My visit to Northern France, WW1 sites and a mad dash around Europe in a day including Malmedy!

[Adrian]

After the war, in 1946 Peiper was put on trial at Dachau. I have no idea if the jacket is the actual one worn by Peiper at his trial but the hood is. The German prisoners were made to wear these so as not to recognise each other and see who exactly was being questioned and also, according to some reports, they were used during intimidation questioning.

[Adrian]

During the offensive, every use was made of whatever shelter was available. From cowsheds to attics, kitchens were turned into makeshift hospitals and operations and amputations were carried out with little or no anesthetic.
In the freezing temperatures, locals tell stories of dogs laying in wait to gather up the amputated limbs and running off into the night with them......

[Adrian]

Operation Grief.......
Led by Otto Skorzeny, German soldiers wearing captured U.S. Army uniforms and using U.S. vehicles were t used to infiltrate Allied lines and the plan was to create mayhem and confusion amongst the American troops. For several days, the Americans had no idea who was friend or foe......

[Adrian]

A few more uniform displays to finish up my visit to the museum.......

[Richie B]

Adrian

Excellent photos - thanks for posting them

Regards

Richie

[Adrian]

After the museum I was back on the road again. Leaving Belgium and the Ardennes I went back into Germany and drove through some spectacular scenery as I made for Luxembourg via the Moselle river and valley. I crossed the river at Trier and went uphill on the other side of with my fifth country in a day firmly in my sights. I finally made it into Luxembourg, drove through and back into France once more and was bound for Verdun.
Unfortunately it was getting quite dark by the time I reached the Verdun Memorial, the fog had descended and it was very gloomy. There were renovations being carried out on the memorial and cemetary so I reluctantly had to give it a miss on this occasion.
So there you have it, a fairly packed day, just short of 600 miles, twelve and a half hours on the road, five different countries, three of which I had never been to before and a very large and very welcome beer at the end!

[Nick Hessens]

Impressive, Adrian! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Regards

[GIZMO8Z]

What an amazing museum... either they have an extremely vast collection of minty items (I hope...), or they have a lot of repors (I hope NOT!).

[Adrian]

What an amazing museum... either they have an extremely vast collection of minty items (I hope...), or they have a lot of repors (I hope NOT!).

I obviously can't vouch for any of the items on display, alot look good though but maybe some of the SS collectors or uniform guys might see the thread and can pass some sort of judgement on what I posted. The majority of the German decorations I believe are original from my glances at them through the glass.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Superb thread !

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Cheers, Ade.