"Keep 'em Moving"
Ardennes 1945
Battle of the Bulge
January 1945
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The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders "Keep 'em Moving" Ardennes 1945 | 5th Camerons Battle of the Bulge January 1945 |
 Liege, New years day 1945. Standing L to R. Sgt.Kenny(Porky) Hearns, Lt. Archie Fox(Canadian)F.O.O. Sgt. George Sands front; Cpl. Thomson? Leslie? or Hughes? |  Liege, January 3rd 1945 Chaudfontaine area, billeted with a family whose names were; Walter, Marguritte, Nicolas, Georgette & little Pol |
  May 2008. Avenue William et Phiippe Grisard, 4050 Chaudfontaine, The street ( looking toward the Casino square) where my Father was billetted in January 1945  Nicolas (88) and Georgette (86) I
had the great pleasure in finding and meeting Nicolas and Georgette at
their home in Chaudfontaine, May 2008. Full of life, they had some great
reminiscences of my Father and his comrades in their short stay at
their home, January 1945. With a twinkle in her eye, Georgette took
great delight in telling of the officer inspecting the troops on
parade, in front of the nearby Casino, with the aid of a mirror on a
stick, the mirror pointing up from ground level !!! |
 right; Lt. William (Bill) Bowen. On 10th January 1945, 5th Camerons attacked across the main Laroche - Marche road, through Rendeux, Hodister and Genes. Between Hodister and Genes they came under shell-fire. The lead truck was hit by a shell from a German 88mm gun, the only vehicle to be hit. Lt. Bowen was sitting between Sgt. Sands and the driver. Sgt. Sands was blown clear, dazed but un-injured. He managed to pull Lt. Bowen out of the wrecked cab. The driver and 3 others were killed with 10 more wounded. Lt. Bowen received a face wound and was evacuated, that was the last time he and Sgt. Sands saw each other. It is believed that Lt. W. Bowen came from the Northampton area of England, his family owning a shoe shop or company. |
 Ardennes, Camerons meet Yanks In Nois
Bras a patrol of Cameron Highlanders met up with
elements of the American 347th Infantry,
company 1. Among the Camerons were; Sgt. R. Hayworth, Sgt. L Toogood, Cpl. T. Goodall, Pte. J. Lavery, Pte. R. French, and Pte. R. Moore. Among the Americans were; Lt. R. E. Miles of Richmond, Virginia and Sgt. E. S. Dudley from Norfolk, Virginia. |
By the end of January 1945, 5th Camerons were back in
Vught, preparing
for the advance through the Siegfried
defences of the southern part of what would
always be known as "that Bloody
Reichswald", where some of the bloodiest hand to hand fighting
of the war took place. In a message to 51st Highland
Division commander, Major-General Tom Rennie, 30th Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Brian
Horrocks said; "I have seen the 51st fight many battles since I
first met them just before Alamein, but I am certain that the Division has never
fought better than in the recent offensive into Germany". "You breached the
enemy's defences in the initial attack, fought your way through the southern
part of the Reichswald, cleared several strong-points, such as Hekkens etc. and
cleared the southern half of Goch. You have accomplished everything asked of you
despite the number of additional German reserves which have been thrown in on
your front".
51st Highland Division fought continuously for 19 days. |
  The memorial to the fallen of the Highland Division for their part in the La Roche offensive, Ardennes 1945  Blazer badge presented to British and American veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, to mark the 60th anniversary. 1944 - 2004 |
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