​​Memorial Commune d’Erezée​

​​The village of Mélines, in the Erezée municipality, first saw action on the morning of 21 December 1944. This was from the south as the German 116th Panzer Division and 560th Volksgrenadier Division advanced towards Hotton. It was here that the Company C, US 23rd Engineer Battalion tried to counter the advance.

Over the coming days, the battle raged around the village and surrounding area. The American troops brought in the US 82nd Airborne Division as further reinforcements. By 25 December the German advance had been halted and the front line was stabilised. The American troops then began a counter offensive to once again liberate the local villages.

The memorials here remember the US Forces, namely the 2nd and 3rd Armoured Division, US 75th Infantry Division and the US 84th Infantry Division.

The marble etching portrait is of Corporal John E. Shields of Company C, who was the first to be killed in the opening actions here in Mélines on 21 December.

​A small plaque remembers the two hundred American soldiers who were killed in the surrounding villages and area.