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On December 17, 1944, near the hamlet of Baugnez, on the height half-way between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville , in Belgium, elements of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper encountered the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. After a brief battle, the Americans surrendered. About 150 of the prisoners of war were disarmed and sent to stand in a field near the crossroads.
Peiper and his leading armoured units then continued their advance.
A tank pulled up, and a truck shortly thereafter. A single SS officer pulled out a pistol and shot a medical officer standing in the front row, and then shot the man standing next to the medical officer. Other soldiers joined in with machine guns. It is not known why this happened; there is no record of an order by an SS officer - however, such routine shootings of POWs were common on the Eastern front.
Many of the prisoners escaped into the nearby woods. Some 72-84 of the prisoners were killed, their bodies were left on the field where they fell.
An American patrol discovered the massacre that night. News of it spread quickly among Allied troops.
American forces recaptured the site where the killings took place on January 13, 1945. The bodies were recovered on January 14January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 351 days remaining (352 in leap years). Celebrated as New Year's Day by those still following the Julian calendar. Events 1301 Andrew III dies, ending the Arpad dynasty in Hungary - 15January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 350 days remaining (351 in leap years). Events 1559 Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. 1582 Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland. 1759 The British Museu, 1945.
The memorial at Baugnez bears the names of the murdered soldiers.
The SS soldiers of Kampfgruppe Peiper were captured, and in MayThis article is about the month of May. For other uses, see May (disambiguation). May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. It may have been named for the Roman goddess Maia or more likely for the Roman goddess of fertili, 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar were put on trial for the killings, in the controversial Malmédy Massacre TrialThe Malmedy Massacre Trial was held in May-July 1946 in Dachau to try the German Waffen-SS soldiers accused of the Malmedy massacre of December 17, 1944. It attracted great attention because of the nature of the crime and the later disputes about the cond.