McAuliffe Headquarters Bastogne

Bastogne, BE

The **McAuliffe Headquarters** in Bastogne — located in the **Hôtel de Ville** (town hall) and adjacent buildings in the town centre — served as the command post of the **101st Airborne Division** during the Bastogne siege in December 1944. It was here that Brigadier General **Anthony McAuliffe** directed the defence of the encircled town, coordinated with his regimental commanders holding the perimeter, and received and responded to the famous German surrender demand with the single word **"NUTS!"** The headquarters functioned throughout the siege even as German artillery ranged the town — communications were maintained, resupply was planned, and the perimeter was managed from this location under constant threat. On December 22, German emissaries arrived at the American lines with the formal surrender demand; McAuliffe's written response, drafted and delivered from this headquarters, became the defining moment of the battle. The location provides context for understanding how the defence of Bastogne was organised: a small town, surrounded, with a command post in its centre, directing battalions on the perimeter kilometres away.