La Gleize — Peiper's Last Stand

La Gleize, BE

La Gleize was the final position of **Kampfgruppe Peiper** — the spearhead of the **1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler** — during the Battle of the Bulge. Obersturmbannführer **Joachim Peiper** led the most powerful German armoured battlegroup of the offensive, equipped with **King Tiger**, Panther, and Panzer IV tanks, along with armoured half-tracks. After initially advancing with shocking speed — and committing the **Malmedy massacre** on December 17 — Peiper's group became bogged down by fuel shortages, American resistance, and the destruction of key bridges. By December 20, Peiper was surrounded at La Gleize with approximately 800 vehicles, unable to advance or withdraw. After receiving permission to break out on foot, Peiper and roughly 800 survivors abandoned their vehicles and equipment and escaped through the Ardennes forest on December 24. They left behind 28 tanks, including six King Tigers, anti-tank guns, half-tracks, and more than 300 wounded Germans who became prisoners. La Gleize became a ghost town of German armour.