The restaurant is called Le Tank. Strange name, you might be thinking. It stands outside the pretty village of Celles in the Ardennes.
The name comes from a German Panther tank parked outside. An ancient yellow sign tells the story. Ici fût arretée l’offensive Von Rundstedt le 24 Décembre 1944 – The Von Rundstedt offensive was stopped here on 24 December 1944
On 24 December, during the Battle of the Bulge, a column of Panzer tanks arrived in the village of Celles. They were heading towards Dinant on the River Meuse with the aim of ultimately reaching the port of Antwerp. It was Hitler’s last desperate attempt to win the war.
A German officer needed to know if the road ahead leading to Dinant was mined. He went into the local cafe and asked the owner, Marthe Monrique. She lied and told the officer it was mined.
He decided it was safer to go through the fields. One of the tanks hit a mine and flipped over. The German advance ground to a halt at Celles.
The overturned tank was left in the field for several years. Madame Monrique eventually rescued it and placed it in front of her cafe, which she renamed Le Tank. She liked to remind her customers of her heroic role in stopping Von Rundstedt’s offensive.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
