events
World War II: Battle of the Bulge: Malmedy massacre: American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper.
Related Wikipedia articles
Battle of the Bulge
World War II battle, 1944–1945
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during the Second World War, taking place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was launched through the densely…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Malmedy massacre
1944 German war crime
The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the Waffen-SS on 17 December 1944 at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. Soldiers of Kampfgruppe Peiper summarily killed eighty-four U.S. Army prisoners of…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
United States Army unit on the Western Front of WWII
The 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion was a United States Army unit that saw action in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Their main mission was to identify the location of enemy artillery using the "sound and flash" technique.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Prisoner of war
Military term for a captive of the enemy
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Waffen-SS
Military branch of the SS (1933–1945)
The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. With the start of World War II,…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Kampfgruppe
German term for combat formations in WWI and WWII
In military history, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II, and, to a lesser extent, the German Empire in World War I.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Joachim Peiper
SS officer and war criminal
Joachim Peiper was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) colonel, convicted war criminal and car salesman. During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper served as personal adjutant to Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, and as a tank commander in the Waffen-SS. German historian Jens…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)