Malmedy Massacre Memorial

During the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) the Combat Group of the 1st SS Panzer Division, led by SS Major Joachim Peiper, was approaching the crossroads at Baugnes near the town of Malmédy. There they encountered a company of US troops (Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion) from the US 7th Armoured Division. Realizing that the odds were hopeless, the company's commander, Lieutenant Virgil Lary, decided to surrender. After being searched by the SS, the prisoners were marched into a field adjacent to the Cafe Bodarwé. The SS troops moved on except for two Mark IV tanks Nos. 731 and 732, left behind to guard the GIs. A couple of GI's tried to flee to the nearest woods and an order was given to fire. SS Private Georg Fleps of tank 731 drew his pistol and fired at Lary's driver who fell dead in the snow. The machine guns of both tanks then opened fire on the prisoners. Many of the GI's took to their heels and headed for the woods. Incredibly, 43 GI's survived, but 84 of their comrades lay dead in the field, being slowly covered with a blanket of snow. No attempt was made to recover the bodies until the area was retaken by the 30th Infantry Division on January 14, 1945, when men from the 291st Engineers used metal detectors to locate the bodies buried in the snow. This is just one of the stories. There is still considerable disagreement about what actually happened at Five Points on that Sunday afternoon in 1944 when the blood of American soldiers was spilled in the snow. Today, the American flag flies over the Malmédy Memorial, built at the Baugnes crossroads, about 100 meters from where the actual killings took place. The memorial wall holds 84 flat stones with the names of the soldiers who were killed during the massacre. The plaque in the wall has the text: "To the Memory of the soldiers of the United States army who while prisoners of war were massacred by nazi troops on this spot on 17 december 1944" and: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." by A. Lincoln.