Battle of the Bulge Tour : monument at Samrée
942 views · Published 25 February 2017 · 1:54 · Indexed 21 September 2026
Channel: Alan Heath · 2017 · Autos & Vehicles
The film shows the memorial next to the church to the dead of Samrée during WW2. It was captured on 11 May 1940 by the Kradschützen-Bataillon 7, of the 7th Panzer Division as it headed for Dinant. It was liberated in September 1944, captured once more during the Battle of the Bulge and finally liberated on or around 11 January 1945. Samrée is a village of low, squat stone houses designed to protect the occupants from the winter cold at a height of between 540 and 600m . It is the location of the oldest cross-country skiing resort in the Belgian province of Luxembourg (not to be confused with the country of the same name with which it borders). The 17th century church is dominated by a polygonal belfry and shelters a wooden image of Christ from the XVIth century. In the the forest of Saint-Jean, at an altitude of 555m, there is the Cross of Chafor which recalls the hot ovens built by woodcutters to make charcoal which is still obvious from the many craters scattered throughout the forest. In front of the cross, a pedestrian promenade leads to the Cross of the Merchants, at 565m. This iron cross was erected in memory of the sheep merchants massacred by robbers. According to popular tradition, it was the rallying point and den of the bandits Géna and Magonette. From the Cross of Chafor, the road literally tumbles towards the village of Bérismenil which offers a panorama - apparently a great place to see the dawn on the Ardennes!
