National Liberation Memorial Virtual Cache

The fierce combat actions in the area of the Schumann crossroads were the bloodiest fights in the Battle of the Bulge on Luxembourgish soil. The stalemate in the Schumann combat zone from December 27, 1944 to January 20, 1945 cost many human lives. Many white and grey crosses on the military cemeteries in Hamm and Sandweiler bear a date from this period. From December 27, 1944 with the night attack on Nothum until the liberation of Roullingen on January 20, 1945 and Wiltz on January 21, 1945, it mainly opposed the 26^th Infantry Division to the 9. Volksgrenadier Division, but also other U.S. and German units.

“In the period 1 - 4 January 1945 a succession of bitter attacks and counter-attacks took place approximately one kilometer north of the village of Nothum at a crossroads called Mon Schumann, at which point the main road from Bastogne to Wiltz was threatened. On 2 January, the 101^st Infantry, with 3^rd Battalion, 328^th Infantry attached, jumped off in an attack to secure Mon Schumann and Hill 490 beyond. The 2^nd Battalion and C Company of the 1^st Battalion were halted early in the attack by heavy enemy fire from enemy tanks and automatic weapons. The 3^rd Battalion, 328^th Infantry was employed to strengthen the attack, but the stalemate was never eliminated. Although our troops reached Hill 490 several times, counter-thrusts by the enemy forced our withdrawal. Other elements of the Division, endeavoring to push forward, were forced back to original positions.”

in: 26^th Infantry Division History World War II, compiled and edited by G-3 Section, 26^th Infantry Division

The National Liberation Memorial Schumann’s Eck was erected on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the liberation of Luxembourg. It was inaugurated on September 13, 1994, in the presence of German and U.S. veterans.

To validate this virtual geocache, send the answers to the following questions via email or message centre and add a photo of you or your GPS close to the National Liberation Memorial to your log. Logs without answers or without authentic photo will be deleted.

1. On the National Liberation Memorial is a plate with a Latin sentence. Send me the 3rd and the 5th word.

2. Plates on the Memorial: send me the complete name of 3 U.S. infantry units that fought in this area from December 1944 to January 1945!

3. Photo of you or your GPS close to the Memorial without showing the answers.

Lest we forget…

Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.