Clayton Christenson. When he saw me with my 506 cap with the wings he told me he had a neighbor who also served in the 506 PIR during WWII. When I asked him about his neighbor's name he answered:"Hank Zimmerman". Is this a coincidence or not?
Hank, a Band of Brothers veteran was our common friend. What a small world.
An interview with Clayton recorded in 2022.
Left: General George Patton grave site. He was killed in a car accident late 1945.
After an explanation about the grave sites visited by the Royal family, each of them laid a rose.

Left: Bob Lott (401 PIR) poses very proudly with the Royal family of Luxembourg.
The Grand Duchess held him very friendly by the shoulders.
The Grand Duce of Luxembourg with the webmaster.
The Grand Duce and Grand Duchess had animated conversation with some of the veterans.

In Bastogne I was witness of a special meeting.
Bob Lott, 101 Airborne Division, 401 Glider Infantry Regiment, C Company , fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the neighborhood of Mande-St-Etienne, a small village North East of Bastogne. At that time Bob was 20.
Bob stayed next to a farm which does not exist anymore. One morning he awoke in his foxhole and the first thing he did was checking his gun. It was frozen so he relieved himself on the gun to warm it up. Than he went into the farmhouse to clean and oil it again. After that, when he was walking outside, he checked his gun again and hell broke loose. Because of the sound he made when loading his gun he gave his position away to the near bye Germans. He had found a Bazooka. Bob: " In the Airborne you were familiarized with several different weapons.   We were taught and  shot a Mortar , BAR, Thompson Sub  Machine Gun, Pistol and learned how to blow up Bridges with Composition C Charge. Also 30 caliber and 50 caliber machine guns.  I did not want to carry anything but a M1 Garand Rifle because of it's great velocity , accuracy and its dependability. I never used a Bazooka in combat but I knew that the Germans were afraid of that weapon."
Because Bob did not succeed loading the thing he bend some of the fins, adjusted the bazooka at 350 meters and fired it. Because he had bend the fins the grenade 'fluttered' into the direction of the German troops. By coincidence it hit a tank behind one of the front wheels. The result: the tank kept circling on the spot.

During the 60-th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Bob Lott met Fritz Engelbert by coincidence. While talking together they found out that they had fought eachother at the same spot. Fritz, who served with the 901th Regiment Pantzer Lehr Division, had also fought at the spot which is marked with a red cross on the map below.
Fritz Engelbert - 18
Bob Lott - 20
move the cursor over the photos above

With the help of this map, drawings from the book "Fighting with the Screaming Eagles" from Robert Bowen, Bob Lott's friend, we hit the road with colonel Glass (above right) from the US Army. The colonel was a walking encyclopedia on the Battle of the Bulge. He garenteed that he would find the spot were Bob Lott fought 60 years ago and dugged his fox hole within an hour. He succeeded. Sunday morning at ten we left and within an hour we were at the very spot.
With the help of the book Bob explains were he thought the spot had to be. We found out that we were just a few 100 meters from it.

Above right: Bob points into the direction of the spot were the German troops were 60 years ago. The place were our cars are standing is the little dirt road were the German tanks were situated.

Photo left: Bob points to the spot were he had his foxhole.On the left side from the big trees."I want to go there", he said, "You can do what you want but I go there. I've been back in the Ardennes three times before and I never was able to find that spot. Now I have to go there"
We walked together through the snowy fields. climbed over some barbed wires and arrived at the spot were Bob had his foxhole 60 years ago. Everybody was speechless for a while. Bob said: "It feels like my mission is completed now."

Above right: Standing at the spot were Bob had his foxhole while he is pointing to the direction were we stood some moments before when we started looking for the fox hole.

Above: Bob explains to Fritz and his son where his father(r) and he fought each other 60 years ago. Bob's son Rob listens very carefully.

Left: After 60 years two former enemies visiting one of the many war memorials in the neighborhood of Bastogne.

Bob and Fritz interviewed by Belgium radio
60 years ago they were enemies. Now shaking hands with both their sons as a witness.

60 years after the war: 101 ABD, 506 PIR E company, C company 401 GIR and Regiment 901 Pantzer Lehr Division.
FLTR: Don Malarkey, Shifty Powers, Bob Lott (read more) and Fritz Engelbert.
Nobody could expect that this first contact between Don Malarkey and Fritz Engelbert would result in a book in 2001.
"Saving my Enemy"
Their new friendship and writing of this book helped both of them to more or less cope with their difficult war trauma.

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These photos were taken by Peter van de Wal. I assert the moral right to be recognized as the photographer and the owner of these images in any form. If you wish to use these photos for noncommercial purposes I consent to such use as long as the source of the photos is clearly acknowledged in the same publication as the photos you wish to reproduce.

© Peter van de Wal

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