Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A. and a full historical research write-up.

*Limited Edition of 50*

Own your piece of history today!

Due to an incredibly high demand for display case options, we are proud to offer one of our LIMITED EDITION series of HISTORIC DISPLAY CASE EXCLUSIVES. This incredible “Piece of History“ is professionally encased in a glass display case with plush padding and a tightly sealed display case. Each display features a historical photograph and a short description that corresponds to the artifact displayed. This display case measures a perfect 4.25 inches tall x 3.25 inches wide.

This series is a limited edition of 50 pieces, meaning that each “Piece of History” display is unique. The WWII Battle of the Bulge 101st Airborne gear fragment you receive may vary slightly from the display shown.

This incredibly rare and very historic piece of WWII history is an original piece of 1944 Battle of the Bugle 101st Airborne Division gear that was recovered from Bastogne.

In December 1944, American forces had been spread across a 75 mile stretch of the Ardennes Forest. The Ardennes was considered to be a minimal fighting area and therefore, the troops that had been placed in the area were either inexperienced or had been moved there to rest. However, early in the morning of December 16^th, 1944, American troops were caught off guard by a surprise counteroffensive attack. The attack consisted of approximately 200,000 German troops and 1,000 tanks. Hitler had been planning the counteroffensive since September 1944. He had hoped to break through the American front lines, with the ultimate goal of splitting the Allied Armies in half. Hitler had also hoped to take control of the supply port in Antwerp, Belgium. This counteroffensive attack led to what we now remember as the Battle of the Bulge.

The Battle of the Bulge lasted six weeks, though it came to an apex during the Siege of Bastogne, which had begun on December 20^th and lasted through December 27^th. Bastogne was a key location for both the Allied and Axis armies. The Germans knew that they had to capture the city of Bastogne in order for their counteroffensive attack to be successful. On the other side, the Allied Armies knew that to successfully stop the German Army and to regain the upper hand, they needed to hold on to Bastogne.

On December 17, 1944, General Eisenhower ordered XVIII Airborne Corps to move “without delay” to Belgium to help stop a massive German breakthrough that started the day prior. The 82nd Airborne was directed to hold St. Vith and the 101st Airborne Division headed to Bastogne. The 17th Division was ordered from England to Belgium.

Soon, St. Vith and Bastogne were under heavy attack by German tanks and infantry. By December 22, Bastogne was surrounded. The 101st- used to operating behind enemy lines- held Bastogne until relieved on December 26, 1944. Meanwhile, the 82nd’s equally important battle for St. Vith continued until First Army ordered a withdrawal. Fighting from new lines, the 82nd helped turn back the German assault.

The 17th Airborne Division arrived just before Christmas. Their first combat was west of Bastogne and the troopers cleared the area of German units.

The Battle of the Bulge was costly for the Airborne. The 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion had only 55 men left and was inactivated. The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion had 100 men left and was also inactivated. The men of both battalions transferred to units of the 82nd Airborne Division.

NUTS:

On December 22, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive had surrounded the town of Bastogne, Belgium. Inside the town, Brigadier General McAuliffe commanded the 101st Airborne Division and other tank and artillery units.

That morning, a German contingent approached the 101st under a flag of truce, and handed a surrender ultimatum to Major Alvin Jones, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment. “The fortune of war is changing,” the typewritten note declared, “Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne.” The Germans demanded a surrender within two hours times, or shelling would begin. The Americans, the note said, would be responsible for civilian casualties.

When Jones brought the note to McAuliffe, the general asked him what it said. “They want us to surrender,” said Jones. McAuliffe found the suggestion tactically and morally ludicrous, and he began laughing and exclaimed, “Aw nuts!”

Shortly, McAuliffe took up his pencil and prepared to draft a reply. After a few minutes, the general said aloud, “I don’t know what to tell them.” When McAuliffe asked for suggestions, Lt. Colonel Kinnard, his G-3, replied, “Well, sir, that first remark of yours would be hard to beat.” The entire staff spontaneously applauded. Shortly McAuliffe put his pencil to paper.

To the German Commander:

Nuts!

The American Commander

This was the entire content of the note delivered to the Germans by Colonel Joseph H. Harper, commander of 327th Glider Infantry. In this scene displayed at the ASOM, the German officer is studying the note. A few moments later, Harper took pains to make certain the note was clear. “If you don’t understand what ‘nuts’ means, in plain English, it is the same as, ‘Go to Hell.'”

That night, the German Luftwaffe began a four-night bombing assault against the town. But the Americans refused to give in. On December 26, after a ten-day siege, American tanks from Lieutenant General George Patton’s Third Army lifted the siege of Bastogne.

Beginning of the Battle

• Sept. 16, 1944, Hitler announced his decision to prepare a counterattack out of the Ardennes with the objective of occupying Antwerp.

• Dec. 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler’s attempt to drive forward to the English Channel.

• Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest over a 85-mile stretch.

• Four American divisions were stationed in the forest for rest and rejuvenation.

• Germans broke through the American front, seized key crossroads and advanced toward the Meuse River.

Challenges throughout battle

• Dec. 17, 1944, Belgian civilians and 86 unarmed American Soldiers were taken prisoner and massacred on the spot in what is now known as the Malmédy Massacre.

• English-speaking Germans disguised themselves as American Soldiers, captured critical bridges, cut communications lines, struck fear into the Belgian townspeople and spread rumors among the American forces.

• Soldiers faced frigid winter weather conditions of freezing rain, snow and fog along with a mix of wooded, muddy, hilly terrain and populous villages.

• Ammunition, medical supplies, fuel and other necessities were scarce and had to be rationed.

Turning point

• Dec. 18, 1944, the first shells fell on the city of Bastogne.

• The Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, rushed reinforcements to hold the shoulders of the German penetration.

• Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was counterattacking against the German flank.

• Soldiers delayed armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moved or burned critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks and came up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators.

• Local civilians and Belgian Soldiers who volunteered to serve with the Americans also did their part to provide aid to the American Soldiers and to slow the Nazi advance.

• By Dec. 20, 1944, Bastogne had become an armed camp with four airborne regiments, seven battalions of artillery, a self-propelled tank destroyer battalion and the surviving tanks, infantry and engineers from two armored combat commands all under the 101st Airborne Division.

• Dec. 21, 1944, Germans closed in on Bastogne and surrounded the city.

• At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender on Dec. 22, he simply responded, “Nuts!”

• Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.

• The last shells fell on Bastogne on Jan. 15, 1945, but the battle ensued in the region for another 10 days.