The main focus of the65th anniversary activitiestook place in and aroundBastogne, at Vaux-sur-Sûre (southwest ofBastogne), at Remagne(west of Bastogne), atArlon, and, a separateorganization, around the superb museum of Baugnez,where an SS unit massacred eighty-five Americanprisoners of war.

THE 'DUTY FIRST' ATTACKS IN REMAGNEOn Saturday morning, one of the main focal points

was the village of Remagne, where the ‘Duty First’ clubperformed a reenactment of the fighting that took placethere on December 31, 1944 between the US 87thInfantry Division anda German unit of the116th PanzerDivision. Thepyrotechnic effectsfailed by far to meetthe public’sexpectations. But thereenactors in USuniforms of the ‘DutyFirst’ and those inGerman uniforms ofthe ‘HistoricalMilitary RememberAssociation’ (HMRA)

Freddy Delaunoit’s M16half-track in Remagne. © 2009 Alain Henry deFrahan.

A Ford M8 in the village of Remagneduring the second part of the reenactment performed by

the ‘Duty First’ club. © 2009 Benoît Henry de Frahan.

performed rather well, considering that reenactmentatmosphere of an actual combat event is always adifficult exercise. The Belgian Military Vehicle Trust(BMVT), chaired by André Witmeur MVPA #1780)

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A VW 82 Kübelwagenwith HMRA reenactorsleaving Remagne forVaux-sur-Sûre. © 2009Alain Henry de Frahan.

Guy Retter’s Sherman onstatic display in the mainsquare of Arlon. © 2009 Guy Klinkenberg.

On 'Place McAuliffe' the RoyalMuseum of the Army displayed aSherman painted as ‘CobraKing,’ Lt. Boggess’ tank whichwas the first to enter Bastogneon 26 December 1944. © 2009 Alain Henry de Frahan.

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participated with an M16 half-track, theRoyal Museum of the Army with an M7B2Priest, and Jean Weiler with his Hetzer/G13.Two French collectors drove their M8s,protected by infantrymen of the ‘Duty First.’An Allis-Chalmers M4, the M5A1 Stuart ofMons and a British M18 Hellcat were presentbut not involved.

ARLON, GEORGE PATTON’S STARTING

POINTIn the southern Ardennes, about 100

vehicles with 300 people drove to Arlon, thetown where General George S. Pattonregrouped and turned his 3rd US Army tobeleaguered Bastogne. The first tank,belonging to the 4th Armored Division,broke through on December 26th, 1944. Itwas an M4A3E2Jumbo Sherman‚nicknamed‘Cobra King,’commanded byLt. CharlesBoggess. OnSunday theconvoy drove tovarious placesbefore reachingBastogne for thefinal big parade.

A French SAS jeep in Bastogne. The French did not fight there but similarBelgian SAS jeeps actually fought more in the north during the battle. © 2009 Laurent Baret.

A Czech OT-810, painted as an Sd.Kfz251, carries HMRA reenactors dressedas SS and WH Fallschirmjäger during amock battle in Vaux-sur-Sûre.© 2009 Robert Mary.

The Royal Museum of theArmy’s M24 Chaffeeparticipated in a mockBattle at Vaux-sur-Sûre. © 2009 Robert Mary.

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VAUX-SUR-SÛRE

THE SCENE OF TWO MOCK BATTLESIn Vaux-sur-Sûre the HRMA club performed an

important reenactment on both Saturday evening andSunday afternoon that involved many reenactors in USand German uniforms, as well as a few tanks and soft

White M3 half-trackwith US infantrymanand a ‘resistancefighter’ during a mockbattle in Vaux-sur-Sûre.© 2009 Robert Mary.

William Witmeur is watching the unloading a Studebaker M29 Weasel inBaseilles, the BMVT’s headquarters. © 2009 Alain Henry de Frahan.

skin vehicles. Impressive and interesting! A large crowdand many military and civilian officials attended.Unfortunately, the Royal Museum of the Army’sSherman M4A1 (76 mm) could not take part as poorlyparked vehicles prevented it from reaching the scene.

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BASTOGNE, ALWAYS A FAMOUS NAMEThe Belgian ABC club (Amicale des Collectionneurs

Bastognards) gathered nearly 500 participants fromBelgium, France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands,Switzerland and Luxembourg. They set up a littlecampsite near the church in Bastogne, focusing onsupport and medical units. Later they formed a convoythat snaked through the surrounding countryside andvillages that suffered so much during the various battlesin 1944/45.

On Sunday at noon two para drops of reenactorsfrom the Liberty Jump Team, in US Army WWIIparatrooper uniforms, took place near the Mardassonmonument. The guys jumped from a C-47 that hadtaken off from the Liège/Bierset airport. It was a veryexciting demonstration! Bob Izumi, a veteran of the 101Airborne / 506 PIR, was on board. Just imagine what hemust have thought.

The final parade on the main street of Bastogneinvolved 400 HMVs greeted by approximately 5,000enthusiastic people. In spite of the ‘collectors charter’(one more totally useless and ineffective piece of paperlike the French one in Normandy), that stated what allthe participating clubs for the 65th anniversary had toconform to, several very undesired individuals tried tojoin with totally inappropriate post-war vehicles. Theywere firmly rejected.

IN CONCLUSIONWhat to finally think of these commemorations?

Once again, such a large event proved to be exceedinglydifficult to manage by a committee and the police. Butencouraging efforts were successfully made to improvethe coordination and the dissemination of information.Most important was the fact that the US veterans whocame back saw how sincerely thankful old Europe still istoward them.

The ABC club set up a campsite near the church of Bastogne.© 2009 Alain Henry de Frahan.