The village of Bure during the Batlle of the Ardennes

At dawn on 3 January '45, in the cold and snow, the 13th Battalion Parachute Regiment of the British 6th Airborne Division left Resteigne on foot and headed towards the village of Bure, occupied by the Germans. At 13:00 hrs, from the edge of the forest overlooking the village, it began its attack. As soon as the paras left the cover of the trees they came under heavy German machine-gun and mortar fire as well as fire from a Panther tank. Despite all this, the British paratroopers continued their attack, reaching the first houses and progressing from house to house. After 3 days of heavy fighting, sometimes hand-tohand, and at the cost of heavy losses, the paratroopers gained control of the village. Bure was liberated. The same evening, the British paras received orders to leave the village and to continue their advance. The paratroopers of the British 6th Airborne Division would also liberate Wavreille, Grupont, Jemelle, On, Hargimont, Nassogne, Amberloup, Ambly, Marloie, Waha, Roy, etc. (Text source by Guy Blockmans / OPT)