After fleeting through the town of Manach (famous for being a wargamers wetdream where they put little toy soldiers on a board at the Manach Crossroads) we headed towards Hosingen and a famous memorial for Ralph Wardle and John Kelly who were in the 702 Tank battaliion. During the battle of the bulge on the night of 27th January 1945, their tank skidded and slipped off an ice covered cliff top. Not a way you'd want to go.

Next stop was Diekirch - which has the National Museum of Military History. Again Steve's view is too many manequins - but to be fair it does have a significant number of vehicles and military hardware. It does have few tanks that a Bulge Museum would suggest, but never th less it's a nice little museum and it does have this recommendation: "The United States Permanent Congressional Delegation to the European Parliament is deeply moved by the reality and power of this museum as it depicts the heroism and horror of WW II . We are profoundly grateful to all our heroes for allowing us to live in a free society" and who is the NMBS to argue with the United States Permanent Congressional Delegation to the European Parliament?

The Battle of the Bulge is famous for George Patton and the village of Ettelbruck is known as "Patton-town" - and Patton town would not be Patton town without a statue of Lance's least favourite general. Although the picture below makes him look like some feature at the Chelsea Garden show.

On the way back to Gouvy we dropped in on Cherain, a small village that has a various amount of Tanks and canons. It also has a great little off-licence where we got Stu's leaving present from.

After a long day we headed back to Gouvy and an evening with Gavin and Stacey and a huge Chilli. Bliss

The next day we awoke to the sound of Steve falling down stairs and twatting his knee and shoulder. Bless him, he was being quiet and trying not to wake the others up so he could could breakfast whilst the others had a bit of a lie in. There were not going to be no wall hit this year. After Breakfast and Kevin making tuna mayo butties it was Band of Brothers day. The NMBS tour of the places that the 101st Airbourne Division and the TV series "Band of Brothers" made famous. Basically the towns and villages of Mardasson, Bastogne, Foy, Noville, Rachamps and Houffalize. At Mardasson is the large American memorial.

The Mardasson Memorial is a tribute from the Belgian population as a whole to the American nation. Its construction came about thanks to an initiative of the Belgian American Association set up in 1945 and consisting of various Belgian dignitaries who wished to perpetuate the memory of those brave Americans who fell on our soil. Given that the American effort was so decisive here, Bastogne was chosen as the site for the memorial’s construction. For the Americans, Bastogne is the symbol of their legendary spirit of resistance, but also of their sense of judgement in their victorious counter offensive. On the 4th July 1946, in what was to become the Memorial’s central point, some earth was removed and placed in a casket, which was then sealed in the United States Ambassador’s presence and sent by special plane to Washington. A Belgian delegation, led by the Minister of Defense, handed over the sacred casket to the then president of the United States, Harry Truman. It was above this central point that the stone bearing the following inscription would later be placed.

(The Belgian people remember their American liberators – 4th July 1946)

Bastogne town is a delightful town - typical of the Ardennes. It seems "Ye Olde" which is a surprise seeing it was clobbered in WWII. Again the curse of the Tourist Information Centre was here. Why is it when we go places and we need information - or more importantly Gerry needs concertina postcards are the shut? Gouvy T.I.C never seemed to be opened and Bastogne's opened an hour after we got there - at least it gave us chance to see the town. The whole of the Ardennes trip kind of ran side by side with the Band of Brothers TV series. Although Lance does not care much for said series (to much debate one white wine and lager fuelled night later) we followed some of the major points of the series. We tried in vain to find the site of the memorial to Renee LeMaire - who was in the series and was shown to be killed at Bastogne. And make friends with Eugene Roe. In the series she was killed in Bastogne Church when it was bombed. Renee LeMaire and the Congolese nurse, both were based on real characters. According to Belgian history buff Roger Marquet, nurse Lemaire worked in the 10th Armoured Division aid station, which was situated on the Neufchateau road, some distance from the seminary where Renee was depicted as being killed. The Congolese nurse, named Augusta Chiwi, also worked in an aid station several blocks away from the seminary, and she survived the bombings. Nurse Chiwi was seen as recently as 1999, a cheerful woman in her 70's, living in Brussels.

The Seminary is at the east end of the main drag, across from the church. So, it's doubtful that Eugene Roe would even have met those nurses. The seminary began as the 501 regimental C.P. and aid station, although casualties from other units were also treated there. We tried to find her memorial and had no luck. Only now do we know where it is - on the side of a shop selling Baby equipment, called baby city. This shop is near Bastogne town centre - but according to the Tourist Information Trail the memorial is quite a bit out of the town centre. We actually must have walked past it ! Grrrr !

At least in Bastogne we did get to see some sights like the Tank in McAuliffe square, his statue and the road sign named after him. We also found a nice little roadside café which sold kebabs or "Kebaps" which was nicely washed down with a beer. Then we moved up the road to Foy and Noville. Foy was in the Band of Brothers as a main battle for the 101st - but it seems that Spiers and co in the TV series were fighting in the wrong village. The next Village of Noville seems to be the kiddie. Historically poor dialogue: When the General McAuliffe character arrived and talked with Strayer, Winters, Nixon and others, he made a statement before departing :"Your 1st battalion just pulled out of Foy." The line should have read "Your 1st battalion just pulled out of Noville." There was no mention of Noville, (where 1st battalion had it's finest hour), until a brief reference to 2nd Battalion passing through it in mid January. This is just another example of slighting any and all other units of the 101st besides Easy Company 506th in the series. A few minutes later, in dialogue from Eugene Roe, he also remarks about first battalion pulling out of Foy. Foy was not nearly as far into enemy territory as Noville, and in fact was merely the last stop for 1st Battalion on their way back to relative safety south of the Foy-Bizory Road.

The series also made it look like Foy was attacked and taken only once during December to January battles north of Bastogne. In fact, D, G, and H companies had taken and retaken Foy a half dozen times during those weeks, and Easy Co didn't go in until 13 January, which was the LAST time the village was taken. The previous spoiling attacks were launched by the 506th to prevent the Germans from staging powerful forces there. The town was always vacated soon after these attacks, because Foy was surrounded by high ground on 3 sides and the Germans held the high ground until mid January, 1945. The position was not tenable for defense. We Visited the foxholes around the area at the Bois Jacques and were amazed that they were still intact. Although you know that some artistic licence had been shown in Band of Brothers you could not get away from the fact that men of the 101st were sleeping in these relatively small holes in the freezing winter of 1944/5. We visited Rachamps where in the TV series Easy company rested and the choir sang to them. This actually happened. It is also the place where Earl Hale was slashed in the throat by the German officer who had a knife hidden in his boot. Joe Liebgott and his machine gun made sure that the roomful of German officers never made it out alive - later Hale, who survived the slashing ran into Patton and Patton had a go at him because he wasn't wearing a neck tie!!! At least Earl had a valid excuse!

After we left Rachamps it was time to head back to the Gite, not before hitting Houffalize. Nestling in the narrow valley of the River Ourthe, Houffalize is a strategic stopping-point on the major highway from Bastogne to Liège. In May '40, before withdrawing, the Belgian "Chasseurs Ardennais" had blown-up the town bridge in the face of advancing German troops. On the night of 19 December '44, the bridge, rebuilt in the meantime, enabled American paratroopers of the 82nd US Airborne Division, coming from Reims, to reach their assembly zone in Werbomont, followed, several hours later, by the vanguard of the 116. Panzer, on its way towards the bridges over the River Meuse. Believing the sector to be strongly defended, the German commander decided to change his itinerary and to head towards La Roche. Several days later, in order to destroy the strategic crossroads that Houffalize represented, the American commander had the town bombed several times. The bodies of 189 civilian victims were pulled from the ruins of Houffalize.

We returned to the Gite to enjoy Lance's Ginger with Ginger flavoured Chicken and a soupcon of Ginger With a Ginger coulis and Ginger mash in a Ginger curry.

Although the Battle of the Bulge is seen as an American Battle - The British did fight and die in this battle too. The next day we were all set to explore the British sector in the Ardennes.

