Ten inch section of the top of a wood fence post, the top wrapped with a 4 in. wide band of protective steel cladding with holes on either side. The pole once supported barbed wire strung near Houffalize, Belgium, just north of Bastogne and on the border of Luxembourg. Houffalize was a strategic location during the Battle of the Bulge. Generals Montgomery and Patton met up there, Montgomery coming from the north and Patton from the south, in their counter-attack against the German forces remaining in the area. The town was flattened on the night of 5–6 January 1945 by ninety RAF Lancasters of Bomber Command to block the key crossroads for German supply columns and the escape route for German forces. This relic was recovered in 1987, and is so marked, with location. From a Dutch 'digger' and collector whose collection was regularly displayed at European shows. With a copy of a flyer used by the collector to advertise a show of his relics in 1981, and (amended) again in 1987.