during the Battle of the Ardennes in 1944

In WW2, the Battle of the Ardennes (or the Battle of the Bulge) began on the 16th December 1944 and continued until the 25th January 1945. The Allied forces had invaded France on the 6th June 1944 (D-Day, the Normandy Landings) and on the 15th August 1944 (the south of France). During the Battle of Normandy following D-Day, the Allied forces pushed the German army further and further back towards Germany. However, Hitler was planning a final offensive. On the 16th December, the German army attacked the Allied line in France, Luxembourg and Belgium, and succeeded in pushing through the line, creating a ‘bulge’ into Allied territory, in the Ardennes forest region in Belgium. The battle was fought, largely between the German army and the US Army, in bitter cold winter weather…

There is a Colchester connection with the Battle of the Ardennes. The 9th Parachute Battalion took part in British action during the battle. The 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion originated as the 50th (Holding) Battalion of the Essex Regiment, which was formed at Colchester Garrison in May 1940. In October, it was reorganised as the 10th Battalion of the Essex Regiment and served in home defence. In December 1942, the 10th Battalion became the 9th Parachute Battalion and joined the 3rd Parachute Brigade, based at Salisbury, in the 1st Airborne Division. Parachute training took place near Manchester. When the 6th Airborne Division was formed, the 3rd Parachute Brigade was moved into it. The 6th Airborne Division, including the 9th Parachute Battalion, took part in the most important actions leading up to the end of WW2 in Europe – D-Day, on the 6th June 1944; as ground troops in the Battle of Normandy, until August 1944; (they then returned to Britain); the Battle of the Ardennes, December 1944-January 1945; and Operation Varsity on the River Rhine on the 24th March 1945, which was, apparently, the largest airborne operation in history. The 9th Parachute Battalion ended the war, in May 1945, near the Baltic Sea. The Battalion’s most famous achievement was their destruction of the Merville gun battery on D-Day. (The new barracks at Colchester are, of course, the Merville Barracks, now the base of the 16 Air Assault Brigade.) The British Parachute Regiment was nicknamed the ‘Red Devils’.

The Battle of the Ardennes began on the 16th December. On the 20th December, the 6th Airborne Division in Britain was ordered to provide support in the Ardennes. The Division arrived back in Europe on the 26th December and took up position along the River Maas. On the 29th December, the Division attacked German forward units, and the 3rd Parachute Brigade itself took the town of Rochefort on the 31st. The Division stayed on patrol in Belgium and the Netherlands until February 1945, when it returned to Britain.

On the 20th December, the German army had encircled the key town of Bastogne, which was held by the US Army, and besieged it. The siege wasn’t broken until the 27th December, an important date in the battle – 70 years ago today – when the US Army broke through the encirclement and went into offensive action against the German army. December 2014-January 2015 represents, therefore, the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Ardennes and the beginning of 1945, the final year of WW2. Victory in Europe was declared on the 8th May 1945 (‘V.E. Day’). 2014 is, of course, the centenary of the start of WW1 and the beginning of four years of centenary commemorations for WW1. However, 2015 is also an important WW2 anniversary – the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2. From the 1st January 2015 until the 8th May, each day is a step towards victory in Europe, 70 years ago…

The Trust is based in a former Army building in the old garrison at Colchester. We will be holding a 70th anniversary V.E. Day event here at Roman Circus House on the 9th May 2015.

The image shows the emblem of the British airborne forces during WW2 (Bellerophon riding Pegasus). In ancient Greek mythology, Bellerophon was a monster-slaying hero and Pegasus was his flying horse.

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