Belgium, Battle of the Ardennes, Bastogne, 1944, a uniface cast bronze medal, unsigned [by R. Bastin], for the Fonderies et Ateliers Saint-Germain, Nazi officer proferring a message to an American soldier, nuts on scroll above, symbolic view of a town below, 142mm. Good very fine, rare (£40-60)

General Anthony MacAuliffe, commanding 101 Airborne Divn, was defending Bastogne from a large German artillery force, which incorporated six heavy anti-aircraft battalions. On 22 December 1944 the German CO sent a message to MacAuliffe, inviting him to surrender. MacAuliffe’s terse reply, ‘Nuts’, has entered American military legend. Sold with further information