WORLD WAR II, BATTLE OF BASTOGNE: THE SIGN FOR THE HAMLET OF "ISLE LA HESSE," THE HQ OF THE 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION.

[Belgium: Retrieved from roadside in the hamlet of "Isle la Hesse," January 1945.]

[Belgium: Retrieved from roadside in the hamlet of "Isle la Hesse," January 1945.]
Enameled Belgian road sign lettered in black "ISLE LA HESSE." Yellow background bordered in red, ten holes used to secure the sign, and ten other areas where bullets or shrapnel have hit or penetrated the sign. Edges and pock marks showing loss of enamel and subsequent rust, verso rusted. 14 x 39 inches (360 x 1000 mm).
Provenance: The sign retrieved from the roadside after January 1945; sold to an English WW2 Collector several decades later.

AN HISTORIC ROAD SIGN. The Chateau Isle la Hesse is a large country house in a hamlet of the same name, just 2 km outside the town of Bastogne to the west of modern day E25. It is still standing today and in use as a hotel. In late December 1944, it was commandeered as the HQ for the 101st Airborne Division, being large enough to accommodate the various Commanders of the Battalions in action around the perimeter of the town. It served as the HQ for the defense of Bastogne. It was in this building that Generals Taylor, McAuliffe, and Higgins coordinated the defense of Bastogne and directed the push back of German forces in January 1945. During the siege there were 12,000 men from the 101st Airborne and 11,000 men from other units, all dug in around the town to form a defensive perimeter line. These men were fighting 7 German Divisions, with over 55,000 men, who had encircled the town. The fighting continued from the 20th December to the 26th, when tanks from Patton's Third Army broke through the German lines and turned the tide of the battle. Casualties for the US forces were 3,000 (killed or wounded), and considerably more for the German army.