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At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. It was a race between the Germans who were desperately trying to bring their 88 mm gun to bear and the Americans who were trying to get as close as possible to the Tiger Is rear. For this mission, CCB consisted of the 14th Tank Battalion, the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, the 16th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, and miscellaneous smaller units vital to any major command. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . Home News Random Article Install Wikiwand Send a suggestion Uninstall Wikiwand Upgrade to Wikiwand 2.0 Sell, buy or rent Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge (Praeger Security I 9780275971151 0275971155, we buy used or new for best buyback price with FREE shipping and offer great deals for buyers. The brigade had 9,000 men, Mark IV tanks, assault guns, 104mm and 105mm artillery, 88mm antiaircraft guns, and a number of heavy automatic weapons batteries. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. Counter to the plan laid out earlier by General Jones, Hoge had decided to launch his attack on Winterspelt with the entire 14th Tank Battalion as the lead element rather than with the more vulnerable infantry of the 27th AIB. An attack to the east by the 7th Armored Division could then relieve the two surrounded regiments of the 106th. There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. United States 106th Infantry Division on the 16th and 17th of December 1944 (the first two days of the battle of the Ardennes were as follows: 1. 1964. It would be unable to turn its full strength on St. Vith until the American surrender in that area. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 1940 194111. According to the British, 37 mm M6 guns APC M51 can only penetrate around a maximum of 65mm of rolled homogeneous armor plate (RHA) at 30 degrees under V50 ballistic standards. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. Soon after General Hoge left 106th Division headquarters for the drive back to Faymonville, Jones received a call from Middleton informing him that a combat command of Brig. The northern prong of the horseshoe was composed of CCB, 7th Armored Division from Poteau and Vielsalm. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. EN RU CN DE ES. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. However, by noon on December 18 it was quite apparent to Hoge that the Germans infiltrating across the river were converging on the bridge in such numbers that it had to be blown. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. Hoge managed to stop the stragglers, and soon a provisional company of men from the 424th was formed to reinforce the 27th AIB on its march toward the Our. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. (1944) 111 111. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. Volksgrenadier-Division. Anderson, Thomas. Fortunately for Colonel Reid, word came at about 1730 that his 424th Infantry Regiment was to withdraw immediately. Infanterie-Division . 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. Slayden, knowing that the nearest units of the 7th Armored Division were at least 60 miles away in the Netherlands, had serious doubts that a whole combat command could reach St. Vith on the 17th, much less by 0700 hours. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "aefa00eeca3d30bd3e762fcc54816f6d" );document.getElementById("f87928873f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 188 was raised in late 1939. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); The failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. The StuG III explanation also accounts for why Troop B makes no mention of it in their morning report and record of events entry for 18th December 1944 and why Lieutenant Colonel Boylan makes no mention of it his 1946 letter or in the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report for the month of December 1944. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. In light of these circumstances, General Hasbrouck felt compelled to write to Clarke that unless the withdrawal began soon the opportunity will be gone., During the night of December 22, a cold wind had begun to blow out of the east bringing what weathermen call a Russian high. Although both Clarke and Hoge noted it, they saw little hope that the ground might freeze in time to aid their withdrawal, but after receiving Hasbroucks message Clarke stepped out and tested the ground. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. Manteuffels operation in the St. Vith area was already three days behind schedule. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was to attack along the two roads from Schoenberg, with the Fhrer Escort Brigade assaulting from the north. Your email address will not be published. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. Since 7th Armoreds withdrawal meant that 9th Armoreds left flank would be in danger, the two generals agreed that Hoge would have to readjust part of his line to maintain contact with Clarkes new rearward position. After putting down a heavy concentration of artillery fire, the Germans moved their infantry across the river east of the position held by the 2nd platoon of D Troop, 89th Recon. Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. Your email address will not be published. Therefore, he decided to use the 9th Armored at Winterspelt, since capture of that area by the Germans would open to the enemy a direct route to St. Vith, a route even shorter than that leading from the Schnee Eifel. First-time contributor Charles Gutierrez is the son of a 9th Armored Division veteran. The tanks of the 14th Tank Battalion and the half-tracks of the 27th AIB paused to pick up the foot elements of the 424th RCT, 106th Infantry Division. 281st Security Division (281. Hoge could not see much sense in making an attack, taking ground, and then turning right around and coming back, especially if the attack was successful. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army. Inform us! events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. Now with a new armored combat command due to arrive at 0700 hours the next day, and with the rest of the division to follow, Jones believed he would soon have the potential to deal with both the Schnee Eifel and Winterspelt emergencies. Because Ridgway was not in total agreement with the withdrawal and to get a feel for the real situation on the ground, he and Hasbrouck made their way to General Clarke at Commanster. Rapidly, the M8 advanced to within 25 yards (23 meters) of the Tiger I and quickly pumped three rounds into its rear. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. Add to cart. The 27th AIB was ordered to establish a defensive position south, east, west, and southeast of Malempre. The two task forces held onto their respective positions on N23 and N27, deflecting all German armored attempts to penetrate St. Vith, until they were relieved late in the afternoon by CCB, 7th Armored Division. None of these Tiger IIs were lost at St. Vith and from photographic evidence at least three are recorded to have no burn damage and/or holes in the rear. The 424th Infantry still blocked the road to the Our River and Steinebruck. At 0400 hours on 16th December, 1944, men of the German 18th Volksgrenadier Division began to leave their positions and make their way towards the American lines. Its population in 1944 was about 2,000, and its citizens were very much pro-German. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. Instead of the M8 Greyhound firing three shots into the Tigers rear, the M8 Greyhound in Lieutenant Olsons version of events fired two shots. Although the American forces in the St. Vith area came under command of General Ridgways XVIII Airborne Corps, the Airborne Corps itself was under the command of Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, overall commander of the northern sector of the Bulge. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. The second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. However, this platoon never completed its mission. With all of these contradictions, ambiguity, and lack of supporting documentation and evidence surrounding Troop Es entry in mind, it is safe to conclude that this is not the most reliable account of what really happened on the 18th of December, 1944 at St. Vith. On December 21, 18. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. Division 4. The guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Engeman set out with two task forces to meet the enemy. Do you have more information about this person? The message was that his command was now back with VIII Corps and that he was to go to St. Vith and report to Maj. Gen. Alan W. Jones, commander of the newly arrived 106th Infantry Division. Johnston, W. Wesley. Required fields are marked *. Volksgrenadier-Division. The U.S. 9th Armored Division contested the German advance around St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, and won precious time in the process. . Airfix J6017 Volkswagen Camper Van (Quick Build) R 405.00. EN. German Division Nr. Zaloga, Steven. Field Marshal Montgomery, believing that Ridgways Corps could not attack successfully toward Vielsalm and that the American forces within the goose egg could better be used in support of other forces committed to the northern shoulder defense, decided upon a general withdrawal. On December 21, 18. Based upon this fairly optimistic view, Ridgway, shortly after midnight, ordered the entire St. Vith force to withdraw from its current positions and form a defensive ring west of St. Vith and east of the Salm River. Excellent deductive research! Volksgrenadier-Division. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. Bergstrm, Christer. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002.