| United Kingdom Royal Army infantry of the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment, 160th Infantry Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division advance, about 8 miles from La Roche. Freed by Americans in September 1944, La Roche-en-Ardenne was recaptured by the Germans in December, during the Ardennes Offensive. The subsequent Allied bombing raids resulted in the town being reoccupied by Americans once more in January 1945, but left much of it destroyed and 116 residents dead. An American Sherman M4A1 tank and a British Achilles SP 17-pounder (87 millimeter) are displayed as monuments to the town’s liberation. In town also is a memorial to Michel Proux, a Frenchman killed in action with the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, the unit that liberated the town in September 1944. A memorial to the 54 Scotsman from the 51st Highland Division killed January 9-14, 1945, during the liberation of La Roche, is just outside the town, on the road to Hotton. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0352.jpg |
| Image Size | 303.71 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1293 x 985 |
| Photographer | Charles H. Hewitt |
| Photographer Title | No. 5 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 5, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | La Roche |
| State or Province | Wallonia |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | B 13434 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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