Vas ist dis Nuts?

The Germans were a bit confused by General Mac Auliffe’s answer to the surrender demand. The Germans, obviously, were not up on American slang. An inquiry was made as to whether “Nuts” was an affirmative or negative answer. They understood the answer to the second question, [strictly negative]. The 101st Airborne held at Bastonge until the weather broke and Patton arrived.

We left for Bastonge about 10am, grabbing a little extra and badly needed shuteye. With Gertie setting our course, our first stop was the American Cemetery in Luxembourg. After a ten minute ride, we viewed the cemetery, paying our respects to the GI’s buried there and to General Patton, who is also buried there. Patton’s grave is separate from the rest of the graves, presumably because of all the foot traffic to see it.

Next up was Bastonge, about an hour Northwest and just over the Belgium boarder. We parked in Mac Auliffe Square and took the obligatory pictures with the tank and the jeep. This one is in Mac Auliffe Square, this is our ride ( I had reserved a Passat, but we got the Jeep; seems appropriate given this is a WWII tour). We then had the obligatory beer at “Le Nuts Café” (I had a Leffe, Dave, my driver, had espresso). We then toured the main drag, visited a church near the end of it and bought a Sandwich chaud ala Bastogne (baguette, ham, cheese, tomato sauce grilled like a panini). We also stuck our noses in a few shops, checking out the butcher, a deli and a pastry shop.

We then set off for Wiltz to see the Musee de battalion, Gertie guiding the way (thanks again Lil). The musee is in a chateau that is built right on and into the rock. It is a great collection of memorabilia and contains a lot more German stuff than those in Normandy. We stopped to have a coffee at the little café just below the Musee (and a part of the complex). The owner was behind the counter pouring himself some cognac (and I would guess not his first of the day) and invited us to have one with him. We didn’t want to appear rude, and always seeking to improve Anglo-Belgian relations, we obliged. “Good ya?” Oh ya, smooth as a baby’s bottom. He wasn’t drinking the cheap stuff. “Made in Luxembourg” “Very good. To your health. merci”. We finished or cognacs and drank our coffees and then set off for Malmedy, bound for the Baugnez 44 Historical Center and the monument to Malmedy Massacre.

The museum is very well done and contains a lot of mannequins in uniforms and in reenactment displays. Oh, and this pinup girl collection. They have some great stuff and divide it pretty evenly between American and German.

The Malmedy Massacre Monument is located about 100 yards from the museum (which devotes a whole section to the massacre) at the intersection where it took place, 4 kilometers from Malmedy. A company of Americans intercepted a Waffen SS Panzer Company on December 16, 1944. The “Bulge” had just started. The Americans, not being combat infantry and badly out gunned, surrendered. The SS, decided they didn’t have time for prisoners and after the GI’s were disarmed, they were lined up and machine gunned. The US Army plaque refers to the event as a massacre, which it was. The Belgian plaque refers to the GI’s as being victims of Nazi cruelty, a bit of an understatement.

By the way, did I mention we ran into Omar Bradley?