The little town of Bastogne is 91 miles southeast of Brussels very near the Luxembourg border on the south and the Ardennes Forest
on the east.
From December 16 to January 25, 1945, Bastogne became the focal point of the last German counter-offensive
of WWII. American forces in the area were thin because an attack through the heavily forested Ardennes was unexpected.
Consequently they were nearly overwhelmed. But they held in the town of Bastogne until they were relieved by a tank force under
General George Patton. British forces also played an important role. This offensive became known as the
Battle of the
Bulge. Casualties were extremely heavy on the German, American and British sides.
American forces
were commanded by General
Anthony Clement McAuliffe who will alway be remembered for the terse reply he gave to a German demand that
he surrender. The one word reply was NUTS! Today the square in the center of town is named McAuliffe Square and a punctured
American tank that took part in the battle sits in defiant display in a corner of the square's parking lot.
Two museums in Bastogne are
devoted to the history of this battle. One is a private museum in the town center filled with artifacts of the battle dug up
by local residents. The other is the
Bastogne Historical Center, where there is also a large star-shaped memorial, the Mardasson,
built by the Belgians as a tribute to the American effort.
Today Bastogne is a welcoming place to visit, but its main charm
for us stems from its historic role in WWII. That and a sandwich shop on McAuliffe Square where we saw a man behind the counter
make the following sandwich: On a foot-long baguette, sliced down the middle, he first laid down a deep-fat fried sausage, atop
of which he spread two ropes of mayonnaise, atop of which he heaped a very large amount of french fries, and finished off with two
more ropes of mayonnaise. Formidable! Not for the faint-hearted.
