Battle of Bure

Background

In December 1944, the German armies launched a massive counter-attack through the forests of the Ardennes. The plan was to drive across the River Meuse and on to Antwerp to split the Allied armies and their lines of communication. As part of the First Allied Airborne Army, 6th Airborne Division was available as a component of the strategic reserve for the Allied forces in northwest Europe. The other two divisions available in reserve, the American 82nd and 101st Airborne, were already at Rheims in northern France, and the 6th Airborne rested and re-trained after their success in Normandy was sent from England by sea to Belgium to assist in the defence.

On Christmas Day the 6th Airborne Division moved up to take position in front of the spearhead of the German advance; by Boxing Day they had reached their allocated places in the defensive line between Dinant and Namur along the River Meuse. Soon after British XXX corps eliminated the most furthest Western German penetration and thus advanced. The 3rd Parachute Brigade were on the left, 5th Parachute Brigade on the right, and the 6th Airlanding Brigade in reserve. By the time they arrived in position the German advance had faltered.

Battle

Just before New Year’s Day the brigades were ordered to advance against the tip of the German salient. On 2 January 1945, they were to capture the villages of Bure and Grupont supported by the Sherman tanks of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry detached from the 11th Armoured Division. Once these had been captured, a crossing over the River Lomme would be seized in order to halt any German breakthrough and thus put them firmly on the defensive.

The following day the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion of the 5th Parachute Brigade left Resteigne on foot and at 13:00 started the attack on Bure. Supported by the tanks, 'A' Company was to secure the village, while 'B' Company secured the high ground and 'C' Company was in reserve. The attack was met immediately with sustained heavy mortar and machine gun fire, supported by German armour and casualties began to rise in both companies. After being repelled they regrouped and attacked again and this time 'A' Company managed to gain a foothold in the village while 'B' Company reached the high ground by which it was able to enter Bure. At 17:00 'C' Company was sent in to reinforce 'A' and 'B' Companies, who were holding half the village with difficulty but this time they were supported by combined tank and artillery fire.

German counterattacks now began but the battalion was able to form a tight perimeter around half the village and develop strong points in all occupied buildings. As a result, they carried out fighting patrols and fought off four German counterattacks with one on 'A' Company which was only defeated when they called down artillery fire on their own positions. In the closeness of the fighting, the paratroopers used their fighting knives to avoid giving away their locations and casualties could not be evacuated nor could supplies be brought forward.

On 4 January the battalion was subjected to a continuous artillery barrage, and fought off another five German counterattacks knocking out tanks with their PIATS. At one stage in the battle an ambulance did get in to Bure from which stepped a Sergeant of the 225th (Parachute) Field Ambulance from the Regimental Aid Post accompanied by a padre. It stopped a few yards from a German Tiger tank which had moved up to it, almost pointing its gun through the drivers window, a German officer appeared who agreed in perfect English that the wounded could be collected but the ambulance was not to return.

By now the town of Bure was nearly a heap of rubble but the Germans clung to the houses and ruins, hid in cellars and catacombs, fighting and sniping to the end. Tiger tanks were still operating in the village which made mopping up extremely difficult. In the evening 'C' Company from 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from 6th Airlanding Brigade joined the 13th Parachute Battalion as reinforcements, and in the early hours of 5 January, a determined attack by the Battalion succeeded in pushing the bulk of the Germans out of the village although one Tiger tank remained despite repeated PIAT attacks on it. However, by 21:00 the last German outpost was eliminated by' 'A Company and the village was secured and German resistance ceased. During the same time the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion had captured Grupont with only light resistance and with 5th Parachute Brigades objectives now taken the battle came to an end.

Aftermath

In the fight to capture Bure and the surrounding villages, the units sustained heavy casualties. The 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion lost about a third its strength: seven officers and 182 enlisted (68 killed in action). The 2nd Battalion, Ox and Bucks, lost one officer and 20 enlisted (seven KIA). The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and 23rd Hussars also suffered heavy casualties including the loss of sixteen Sherman tanks. The Belgian SAS lost three men during the action whilst supporting the attack on Bure.

The 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion was pulled back from Bure and replaced by troops from the 29th Armoured Brigade. The men of 6th Airborne went on to liberate Wavreille, Jemelle, On, Hargimont, Nassogne, Forrieres, Masbourg, Lesterny, Amberloup, Marloie, Waha and Roy. At Bande on 11 January 1945, a patrol from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion who had been in reserve, accompanied by the Belgian SAS, discovered the bodies of thirty four civilians who had been murdered by the Germans on Christmas Eve.

By the middle of 6 January the 6th Airborne Division withdrew to Holland and patrolled along the River Maas before returning to the United Kingdom in late February in preparation for their next undertaking in Operation Varsity. When General Courtney Hodges commanding the First US Army joined up with General George S. Patton's Third US Army on 16 January 1945, the Allies launched a counter-offensive towards the German border which recaptured all the ground that gained during the offensive.

Legacy

A memorial dedicated to 13 Para stands in the centre of Bure and in the church there is a memorial book to the men of the 6th British Airborne Division killed fighting during the Ardennes campaign and in addition the CWGC at Hotton.

The battle is represented in the video game Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts.