Memorial Renée Lemaire & 10th Armored Division

In December 1944, this house was used as hospital by units of the 10th Armored Division. Renée Lemaire was a nurse from Bastogne who took care of the wounded. During one of the bombardments of the Luftwaffe, on 24 December, the house was hit. 30 wounded American soldiers and Renée Lemaire were killed.

In the Band of Brothers series, it was suggested she died in the church of Bastogne, which is incorrect.

This plaque was provided by US Army veteran John T. (Jack) Prior MD whose aid station was in the building that stood were a Chinese restaurant now stands. On Christmas Eve, 1944, the aid station was bombed while Jack was next door getting a pen and paper to help a dying soldier in the aid station write a letter home to his sweetheart. The plaque remembers volunteer Belgian nurse Renee Lemaire and 30 soldiers who were instantly killed in the bombing. Jack hung the plaque there in 1994 during the 50-year reunion of American veterans in Bastogne.

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Source

• Text: Serjos de Groot & Glenn Ivers
• Photos: Alun Nevett (1, 2), Serjos de Groot (3, 4)