Malmedy — Massacre and Resistance
Malmedy, BE
Malmedy was both a scene of one of the most notorious war crimes of the Western Front and an important element of the **northern shoulder** defence during the Battle of the Bulge. The town lies at the junction of roads that **Kampfgruppe Peiper** needed for its drive west. American engineers held Malmedy against German probes, and the town was accidentally bombed by American aircraft on three separate occasions during the battle — killing 38 American soldiers and a significant number of Belgian civilians in what became one of the worst friendly-fire incidents of the campaign. The roads around Malmedy were the scene of desperate defensive actions that channelled Peiper's route through **Ligneuville** and **Stavelot** rather than directly through the town. The **Malmedy area** is inseparable from the story of Kampfgruppe Peiper's advance and the atrocity committed at the Baugnez crossroads on December 17, 1944, which shocked the Allied armies and stiffened American resolve throughout the remainder of the Bulge battle.
Photographs (26)
Peiper with US attorney Ellis at the Malmedy trial, Dachau 1946
Peiper at the Malmedy massacre war crimes trial (Dachau, 1946)
117th Infantry Regiment (30th Division) clearing German snipers house-to-house in Stavelot
Peiper at the Malmedy massacre trial (Dachau, 1946)
823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion knocked out four German tanks near Stavelot
Allied fuel dump near Stavelot — had Peiper captured this he would have had fuel to reach Liège
30th Division observation post, Stavelot, 30 December 1944 (Signal Corps)
30th Infantry Division observation post in Stavelot — 1st Battalion, 117th Regiment counterattacking Peiper
The Amblève bridge at Stavelot — Peiper crossed here 18 December 1944
Stavelot 30 December 1944 after 30th Infantry Division retook the town
Tiger II in Stavelot, Wessell (Peiper column vehicle)
Tiger II knocked out of action in Stavelot — 30th Infantry Division retook the town
Tiger II of 501st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion stranded in Stavelot; Peiper abandoned it retreating to La Gleize
Drawing of unit routes at Baugnez Crossroads, where Malmedy Massacre took place. Unitnames etc. in Finnish. If you need one, ask, so I can deliver English version.
Map of Kampfgruppe Peiper path in Belgium translated in Finnish. Added path of Battery B convoy, which men were executed as POW's in Baugnez crossroads in Malmedy Massacre.
The bodies of Belgium men, women, and children, killed by the Nazis, await indentification before burial. (As the Germans launched a counter offensive into Luxemburg and Belgium, th DPLA aee248a8f81157fd87bb1f23978017f3.gif
Les corps de prisonniers de guerre américains massacrés par des Waffen SS sont découverts le 14 janvier 1945.
Malmedy massacre - approximately 70 members of Battery B killed after captured. Fair J. Bryant was traveling with Battery A of 285th at time of massacre. Occurred at beginning of Battle of the Bulge *Image ID: theb2930, Historic C&GS Collection *Location: Malmedy, Belgium *Photo Date: December 17, 1944 Source: NOAA : Most NOAA photos and slides are in the public domain and CANNOT be copyrighted. Higher resolution image available on site.
Defendants former SS General Fritz Kraemer (#33), former SS General Hermann Priess (#45), and former SS Colonel Peiper (third from the left in the first row) listen to Colonel William Everett give the defense's closing statement at the trial of 74 SS men charged with perpetrating the Malmedy atrocity.
Title: Malmedy Abstract/medium: 1 print : photomechanical.
Spectators and U.S. Army military police wait outside of the building where 74 SS men will be sentenced for their roles in perpetrating the Malmedy atrocity.
Location of the Malmedy massacre (situation in 2007).
Malmedy Massacre Two.
Bodies of U.S. officers and soldiers slain by the Nazis after capture near Malmedy, Belgium. NARA 196544
"Body of American soldier is borne on stretcher from terrain in vicinity of Malmedy, Belgium, where on or about 17 Decem NARA 532956
Malmedy — Massacre and Resistance