Battle of the Bulge december 1944 - january 1945

December 16^th 1944 Von Rundstedt started the Ardennesoffensive. Target was to reach the Antwerp harbours in order to twart the supplies of the Allies in Holland. The German attacking forces approached as far as Dinant. The nothern border of the saliant went from Marche, Hotton, Soy, Grandmenil to Stavelot and further east Malmedy. Magoster, 4 km south-east of Soy, came in the sector that was attacked and thereafter defended by the 2^nd SS Panzer Division.
January 3^th 1945 the 335^th Infantry of the 2^nd Armored Division started the counterattack at 8.30 hour. Trinal was taken at 9.30 hour. Magoster in the afternoon, in spite of heavy German resistance with bazooka's and anti-tankguns. The aim for that day was Devantave. But the in those days afforested hill between Magoster and Devantave -where our house is today- turned out to be a to great obstacle. Some 88-tanks on the hill eastern Devantave awaited them, and two attacks failed due to heavy tank-, rocket- and mortuarfire. The Shermantanks could not cope with the narrow and slippery roads, so the Infantry had to do the job alone. At the end of the day they withdrew and stayed the night east of Magoster.
Also Beffe was hard to crack. Not the enemy-occupation there, but because of a gun on the Consy-ridge. The Rue de la Belle Vue is situated just north of that ridge now. On january 4^th Beffe was taken at 11.05 hour by Compagnie "B" of the 335^th Infantry after an intensive artillerybombardment. On january 6^th Compagnie "I" and "K" recaptured Devantave. Then the ridge between Beffe and Devantave was taken and the gun eliminated.
So far this short summary. In our house you can find prints of several stories of the fightings around Hotton, La Roche a.s.o. published on internet. For your convenience some interesting web-links:

the Ardennes-Offensive (liberation of Hotton, Trinal, Beffe, Magoster and Devantave),
the conquest of hill La Roumière (near Trinal),
the story of "Task Force Hogan" (see also the tank in Beffe),
the museum la Bataille des Ardennes in La Roche-en-Ardenne (this little village has been destroyed almost completely in January 1945 by about 70.000 bombs),
overview of Warmonuments.