On the Trail of Kampfgruppe Peiper - a Trip to the Ardennes

[Greg]

Running out of gas and ammunition and faced with increasing American pressure, Peiper was forced to withdraw to the area of La Gleize and set up a defensive perimeter. There his forces were pounded by American artillery and attacked by tanks and infantry for three days and nights. Finally, with no hope of resupply or reinforcement, Peiper ordered the vehicles destroyed and the remnants of his Kampfgruppe withdrew on foot from La Gleize early on the morning of 24 December. They reached the lines of the 1. SS-Pz.Div. on Christmas Day.

During the defense of La Gleize, Peiper had his HQ in the basement of this house.

[Greg]

The showpiece of what remains of Kampfgruppe Peiper - Tiger number 213 of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501 in from of the December 1944 Museum in La Gleize. Tiger 213 was knocked out by American tanks on 23 December in a nearby field and removed to the town after the battle. It is one of two tanks that remain of Kampfgruppe Peiper today; the other is Tiger 332 in the Patton Museum at Fort Knox.

The December 1944 Museum has a fantastic collection of Waffen-SS gear left in the town after the battle. Jürg has shown some great photos of the displays on the Association Forum.

[Greg]

213's frontal armor. The glancing hits may have been sustained during the fighting on 23 December, but the 75mm round imbedded in the armor joint almost certainly is the result of US tankers firing at close range after the battle, just to see what they could do!

[Greg]

Relics of Kampfgruppe Peiper. The artillery shrapnel and SS belt buckle were dug in La Gleize. The .30 cal. rifle or machine-gun bullet was eyeballed in the main town square at Stavelot, deep in a crack between two cobblestones. Incredible to think so, but it had been there for 50 years!

[Greg]

The end of the trail of Kampfgruppe Peiper.

Peiper's grave in Schöndorf am Ammersee, Bavaria.

[Willi Z.]

Very nicely done Greg. Thanks! I toured the same areas in 1987.

Willi

[Rolf D.]

Pictures

I like the one of the field with the fog over it, it looks really neat with the fog just floating over the ground. Also the relics that you found are sure neat because they have a history to them. Can you just walk around and pick relics up off the fields or do you have to dig with a shovel and use a metal detector? Also are you still allowed to remove relics from the ground? Thanks! :flak_helm

[Greg]

Hi Rolf,

The only place I ever saw where relics were actually still on top of the ground was Verdun. You could walk along in the shell craters and kick up little pieces of shrapnel. Actually, it was kinda dumb to do that, because there's unexploded ordnance still at Verdun ...

The items I dug in Belgium, Germany and Normandy were found with a metal detector. The ones at La Gleize, Belgium in particular were rather difficult to dig out. They were only 2-3 inches deep, but the ground is rocky just under the surface so all the roots are very dense just under the surface, and I had to dig/chop through them to get to the shrapnel!

I didn't ask anyone's permission to remove the items I dug!

Greg

[Jürg]

Great shots Greg

Great shots Greg I love it

Jürg

[Charles_Rempe]

Great pictures Greg , Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Charles

[dcdefend]

Great pictures and story. Anyone who has not read the Patrick Agte biography of Peiper should buy it immediately. These pictures make it come even more to life.

Could you now take us on Kurt Meyer's trip through the Balkans? I'd like to see those places also.

Thanks.

[IVAN]

great work, Greg

ivan

[Paul W.]

Once again turned aside on the evening of 18 December when American engineers blew another bridge right in front of his lead elements, Peiper tried to find a way through the town of Stoumont. On the west side of the town his lead Panthers encountered a hastily put-together force of Sherman tanks, and three Panthers were knocked out. One was said to have been destroyed by a shot striking the road in front of it and ricocheting up through the belly plate.

This monument marks the farthest advance of the Kampfgruppe on the road beyond Stoumont where the Panthers were knocked out. It is one of a series of monuments erected by the Belgian Touring Club to mark the farthest German advances during the Battle of the Bulge. It says, "Here the invader was stopped, winter 1944-45."

That was a great read Greg !, sounds like an excellent trip.

[Ardennes]

Great post! Thank you very much for taking the time to share it.

Mike

[Jon]

Very excellent thread Greg! This is about a subject that I have a great deal of interest in as well. It is great to see what some of these places look like. I have never been there before, but hope to do so in the future. Thank you for a great thread!

Cheers,

Jon