Category: Belgium

Antwerpen

V2 rocket

Antwerp was to prove a vital port to the Allies as they pushed towards Germany. The German Oberkommando realized the importance of Antwerp and the Walcheren area had the allies. In September 1944 it was decided to bombard Antwerp with V2 rockets.  The number of V2 rockets outnumbered the attacks on London with many. From october 1944 till march 1945 5960 rockets (v1 and v2) were launched in Antwerpen province. ln the early morning of 18 May the first ‘feldgrau’ soldiers from the North came into the city without a fight and the swastika flag was hoisted that same day on the cathedral. The second German occupation within a quarter century was a fact.

It made a lasting impression on all Antwerp. They would soon be confronted with a new order which took 4,5 years to be freed from. But only then the worsted  had yet to happen. Germans decided to bombard the Harbours of Antwerp with V1 and V2 rockets because of the strategic importance to the Allies. Nearly 5600 rockets where launched in the province of Antwerp.   

KBC Tower
Leader of the Flemish National Union (Dutch: Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond, VNV) Hernik Elias inspects the troops at the Meir.

 On November 27, a terrible incident occurred at a major road junction near the Central Station. Teniers Plaats (Square) was the busiest intersection in town (as it still is today). Military policemen were always regulating the heavy traffic for an Allied convoy passing through the square.   

terniersplein V2
Teniersplaats just after the V-2 struck the convoy.

 A V-2 came down at ten minutes past noon and exploded in the middle of all this activity. A British convoy was moving through the intersection and was caught in the blast. This particular rocket was believed to have exploded just above ground possibly having struck the overhead tram lines just where the traffic policemen stood. A city water main burst, water bubbling up from the ground. Soon, the whole square was filled with water.

terniersplein V2 rocket
The tram at the Teniersplaats took also a direct hit. Click to enlargeThe tram at the Teniersplaats took also a direct hit. Click to enlarge
terniersplein_02 V2 Rocket
Many people wachting the convoy where killed immediately. Click to enlarge
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Antwerpen

Stavelot and surrounding

kampfgruppe-peiper

During Peipers advance through the Bulge the Kampfgruppe of Peiper had to take several detours becaus of blow bridges of traffic jams. One of the famous pictures of the battle of the Bulge was taken at the crossroads at Kaiserbaracke. We see Peiper himself reading the map and looking at the road signs. He eventually took the road to Malmedy  

Today this intersection is no longer recognizable as such. An industry terrain next to the motorway, has swallowed the forest and the intersection. Now days this intersection has become a roundabout. The only thing left are the signs with the correct distances which indicate the routes the Kampfgruppe took.

kaiserbrackencrossing

Finally Peiper arrived in the evening at Stavelot where he was forced to withdraw till the dawn the next day. After heavy fighting they succeeded into crossing the bridge. What they did not know was that north of Stavelot a gasoline storage was placed. The American’s eventually set fire to the petrol dump to avoid it should fall in hands of the Germans. This event is to be seen in the movie ‘Patton’ which, following the story of the movie was the beginning of the end.

stavelot_petroldump
Kampf Gruppe Kiefer
Ardennes

Malmedy massacre

Malmedy_massacre_monument

The Malmedy massacre was a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors during World War II. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division), a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge.

 The massacre, as well as others committed by the same unit on the same day and following days, was the subject of the Malmedy massacre trial, part of the Dachau Trials of 1946. The trials were the focus of some controversy.

Malmedy_massacre04
Ardennes

Malmedy railwaybridge

Malmedy

On December 21 Malmedy was attacked by the Germans. Under command of Skorenzy the objective was to capture the River Meuse bridges. During the battle for Malmedy the railway viaduct was to be blown by the Americans. Problem was that it was an immense stone arched construction. Eventually at 2.00 p.m. on December 22 the bridge was blown with 1,800 lbs of TNT, completely blocking the road.

On December 21 Malmedy was attacked by the Germans. Under command of Skorenzy the objective was to capture the River Meuse bridges. During the battle for Malmedy the railway viaduct was to be blown by the Americans. Problem was that it was an immense stone arched construction. Eventually at 2.00 p.m. on December 22 the bridge was blown with 1,800 lbs of TNT, completely blocking the road.

Malmedy_viaduct
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Ardennes

Neerpelt bridge

Neerpelt Bridge
Neerpelt bridge start of operation Market Garden

The original bridge had been destroyed by the Belgian Army in 1940, but the Germans had constructed a wooden Pontoon bridge to the west of it. This bridge was taken on the evening of 10 September 1944 by the Irish Guards under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J.O.E Vandeleur. While the Welsh Guards engaged the German forces around Hechtel, the Irish Guards advanced rapidly north-east through the villages of Eksel, Overpelt and Neerpelt, and launched their combined infantry-tank assault, with artillery support, from the grounds of the zinc processing factory in Overpelt. They succeeding in taking the bridge undamaged.

Belgium