My father was in 101st in Bastogne and was givin a plaque with the same description (Germans on one side, parratrooper on other side; approx a 6" brass plaque with the words "nuts" and "Bastogne" on the bottom). As much as I can remember he said that it was given to him by the people of the town as a token. His name was S. Lee Savage from Indiana.

The city was controlled by Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, acting CO of the 101st. Just before noon on the 22nd, two German officers and two enlisted men delivered an ultimatum under flag of truce. It read in part:

"To the USA Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne: The fortune of war is changing. This time strong German armored units have encircled the USA forces in and near Bastogne ... There is only one possibility to save the encircled USA troops from total annihilation; that is the honorable surrender of of the encircled town ...

If this proposal is rejected, one German Artillery Corps and six heavy AA Batallions are ready to annihilate USA troops ... all the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity..." -The German Commander

After reading the surrender demand McAuliffe said "Ah Nuts!" and dropped the surrender demand on the floor. Some time later McAuliffe was reminded that the German messengers were still waiting for a reply.

"What should I tell them?" McAuliffe asked his staff/

"That first remark of yours would be hard to beat, General." Remarked an officer.

Later, an amused American Colonel named Harper delivered McAuliffe's official response.

"To the German Commander: Nuts!" - The American Commander.

Although fluent in English, the German officer was unable to understand the reply. When asked if the response meant yes or no, Colonel Harper replied:

"If you don't understand what "nuts" means, in plain English it is the same as "go to hell" - and I will tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every German that tries to break into this city."

To this the German officer merely saluted and replied, "We will kill many Americans..."

Without thinking at all, Colonel Harper responded "On your way bud, and good luck to you!" Harper could never explain what could possibly have possessed him to wish the Germans good luck...

Despite the continued fighting Bastogne received its promised air drop the following day, December 23rd, and the siege was lifted on December 26th.

An interesting and amusing piece of WW2 trivia.

Also note, there are several other plaques around that are harder to find: Several from Maastricht Holland celebrating its liberation, and a plaque celebrating the capitulation of Germany at the little red school house in France. I am a collector with an interest in liberation memorabilia. If anyone has additional information or would like to talk... email me at joe_melissa1@sbcglobal.net. JOE

For example, three stars on an ETO ribbon would mean the veteran served in three campaigns in the European Theater of Operations.

The EAME or E.A.M.E. (European, African, Middle Eastern) Theater Ribbon was a way for the U.S. Military to recogize where a person served during WW 2. It was given to all who participated in the European, African and Mediterranean theatres.

As for the EAME ribbon itself, The colors of the ribbon have their own significance: the brown stripes on the outer edges represent the sands of the North African desert. The wide green stripes in the middle represent the forests of Europe. The narrow green white and red stripes on one side represent Italy and the narrow black and white stripes on the other side represent Germany. The narrow red white and blue stripes in the center represent the United States.

Bronze Stars worn upon it are Campaign Stars, NOT to be confused with the Bronze Star Award for Valour. The two CAMPAIGNS mentioned here are:

Rhineland: Sept. 14, 1944 - Mar. 21, 1945

Central Europe: Mar. 22 - May 8, 1945

For one example, a pilot might have these for piloting a B-17G based at Deenethorpe, England, on strategic bombing missions over Europe, Sept. 14, 1944 to V-E Day.

Campaign Medals (theater ribbons) are on page 3 of United States Army Service Medals

Note that you need to be careful on the Internet. I just read that EAME stands for European/African/Mediteranean theater, but the ME really stands for Middle Eastern.

More input:

• My late husband, a Chief Gunners Mate, had 13 stars on this ribbon, and he told me that each star stood for a different campaign. In addition he had the following: American Defense; 1 star. Philippine Lib. 2 stars; World War II Victory Medal; American Area (Good Conduct Medal); Commendation Ribbons.

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Here is a quote from the US Army website.

A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service medals, ribbon awards, and certain military badges. Service stars are different from award stars, which are issued for multiple awards of meritorious and combat decorations. The United States military issues bronze and silver and gold service stars, with a silver service star issued "in lieu" of five bronze. For instance, six campaigns, served on a campaign medal, would be annotated by one silver and one bronze service star. In some situations, service stars are only issued after the second award of a decoration. For instance, three awards of a Sea Service Ribbon would be annotated by the ribbon with two bronze service stars. The United States Army also occasionally issues award numerals, instead of service stars, to denote multiple awards of certain ribbon decorations. In addition to award numerals, the United States Army uses the same Gold award star that is worn on many Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard decorations to denote the tenth and final award of the Army Sea Duty Ribbon. Service stars issued for actions in which a United States Navy vessel participated are also placed on campaign streamers, which are affixed to the U.S. Navy flag. The regulations for this originated in 1942, which defined naval campaign areas and designated engagements. Participation in such engagements, by ships and by individuals, was then denoted by service stars. The United States Army followed a very similar practice with ground campaigns and battle engagements. A common point of confusion is to confuse bronze and silver service stars with the Silver Star Medal and Bronze Star Medal. The main difference between the two is that the Bronze and Silver Star Medals are individual decorations while service stars are worn on awards and are not individual decorations or medals.

Harold was a foot soldier so he couldn't control his soldiers. Please note that all the English fought on foot, horses were used to get to the battle and were not used by them in it.

His men ran after the enemy when they faked retreat, and broke the shield wall - which was until then protecting them extremely well!

