17 de dezembro de 1944

Battle of the Bulge - Malmédy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper. On December 17, 1944, near the hamlet of Baugnez on the height half-way between the town of Malmédy and Ligneuville in Belgium, elements of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Eastern front, such incidents were rare on the Western front.

Many prisoners escaped into the nearby woods. Some 72-84 of the prisoners were killed, their bodies left on the field where they fell. An American patrol discovered the massacre that night. News of it spread quickly among Allied troops. Afterwards, the order went out: SS and Fallschirmjäger were to be shot on sight.

Among the soldiers who escaped was actor Charles Durning.

American forces recaptured the site where the killings took place on January 13, 1945. The bodies were recovered on January 14 / January 15, 1945. The memorial at Baugnez bears the names of the murdered soldiers.

Wikipedia.

Read Malmedy Massacre Trial here.