Part 3 - Trois Ponts to Neufmolin

12/30/07

Once out of Stavelot the Kampfgruppe continued along the relatively good N23 highway to Trois Ponts.  There Peiper intended to recross the Ambleve river, then cross the Salm river, then continue on good roads toward his objective.  But as the name says, there were three bridges in the city, and he would have to find two of them intact.

The Ferme Antoine (Antoine farm) on the N23 between Stavelot and Trois Ponts.  KG Peiper passed this way on the morning of 18 December, and later the farmhouse would serve as the headquarters of the LSSAH armored reconnaissance battalion.    (author's photo)

On the way to Trois Ponts the tanks also passed a small bridge across the Ambleve at Petit-Spai.  This bridge was later dumped into the river when a Jagdpanzer IV of the assault gun battalion tried to cross it.  (author's photo)

Just before the N23 highway enters Trois Ponts from the east, it passes through two railroad underpasses.   (author's photo)

Map of the area of Kampfgruppe Peiper's advance, from Ligneuville on the east to the Stoumont area on the west.  The route labeled N63 from Stavelot to Trois Ponts on this modern map was the N23 in 1944; the route labeled N633 was the N33.  (Microsoft MapPoint via Expedia.com)

American forces had a 57mm antitank gun positioned near the underpasses.  It was quickly dispatched by Peiper's lead tanks, but it bought just enough time for US engineers to blow the Ambleve river bridge, almost literally in Peiper's face.  This forced another change of direction; Peiper now had to turn north and follow narrow roads through the valleys and hills until he could find another way to cross the Ambleve and again reach the main N23 highway.

Just beyond the railroad underpasses the N33 highway turned north.  Peiper ordered his tanks to take that route, and about noon they passed through the tiny hilltop village of La Gleize.  Little could Peiper know that he would soon be surrounded and fighting for his life in that village.

La Gleize.   (author's photo)

To once again gain the main highway Peiper would have to cross the Ambleve river, since he was on the north side.  There was a bridge near the hamlet of Cheneux, which his scouts told him was intact.  Once across that he could continue with only one last small obstacle in his way: the Lienne creek.

The Ambleve river near Trois Ponts.  In the winter it can be deep and swift, and is indeed a major obstacle for tanks.  (author's photo)

In the distance is the bridge over the Ambleve near Cheneux.  Peiper's tanks were coming from the far side, and passed along the road in the foreground.   (author's photo)

Peiper's column was delayed by air attacks, and it was dark by the time his tanks wound their way down the hill toward the bridge over the Lienne creek.  Another squad of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion had beaten him there and prepared the wooden Neufmolin bridge for demolition, and blew it when the Germans were about 100 meters away.  This is the location where Peiper is said to have cried in frustration, "The damned engineers!  The damned engineers!"

The modern bridge over the Lienne creek, looking toward the east, from where the Germans approached.  (author's photo) 

The Belgian monument to the American engineers at the Neufmolin bridge.  The photo was taken at 5 PM on December 18, 1994, 50 years after the engineers turned Peiper back.  (author's photo)

Continue with Peiper's tanks toward Stoumont, and the end at La Gleize.

All text copyright 2005-2008 Gregory A. Walden. All rights reserved; material from this website may only be republished with the author’s permission.