When the shield wall broke and Harold's army ran straight ahead, the Normans split into two columns. These then closed on Harold's army. That is called an envelopment.

Harold's men were not only tired from marching up and then down the country again after taking on and defeating Harald Hardrada but they were also disaffected (fed up) with the terms of their involvement - many of them were not career soldiers but ordinary farm folk who had been rounded up and pressed into Harold's army in leiu of taxes (which he apparently then made them pay anyway). Those that were not killed during the Battle of Stamford Bridge with the Norse King (Harald Hadraada) had marched nearly 250 miles in a couple of days - perhaps if Harold had waited for his men to recover or if he had been a better tactitian he may have been luckier but maybe it was just down to that... luck.

German Order of Battle, Ardennes Offensive:

Oberbefehlshaber West
Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt

Army Group B

Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model

General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel

XLVII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz

LXVI Corps
General der Artillerie Walter Lucht

LVIII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Walter Kruger

XXXIX Panzer Corps
Genlt Karl Decker

Oberstgruppenfuhrer der Waffen SS Josef Dietrich

I SS Panzer Corps
SS-Gruppenfuhrer Hermann Priess

II SS Panzer Corps
SS Obergruppenfuhrer Willi Bittrich

LXVII Corps
Genlt Otto Hitzfeld

General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenberger

LIII Corps
General der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch

LXXX Corps
General der Infanterie Franz Beyer

LXXXV Corps
General der Infantrerie Baptist Kniess

II Fighter Corps
Genmaj. Dietrich Peltz

III Flak Corps
Genlt. Wolfgang Pickert

The Battle of the Bulge was not a single battle, but a major push (the Ardennes Offensive) by the German army during the last winter of World War II. Facing Allied advances across a wide front, Hitler ordered a concentrated attack to drive toward the Dutch port of Antwerp through the Ardennes Forest. It was the last major German offensive of the war.

In December, 1944 the Germans attacked a weak area of the allied lines. Their intention was to break through, split the American and British armies, and capture Antwerp, Belgium thus cutting off the British from supplies and reinforcements. They hoped to force the evacuation or surrender of the British forces and that that would force America to make peace. They would then have been able to turn all their strength to defending against the Russians. It didn't work though. The allied lines held, although they were pushed back in a broad semicircle, or bulge, in the line, hence the name of the battle.

The main thrust of the offensive was a two-pronged Panzer attack on the weak points of the Allied lines. It is also noted for the German deception of using captured US vehicles and uniforms to infiltrate the American lines.

*(see also the related links below)

Aspects of the Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of The Bulge was a battle fought in Belgium, across the Siegfried Line. It was the battle right after the Americans took the Hürgenwald (Huertgen Forest). The battle is most recognized from two perspectives: the 101st Airborne surrounded in Bastogne, and the 1st Infantry Division pressing the Germans back up through the Bulge. It was a great long series of battles and operations. Some of the more notable would be

- Operation Stösser, where the Germans attempted to drop Fallschrimjäger paratroopers into an area outside of the Allied Lines

- Operation Greif where the Germans were able to send a single man behind Allied Lines and steal a great deal of gold

- The Malmedy Massacre, where 84 American prisoners were executed by the Germans.

The Siege of Bastogne

While in Bastogne, the 101st Airborne became encircled when the Germans hit their lines behind them, and captured a number of American doctors and medics, as well as killing many soldiers. One of the most famous quotes of the war was uttered by acting 101st Division Commander, General Arthur McAuliffe. When the Germans had encircled the Americans, the German commander sent them a letter asking for their honorable surrender, to which McAuliffe replied "NUTS!" This gave the members of the 101st a good laugh. Eventually, General Patton's Third Army charged through and rescued the 101st, even though no member of the division had ever agreed that they needed to be rescued.

The battle started December 16, 1944 and lasted until January 25, 1945.

There were two Allied army groups being massed up for the invasion of Germany itself and in the middle was the Ardennes forest where new recruits and fatigued veterans went to calm down. In this spot the resistance to an attack would be weak and the Germans through everything they had at it. There goal was to make it to the port of Antwerp and cut off the northern army group and make them surrender. This was Hitlers last strong offensive.

Need Clarification ===

First I have to assume you refer to an American unit. Then I assume you refer to the 141st Field Artillery Battalion.

The 141st Field Artillery Battalion served in the following campaigns:

Naples-Foggia(ground- Italy)

Anzio (Italy)

Rome-Arno (Italy)

Southern France

Central Europe

Rhineland (Germany)

In my notes, I show that the 141FA Btn was originally part of the 39th Infantry Division. But some of its units were sent into combat as independent units. It was probably assigned to VI Corps, which also fought in Italy and then landed in Southern France in August 1944.

Try a search for 141st Field Artillery Battalion and detailed reference books on the Battle of the Bulge. I will do more searching, also.

The Battle of the Bulge was just that---the Germans penetrated through the Allied lines and made a bulge in the lines. So the bulge covered a lot of territory. However, the most noted battle was at Bastogne, Belgium, where the Allies were surrounded for several days. Othe notable cities involved are Foy and Noville The Battle of the Bulge was fought in an area of Belgium known as the Ardenne, and fighting took place in several towns and villages. Not in any one particular city.

Rather than a city, the Battle of the Bulge raged mostly across the Ardennes Forest area on the German/Belgium border. The attack was the last large German offensive movement of WW-II, pushing across a front of some 85 miles.