NUTS weekend at the Bastogne War Museum

FRIDAY - DECEMBER 15:

• 4.30 pm: Presence of David Marshall (84th Infantry Division) and Gerald White (2nd Infantry Division)

SATURDAY - DECEMBER 16:

During the day in the “Nuts Reenactment Camp”:

• Reenactment activities in a large US military camp (presence of around a hundred military extras):

  • From 9.30 to 6 pm: Catering, refreshment bar and musical ambiance (the bagpipe player)

  • From 9.30 to 6 pm (inside the museum): Animation on the life of civilians at the time

  • 10 am: flag raising (in the presence of 4 US veterans of World War Two and 2 US veterans of the Vietnam War)

  • 11 am: demonstrations and explanations in the “Field Hospital” (Period Nurses)

  • 13pm: drill exercises

  • 14pm: weapons demonstrations and blank shots

  • 15apm: re-enactment in the “Headquarters” (role play)

  • 16pm: weapons demonstrations and blank shots

  • 17pm: flag lowering

During the day in the museum:

• Demonstration and learning of decryption of the Enigma machine

• Signing session of authors of the Battle of the Bulge (Christian Dujardin, Roger Marquet, Pascal Heyden, Michiel Janzen, Xavier Van Daele (from 1pm to 4pm), Philippe Gruslin, etc)

• Exchange for books and historical documents

• 10 am to 1 pm: signing session of 4 American veterans (three of whom are back in Europe for the first time since the Second World War)

  • Ed Cottrell (48th Fighter Group)

  • Ernest Mogor (76th Infantry Division)

  • Joe Picard (552nd Field Artillery Battalion)

  • William Savage (75th Infantry Division)

SUNDAY - DECEMBER 17:

During the day in the “Nuts Reenactment Camp":

• Reenactment activities in a large US military camp (presence of around a hundred military extras):

  • From 9.30 to 4 pm: Catering, refreshment bar and musical ambience (bagpipe player)

  • From 9.30 to 4 pm (inside the museum): Animation on the life of civilians at the time

  • 10 am: flag raising

  • 11 am: demonstrations and explanations in the “Field Hospital” (Period Nurses)

  • 12 pm: re-enactment in the “Headquarters” (role play)

  • 1 pm: weapons demonstrations and blank shots

  • 2 pm: flag lowering

  • 3 pm: tidying up of the camp and military parade

Morning in the museum:

• Unveiling of a new “Donation of the Month” window

• 13.30 to 16.30:  Meet & Greet with 3 Belgian veterans and a survivor of the Ravensbrück concentration camp

  • André Liégeois, 98 years old  (1st Battalion, Company C: Brigade Piron)

  • Xavier Verzin, 99 years old (1st Belgian Field Regiment – RHQ Company)
    

  • Raymond De Moor, 99 years old (4th Belgian Rifle Battalion within the 9th American Army) 

  • Julien Nyssens, 100 years old (former artilleryman in the Queen Battery of the 1st Belgian Field Regiment: Brigade Piron)

  • Anne Megens, 99 years old (resistance fighter until 1943 then deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp)

During the day in the museum:

• Demonstration and learning of decryption of the Enigma machine

• Signing session of authors of the Battle of the Bulge (Hugues Wenkin and Kris Michiels)

Please note: the activities are free to access, but a ticket is required to visit the museum.