Battle of Bure

[ObKrieger]

You mean the Battle of the Bulge wasn't won by an MG42-weilding General Patton?

[roodymiller]

Hope you enjoy Paul. I still appreciate the help you gave me...

[Paul D]

My pleasure Andrew i'm looking forward to reading it.

[P4ULR7DER78]

Re Daniel Regan.

My father's Uncle was Alfred Shingler and Served With Danny. We are told that they were also best friends. Fitting that they are buried only a few graces apart. I understand my relatives spoke with your relatives in the past.

I visited the grave's in 2013 and placed flowers on both Alfred and Danny graves. I also have photographs if you would like me to share.

My parents and sister have more information, I just stumbled upon this whilst researching the battle.

Regards

Paul

[Paul D]

This was the infamous Bande massacre where a sonderkommando from the SD murdered 34 local young men by shooting them in the back of the head as they were forced to go down some steps into a cellar . This was in revenge for resistance activity in Sept 1944 and was first discovered by elements of the 1st Canadian Parachute Bn and then 9 Para under Lt Col Napier Crookenden , who arranged the recovery of the bodies and their burial following a funeral . A Memorial stands next to the cellar where the massacre occured.

[Paul D]

Thought i'd bring this thread back up as it's now 76 years ago today that the Battle of Bure began , i was there in February 2020 just before the pandemic and lockdowns began to take effect and paid my respects to those who were KIA in the Battle most of whom are buried at Hotton .

Sadly 11 years later the role of the British in the Battle of Bulge is still not well known even though 90,000 British servicemen were commited into the Battle .

[Watchdog]

Thought i'd bring this thread back up as it's now 76 years ago today that the Battle of Bure began , i was there in February 2020 just before the pandemic and lockdowns began to take effect and paid my respects to those who were KIA in the Battle most of whom are buried at Hotton .

Sadly 11 years later the role of the British in the Battle of Bulge is still not well known even though 90,000 British servicemen were commited into the Battle .

Hi Paul, thanks for bumping this thread as it was initially posted before I joined the forum in Dec 2013.

I am so pleased to see the subject discussed as for longer than I can remember even serious enthusiasts have looked at me as if I was dillusional everytime I mentioned British involvement in this area of operations.

Especially since the Band of Brothers has convinced everyone who thinks they have actually heard of WWII that it wasn't even 101 ABN DIV but just Easy Co 2nd Bn 506th PIR that won the battle all on their own (absolutely no disrespect to them and their achievements), I have become so sick of having to continually prove my assertions of British involvement that I just don't mention it in any detail now

Remind me again how reliable mass media is

Regards

Mark

[Paul D]

Your completely right mark , in normal times i Guide at least half a dozen Bulge Tours a year and on our Tours we have a day on the British involvement which is hopefully educating people about the real history of the Bulge , most of our clientel are British but have very little knowledge of the British involvement . BOB was a great series but has led to many people thinking that 101 AB won the Bastogne fighting on their own when the reality is that without CCR 9 Armoured Div and CCB 10 Armoured Div they would have been overun by the initial German assault by 5th Panzer Army .

Whilst i realise that BOB couldn't cover all aspects of the fighting again the reality is with the Foy episodes relating to January 1945 and the counterattack by the Hitler Jugend Division and 346 VGD actually also starting 76 years ago today , again they could not have held against the German Armoured Battle Groups without the Tanks , Tank destroyers and Armoured Infantry of 6th Armoured Division who don't get a single mention !!

BOB has actually led to arguments within the 101 AB Vets as some believe that it has led to many other 101 units who fought just as hard or even harder than Easy Company being forgotten about as well , certainly that was the opinion of George Kosomaki .

The power of the media has much to commend it but also to answer too with the distorted view of history that is being created , not just in WW2 and the Bulge of course .

[Paul D]

I was last in Bure on a very rainy day in Feb 2020 .

Win or Die !!

[Watchdog]

The power of the media has much to commend it but also to answer too with the distorted view of history that is being created , not just in WW2 and the Bulge of course .

Absolutely, how many times do you hear someone insist on the veracity of something because "It's in the papers". The media industry is quick to cite "The independance of the press" not so big on accuracy and intregrity not to mention a non-partisan approach though. I really enjoy history but my preference is for that which seeks to inform rather than influence!

As for 13 PARA, I am a Lancashire lad so I am doubly offended by the lack of "Media exposure" in this matter

Keeps the facts flowing Paul, I love reading your posts

Regards

Mark