Bastogne, Belgium – The Battle of the Bulge

As is becoming quite clear, if you make a movie or a series about WWI or WWII, I will likely watch it. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume anybody reading this has seen HBO’s Band of Brothers, which came out in 2001. Band of Brothers was based on Steven Ambrose’s book of the same name, and was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. One of my favorite episodes is “Bastogne”, and I have wanted to visit this place ever since the first time I saw it.

First off, why is this battle called the “Battle of the Bulge”? As maps were released of the Allied lines, it was easy to notice a bump in the line, described as about 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep, where the German offensive had pushed the line back. An American war correspondent, Larry Newman, was shown such maps by Gen. George Patton. The word “salient” — meaning something that projects out — had been used during World War I to describe the shape of the allied line during the German assault on the Belgian city of Ypres. But Newman wanted to think up something less formal, thus the term “Bulge”.

The Bastogne War Museum opened in 2014 and took 4 years to create. Using an audio guide, the museum tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge (called BOTB going forward) through the lives of 4 people who actually experienced it. These are a 13 year old Belgian boy named Emile, a young Belgian school teacher named Mathilde, a German lieutenant named Hans, and an American corporal from the 101st Airborne Division named Robert. Hans and Robert were both on their respective front lines.

There are also several movies and settings inside the museum to assist in telling the story. Here is a mockup of the room where Operation Overlord (the D-Day invasion) was planned. The museum gives a lot of WWII history leading up the the BOTB to put it all in context. The map below covered a screen on which they showed a 3D movie of the events of D-Day.

This set was made to look like night-time in the Bastogne forest. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see two screens on which they projected several images depicting the battles. I think they kept the air conditioning extra low to enhance the feel. The actual conditions were below freezing during the battle, but the visitors might not have appreciated getting the room that cold!

This set was a cafe in the city of Bastogne, in which Emile and Mathilde take shelter from German and sometimes American shelling in the cellar.

First they show activities outside the cafe, and then the entire cafe lifts up to reveal the cellar. It was very cool!

We lucked out on timing, as the museum just opened two new experiences on July 9. We visited on July 13. Man would I have been pissed if we had shown up a week prior! Whew! The first experience is a multimedia 270 degree movie called “Generations 45”, which followed the paths of an American and German veteran after the war up until the time of the fall of the Berlin wall. This is the set outside the theater.

I love the ode to General Patton.

We then made our way to the Peace Woods, very close by.

They have trees planted for each soldier lost in action, all lined up with their troop divisions.

A short distance away is the Bastogne forest where Easy Company held off the Germans. This is the other new experience offered by the Bastogne War Museum. It’s part of your entry ticket, and when you enter you can download an app that will allow your phone to act as 360 viewing platform of re-enacted scenes from the BOTB. First a view of the forest.

Then you can see the actual foxholes of Easy Company. The app on your phone showed soldiers interacting in these same foxholes.

This area used to be open to the public, but as of July 9 you need a ticket to get in whether you want to use the app or not. There is a huge fence surrounding the perimeter.

I saw several cars pull into the parking lot with confused people inside, not knowing of the recent change. Hopefully they figured it out and got their tickets.

A view towards Foy. The forest used to extend another 200 meters or so towards Foy, but has since been cleared for farming. If you watch the Band of Brothers episode, the village they attack at the end is Foy.