Malmedy Massacre

Malmedy Massacre. Battle of the Bulge. During the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944, a German Spearhead of SS Sturmbannfuhrer Joachim Peiper's group approached Baugnez crossroads, two miles southeast of Malmedy in Belgium. At the same time, an American convoy of about 30 vehicles from Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion approached the same crossroad. The Germans spotted the convoy and opened fire, immobilizing the first and the last vehicles and forcing the convoy to halt. Armed with only rifles and small arms, the Americans had to surrender., The Americans were assembled in a field with others captured earlier that day. Suddenly, the German SS troops opened fire on the prisoners. Panic ensued; some POWs tried to flee but most were shot where they stood. A few dropped to the ground pretending to be dead. Anyone thought to be alive was shot point blank or beaten to death by rifle butts. It was the worst atrocity against U.S. troops in Europe during World War II., Eventually, survivors escaped to a small nearby house, Café Bodarwe. Sensing danger, they left the house and ran across a road into a hedgerow while under fire. They continued to run and eventually met those of the 30th Armored Division moving through the area., We remember this event today because Lancaster County was highly represented in the battalion with nine soldiers. Harold Billow, a Mount Joy resident, was the last living Malmedy survivor. Every national holiday, Billow decorated his front yard with 87 flags commemorating those soldiers who perished in Malmedy at the hands of the Waffen-SS.