Celebration of the th anniversary of the armistice which ended on the Western front line the trench war. My grand father Dominique Casimir Recurt is on the right on this photo used as a post card to be sent to the people far from the front line. Fortunately for him, the trench he occupied in April was far from Ypres, where chemical weapons were used for the first time by the German Army.
Later, from to , he fought several times in Verdun Vaux and Douaumont. He survived this terrible war but died quite young with an emphysema. The pejorative word "Boches" was currentlty used by the French people for designating the German people until the end of the second World War. This word went out of use. El video: www.
While many people have heard of the Malmedy massacre, it is not as well known that there were many other massacres of American prisoners by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. This is the Hotel du Moulin, and the memorial is to the right. Ligneuville is a town just south of Baugnez, where the Malmedy massacre took place. Malmedy and Baugnez are behind me up the road. Please read the following story written by John Toland, who wrote a fantastic book on the Battle of the Bulge.
By using wit, courage and the choicest Cognac, Peter Rupp saved 14 Americans from certain murder by the Nazis. On Sunday, the 17th December the day after the Battle of the Bulge erupted, war came roaring into the tiny Belgian town of Ligneuville.
From a kitchen window of his Hotel du Moulin, Rupp could see the American stragglers being rounded up. Then he noticed a German Sergeant pistol in hand, marching eight prisoners into the yard. The sergeant shoved one of the prisoners out of line, and stepping close drew his pistol, Rupp gasped and started for the back door.
