Celles — Farthest German Advance

Celles, BE

Celles marks the **high-water mark of the German advance** during the Battle of the Bulge — the farthest point west reached by German armour before the offensive was halted. Elements of the **2nd Panzer Division**, racing toward the Meuse River crossing at Dinant, ran out of fuel at Celles on December 24, 1944, just 6km from the river. The division's reconnaissance elements could actually see the Meuse, but without fuel the panzers were stranded. The British **29th Armoured Brigade** (part of the **XXX Corps**, positioned as a screen along the Meuse) and the American **2nd Armoured Division** converged on the immobilised German force. In fierce fighting on Christmas Day and December 26, the stranded 2nd Panzer elements were destroyed or captured — a decisive blow that ended any realistic chance of the offensive achieving its strategic goal of crossing the Meuse. A memorial near Celles marks the spot where a destroyed German Panther tank stood for years after the war, symbolising the furthest reach of Hitler's last gamble in the West.