Offensive (aka The  Battle of the Bulge) began. When Hart crashes his jeep as he speeds  away from the MPs, he ends up in a gully with a large number of dead  American soldiers. A road sign seen earlier in the scene indicates  that this is supposed to be the men from the infamous Malmedy  Massacre. Those murders of POWs didnt happen until 17 December  1944, the day after the battle began.