| Original caption: “Deep snow banks on a narrow road halt military traffic in the woods of Wallerode, Belgium. 87th Infantry Division.” Elements of Company C, 312th Medical Battalion, 87th Infantry Division, and 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, meet in the woods of Wallerode, during the 82nd Airborne Division’s drive in Northeast Belgium. From the 307th’s after-action report: “The [Eighty-Second Airborne] Division attacked to the Northeast from Saint Vith on January 28. Engineers, supporting the infantry advance, started their nightmarish job of clearing, opening, and maintaining roads. During this time for a week, there was a battle each individual was waging against the extreme cold. Coupled with this was the battle against snow, which drifted in spots to six feet and higher. The infantry, in their marvelous advance, left miles of supply roads to be opened. There was the usual case of not having as much equipment as could be used on the task, but such equipment as was available and could be devised was put to work, 24 hours a day. In addition to the dozer – tractors of the Battalion and supporting engineers, trucks were fitted with blades to plow the snow aside.” Company C, 312th Medical Battalion, bivouacked in Libramont, Belgium, for so long that members of the unit were adopted by various residents in their homes. Snow and ice made transportation difficult, and land mines killed civilians and soldiers alike. Nazi German forces held Wallerode, which had an elevation of 1,600 feet (490 meters) to pour artillery shells into Saint Vith. Much of the town was leveled during the battle. American armor led the advance into Wallerode on January 25. German tanks and 200 infantry counterattacked that night, but were “contained.” By early February, the ice and snow began to melt, turning the dirt roads into a quagmire. The 307th after-action report stated, “There were no roads that could be properly called by that name in the Division sector. Corduroy [wooden logs] and Sommerfield matting were used to keep the minimum supply roads open.” The Battle of the Bulge was over, as the Americans approached the Siegfried Line and moved into Germany. The 312th Medical Battalion and the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion moved towards new objectives. Photographer United States Army Technician 5th Class Edward A. Norbuth (July 15, 1918 – March 15, 1994) of Chicago, Illinois, was the child of Lithuanian immigrants. As a truck driver who dropped out of high school during the Great Depression, he drove a jeep for the 165th Signal Photo Company after enlistment on May 25, 1942. The photographers he was driving around taught him how to use a camera. Attached to the 30th Infantry Division, Norbuth landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 6. Norbuth specialized in photographing evacuation hospitals. He photographed United States Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson’s (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) visit to France in July 1944. In the following months, Norbuth’s team – Detachment “H” – jumped between divisions to photograph them in combat in France and into Belgium. In August, he took pictures of the 29th Infantry Division during its assault on Brest, the 79th Infantry Division in Charmes and across the Moselle River, and the 83rd Infantry Division during its brutal assault on Le Stromberg Hill. In December 1944, Norbuth accompanied the 82nd Airborne Division north to Trois Ponts during the Ardennes Offensive, advancing and retreating before the Nazi German 2nd and 9th Schutzstaffel SS Panzer Divisions. He then rejoined the 30th Infantry Division. On the advance to Germany, Norbuth and the team followed the 1st Infantry Division through the Siegfried Line, across the Ruhr River, and across the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine. After the war, Norbuth’s photographs of executed captured soldiers and his testimony were used to convict the perpetrators. He photographed many Generals, including George S. Patton Junior (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945). On November 8, 1945, Norbuth was honorably discharged and returned to Chicago and his wife, Florence (1920 – 1991). In 1948, his family welcomed a daughter, and later a son in 1952. He returned to the trucking industry as a rate clerk. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0334.jpg |
| Image Size | 814.59 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2340 x 2844 |
| Photographer | Nortbuth |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 30, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Wallerode |
| State or Province | Wallonia |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 111-SC-199639 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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