The British area was to the west of the Bulge and the first town we visited was the picture postcard La Roche-en-Ardenne. Entrance to the town to the town is still guarded by two tanks left over from WWII, a British Achilles M10 of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeoman and an American M4A1 Sherman tank. The British tank is just a few yards from a memorial Roll of Honour erected to the Scottish 51st Highland Division along the road where the Yeoman armor regiment entered the valley. The tanks are enshrined at parking lots on either end of the town. Perhaps they’re there to control the crowds - when we were there the tanks were swarmed with school children who were on a trip. We had to come back the next day to get a photo opportunity.

La Roche has the distinction of being twice liberated during World War II. The beautiful old town escaped damage in the First World War, but found its river path crossroads right in the middle of the Battle of Bulge. Liberated once by the Americans in the September 1944 allied advance, then retaken by the Germans in the Ardennes offensive and re-liberated by the British and Americans in January of 1945. In-between the lovely historic old town suffered massive damage, nearly destroyed by 70,000 American artillery shells. Soldiers of the British 30 Corps "Black Watch" Highlanders moved on the town from one side of the Ourthe and elements of the American 1st Army came from the other side and famously met up on a street corner in La Roche, where a plaque commemorates the liberation. A block from the corner is one of the original of the privately owned Battle of the Bulge museums of the area. After leaving Lar Roche we headed for the Hotton CWGC.

The British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany. The village of Hotton was the western limit of the great German counter offensive in the Ardennes in January 1945. A great many of the burials in Hotton War Cemetery date from that time, although there are also some from May 1940. The cemetery contains 666 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 21 of them unidentified.

The next site of British interest is Marche. This village saw heavy fighting against the Nazis and British and American casulties were high. On 21 December 1944, coming from the area around Aachen, the 84th US Infantry Division, including future Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, took up position between Marche and Hotton to prevent 116. Panzer from crossing the wooded ridge dominating the Famenne plain that leads to the River Meuse. American positions and on 4 January 1945 , in the cold and a snowstorm, the Welsh soldiers began their attacks in the Marche-Hotton area. However, the icy roads prevented armoured vehicles from supplying and supporting these troops in an efficient manner. Their advance was considerably slowed down by the wooded terrain cut by valleys as well as by the cold and snow, and despite the German artillery, minefields and roadblocks of felled trees, the Welshmen liberated the villages of Menil, Waharday, Rendeux and Grimbiemont. After three days and nights of heavy fighting in the woods in freezing cold weather, the 53rd Welsh Division had lost 105 men before being relieved by the Scots of the 51st Highland Division.

Bande was a tiny village with a grisly secret. It is where the Gestapo murdered 34 civilians in cold blood. Actually there are a number of sites around the Ardennes where the Nazi's killed civilians and also resistance workers (Where we stayed at Au Wago in Gouvy, there was a memorial to 3 brothers shot) but this is a large and significant memorial. As you drive along the N4 you have to do a sharpish turn off on a single track road to get to the place. It's at the side of a pub and you see the memorial, but if you go down some steps into a cellar you see photographs of the 34 and a small shrine. There is always great cruelty in war, but the shrine at Bande is quite sad as you realise that innocents were massacred on the spot where you are standing. Making it more sinister the murders took place on Christmas Eve. The Canadian 1st Parachute Division found the bodies.

After passing through Nassogne, Bure and Rochefort (famed for its Trappist beer) we hit Celles which was the place where the Germans were forced to stop and the western most point on the "Bulge". Finally we reached the beautiful city of Dinant. Dinant is is a small town on the Meuse River, dominated by its two tourist attractions: the Citadel, which overlooks the town from a 100 metre cliff. Because of its strategic situation on the Meuse river, Dinant has witnessed several battles and destructions that changed the historic heritage considerably. Outside of the city is a rock, called 'le rocher Bayard' (the Bayard rock). It stands completely separated from the rest of the main rock of which it obviously used to be a part. The Rocher Bayard was separated with an explosion to provide passage for the French troops of Louis XIV after they had taken Dinant. However, popular belief has it that the rock was split by the hoof of the giant Bayard Horse, when it jumped from here over the Meuse river. The Bayard horse is a legendary animal from the story of the four Aymon Brothers. These four brothers were on the run for Charlemagne and escaped through the Ardennes sitting on the back of the Bayard Horse. Dinant is a beautiful place to stop and sadly it was getting late and we could not do the city justice. Famously Dinant is the place where the saxaphone was invented and where Charles De Gaulle was injured during WWI.