Lone Infantryman v Panzers

21st December 1944: Amongst many desperate battles, one infantryman's multi-weaponed defence of a roadblock outside Malmedy stands out

US soldiers found themselves manning isolated outposts awaiting the German attack.

The German panzers were making slower-than-expected progress on the packed roads - but there was little to stop them.

Although Malmedy is remembered for the massacre which took place outside the town on the 17th. It was also the site of another of the bitter defence battles that held the US lines at the height of the Battle of the Bulge.

Us troops manning a crossroads on the outskirts of Malmedy.

In the heavily wooded mountainous terrain of the Ardennes the Germans could only make progress through a limited number of small towns where the roads intersected. It was to these locations that the US Army rushed reinforcements and sought to make a stand.

On the outskirts of these towns, the first defence position was usually a roadblock on a critical feature, often lightly manned.

'Move, fire, move, fire' And made them think that we were a lot more than we actually were.

It was in such a position in Malmedy that Sergeant Francis Sherman "Frank" Currey in the 3rd platoon of Company K, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division¹, found himself in charge in the early hours of the 21st December:

The attack towards K Company’s roadblock began as an infantry attack. There was no artillery preparation, in fact, no artillery support at all. When the advancing enemy infantry got within three or four hundred yards of the roadblock’s outpost, they were discovered and fired upon.

A spirited firefight immediately developed. Under the cover of machine gun and direct fire, the attackers advanced and took possession of a house in the vicinity of the crewless TD gun, about 200 yards from the positions of the defending platoon.

The enemy made this house into a strong point and built up a line east thereof. Practically all of the hostile infantrymen carried automatic weapons.