Hotton. Men of the 3rd U.S. Arm Div inspecting two knocked out German tanks of the 116th Pz Div, in front of the Fme Verdin, on the Chemin de Rahisse (nowadays Rue de la Roche). This picture was taken after the Germans had vacated Hotton on 24 December 44. From 21 until 23 Dec the Germans held the eastern and north-eastern part of the town. The area has changed significantly since the war: the Fme Verdin now is the house next to the traffic roundabout. There is no snow, not yet. The same spot, picture taken from the air ... date unknown, with snow; the embankment in the background is of the Remblai du vicinal, the local tramway line - not in use anymore (nowadays route des Vergers). The picture is taken with a view slightly west /south-west. Hotton is beyond the railway embankment (houses in background). Has the Pz IV disappeared ... ? Not, quite .... it has been moved just behind the pole, to the right, just outside the photograph. It's still visible on this one (photo number A8 & A9): Ardennes At some point the Americans set fire to both tanks (see still number 00.00.05 - 00.00.47; they are still burning at 00.01.18 until 00.02.00). Do I see a thin layer of snow/ or is it 'just' frost? INVASION SCENES - EUROPE: US TROOPS - British Pathe
On 21 December 1944 the 116th Pz Div surprised the American garrison at Hotton - consisting of some headquarter troops of the 3rd U.S. Armoured Div, two straggler tanks and some engineer troops - and almost captured the Hotton bridge. However the American garrison rallied and the first Panther was knocked out at a 'stones throw' of the bridge. The Germans held the NE part of the town for some days, but finally abandoned it, because they were theatened in their back by the Americans at Soy. More details about this battle can be found at Hugh M.Cole: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Ardennes/USA-E-Ardennes-16.html (paragraph: The 3d Armored Division is checked 21 - 23 december) The Germans did not retake Hotton after abandoning it on 23 December, but there was still much fighting going on around the town and it remained for quite some time dangerously close to the frontline. The 116th Pz Div made some attacks to the west of the town, but was finally repulsed at Verdenne. The Führer Begleit Brigade made a short appearance south of Hotton, at Hampteau, before being recalled to Bastogne. To the east was the 560 VG Div. Only after the Allied counter-attack started in early January 1945 did the frontline gradually shift to the south, away from the town. Edit: added a new/working link
The link doesn't work for me on IE 10. I went to the main site for the green books and the HTML link for the Ardennes volume doesn't work there either. They have a small disclaimer box below it: "Some users may encounter difficulties opening these files from the server. If the entire document will not open, select "Save" instead of "Open". Once the file has been saved to your hard drive it should open without any problem."
I had the same problem with the Ardennes link in post #2. Here's a link to the same section of the book on HyperWar: Chapter 16 - THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE
