Maison de tourisme de Bastogne - Tourism

Description

Arriving in the village on 19 December at 02:00 hrs, the vanguard of Panzer ‘Lehr’ under the command of General Fritz Bayerlein attacked the roadblocks set-up by Combat Team Cherry. After fierce fighting, 15 German tanks were destroyed but the Americans also lost many armoured vehicles. Although its advance was slowed-down, Panzer ‘Lehr’ did not exploit its advantage to advance towards Bastogne, thus allowing the Americans to strengthen the town defences. The village remained occupied by German troops until 13 January ’45. (text source by Guy Blockmans/OPT)