WORLD WAR II: BATTLE OF BASTOGNE.

A "BASTOGNE" town sign. Recovered from Bastogne, January 1945 or later.

A "BASTOGNE" town sign. Recovered from Bastogne, January 1945 or later. A period enameled metal town sign, lettered in black Bastogne, yellow background with red borders, securing holes on each corner. The front face pock-marked with bullet and shrapnel marks, and partially rusted, verso rusted. 8 x 31.5 inches (200 x 805 mm).
Provenance: Recovered from Bastogne after the battle, probably by a farmer, and purchased by a Battle of Bastogne collector from a nearby village.

A battle-scarred "BASTOGNE" town sign, one of 8 to 10 that were present on the roads entering this small quiet Belgian town, a relic from one of the hardest fought battles against Germany in World War II.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE WAS THE LARGEST LAND BATTLE EVER FOUGHT BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, and the last offensive campaign of Germany in World War II. On 16th December, German forces broke through the Ardennes region, some 406,000 men, 1200 tanks and 4200 artillery pieces. It was winter and the Americans were caught off guard, pulling back against a savage assault, in bitter winter conditions. By December 21, German forces had surrounded the crossroads at the small town of Bastogne, a strategic point in the road network, where the 101st Airborne, the 10th Armored Division, the 969th African-American Artillery Bn. and a few other outfits had set up their perimeter defense and held it against vastly superior German forces for 5 days. Food and ammunition ran out, and by the 22nd, each soldier had only 10 rounds to use each day. On this same day, the Germans asked the American command to surrender, an ultimatum to which Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, deputy commander of the 101st Airborne replied with his world famous one word answer, "NUTS." Several aerial resupply missions including gliders were flown in to support the besieged troops, and Patton's 4th Armored Division, after a forced march, broke through the surrounding German lines on December 26, 1944, and broke the siege. After the relief of Bastogne, the battle around the Ardennes continued into January, when the Germans were forced to surrender as their supply lines were cut off, leaving their forces without gasoline and short of ammunition. Losses were considerable on both sides. A similar Bastogne sign was sold in these rooms on December 6th 2017, lot 1223.