THE ANGELS OF BASTOGNE

In the middle of Germany’s final major offensive, a young nurse risked her life to help treat wounded American soldiers

- MARTIN KING

During the fateful December 1944 fight for Bastogne, Belgium, Captain John 'Jack' Prior was serving with the 20th Armoured Infantry Battalion (AIB). He was the chief medic of Team Desobry, one of the three 10th Armored Division teams tasked with holding a key road into the town.

Augusta Chiwy, a young Belgian-Congolese nurse, had travelled down to Bastogne at her father's invitation from Louvain, where she worked in the Saint Elizabeth Hospital. She arrived in Bastogne on 16 December, just two days before Jack - auspiciously, the same day that three German armies attacked along an 89-mile (143km) front. When Team Desobry retreated from Noville, Jack set up a military aid station in a vacant building on the Rue Neufchateau in Bastogne. He had about 100 men in his charge, including 30 seriously wounded soldiers on stretchers and practically no medical equipment or medicines at his disposal. It quickly became clear they were in desperate need of medical help.

When Jack heard there was a nurse in the area, he called on Augusta at her father's home. The doctor spoke a little French, and Augusta understood a little English. She agreed to help at the makeshift hospital against her father's wishes and understanding that if the Germans succeeded in capturing Bastogne she could be immediately executed.