The tours
To give you a general overview of the Battle of Bastogne I recommend a half-day tour.
Full day tours are more detailed and require some knowledge of the Battle of the Bulge.
The Battle of the Bulge lasted from December 16, 1944, until January 25, 1945, .... Hitler's code name Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine)
The 80 Mile frontline was running from Echternach south to Monschau north. Germans threw 212 600 soldiers into the initial assault, 14 German Infantry Divisions guarded by five panzer divisions-against a mere +- 80,000 Americans.
3 German Armies involved in Hitler's last "gamble" :
North 6th SS Panzer Army Sepp Dietrich - NOT COVERED BY MY TOURS FYI : The called MALMEDY massacre took place at BAUGNEZ a village located 5 KM south east of Malmedy !
Middle 5th Panzer Army Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel - COVERED BY MY TOURS
South 7th Army E. Brandenberger - Partly COVERED by "tailored tours" - 26th Infantry Division, 80th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division, 6th Cavalry Group ...
For the history of Bastogne 2 units have played a very important role, namely the 28th Infantry Division and Combat Command R 9th Armored Division.
I start each tour by giving the information about the set up of the the defense of Bastogne which is very important to know and to follow easily the 30 days of fighting around the city of Bastogne, a very important traffic hub - 7 roads - 3 rail roads.
The first US units sent in the hurry to the town are CCB 10th Armored Division, 101st Airborne Division, 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 969th Field Artillery Battalion and .....
Places which are or can be visited :
After half a day each visitor has a very broad idea about the Battle of the Bulge and more specifically about the 30 days of fighting around the city of Bastogne.
Day tours are always starting in Northern Luxembourg - Areas of Berlé and Schumann.
Mardasson Memorial *, Patton & Mc Auliffe squares, 501st PIR area, Longvilly, Neffe, Bizory ...., 506th PIR area, Foy, Noville, Recogne ... - 2/506 PIR area - 502nd PIR area, Hemroulle, Champs, Longchamps ..... 327th GIR area, Marvie, Remoifosse ... 326th AB Engineer Bn, Boggess bunker ....
Road blocks CCB 10th Armored Division - Team Desobry,
Team O'Hara ........ tailored tours
Team Cherry ........ tailored tours
You will learn about the "Mercy flight", the history of the bed sheets, the NUTS history and ....
You will see damages on buildings, foxholes, Command Posts ....
The memorial trail at the Schumann's Eck !! Only by day tours
The Panzer V - Panther - Ausf. G at Houffalize
The cemeteries of Hamm, Luxembourg or Henri Chapelle and Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium as well as Museums are places you can visit on your own and are not included in my guided tours.
!!!!! An area of the "Bois Jacques" is fenced and is only accessible with an entrance ticket of the Bastogne War Museum - however during the guided tours I give the complete and correct history of the "Easy Company" - very well known by the mini-series Band of Brothers.
* The Mardasson memorial is currently inaccessible due to long-term restoration works.
IMPORTANT : If one of your family members or a friend or ... fought in the area so please let me know and i tailor your tour.
You can check the Ardenne weather conditions by following this link https://www.meteo.be/en/bastogne
If i'm not available you can find names of colleagues on page "Links"