Nicknamed the Angels of Bastogne, these two nurses from the city volunteered for the 10th American armored division. They treated wounded, with the means at hand, and in a makeshift hospital, in the middle of the fighting.
Renée Lemaire lost her life with 30 American soldiers in the first-aid post in the Rue de Neufchâteau, bombed by the Germans on Christmas Eve 1944. Her body was wrapped in a white parachute that she intended to use to make her wedding dress.
Augusta Chiwy was more fortunate and survived until 2015. Since 2019, there has been a memorial that preserves their memory as well as that of all the nurses who continued their mission at the risk of their lives.
