Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. Six paved or macadam roads converged at St. Vith, but none of these was considered by the Germans to be a major military trunk line. 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. The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. The 424th Infantry still blocked the road to the Our River and Steinebruck. The Americans knew that their only hope in doing any sort of damage to this beast was to get as close as possible to it and shoot its weaker rear armor. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. At approximately 0100 on December 18, a German force of about 30 men tried to cross the Our at Steinebruck after a brief artillery barrage. On December 9, 1944, Brig. 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. The staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. Germanys Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to TIGER II. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. . Ten tanks, numerous supply vehicles, armored cars, and jeeps were lost to enemy action. After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. After conferring with Clarke, Ridgway wanted to talk to one more man in whom he had supreme confidenceBrigadier General Hoge. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. The division's intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert P. Stout, noted that the division faced two known enemy divisions, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division and the 26th Volksgrenadier Division. Schneider, Wolfgang. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. This is puzzling, to say the least. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. There are a few notable issues raised by this morning report and record of events entry, the most obvious one being that the M8 Greyhound is reported as being from Troop A of the 87th, not Troop B of the 87th, as it is in the contemporary story. Add to cart. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. Design, Production & Modifications. During ceremonies observing the 20th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, General Clarke was able to talk to General Manteuffel and discuss German operations against St. Vith. 13 relations. He also said that they got a new Greyhound. The German plan for the attack through the Ardennes, an offensive that would forever be known as the Battle of the Bulge, was to be accomplished in the conventional manner. With the enemy inside Steinebruck and excellent direct fire by the German artillery, what was left of 2nd Platoon, 89th Recon withdrew along the St. Vith road. 1940 194111. . Volksgrenadier Division 5. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. At 0600 Im going to start to move.. School of Tank Technology, April 1944. 2014. He could not believe it. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Rather than reaching the Meuse and driving on to Antwerp, the offensive stalled and eventually was turned back. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. The 424th Infantry had its back to the Our River, and if the Germans seized the bridge at Steinebruck and spread along the far bank his regiment would be hard pressed to effectively withdraw. No reinforcements were expected. 10 Apr. While 9th Armored was thus engaged in the Winterspelt area during the morning hours of December 17, Brig. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. Zaloga, Steven. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. Stackpole Books, 2015. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-603 352d Volks Grenadier Division (19 Freb.-21 Mar. At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. The second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. Hoge has just reported an attack. Two regiments of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division attacked 9th Armored positions early that morning, their goal to gain the Salm River at Salmchateau. The 16th Field Artillery also pitched in, as did a battalion of 155mm howitzers sited around Commanster. To cover this dangerous gap in the line C Company, 27th AIB was ordered to the Our between Troop D, 89th Recon and Company A, 27th AIB. 223 223. Armour Plate Porforation [sic: Perforation] of Tank and Anti Tank Guns. On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. At approximately 0930 on December 17, B Company was the first 9th Armored Division unit to cross the Our River. By dark, Lt. Col. Engeman and his two task forces were back in their assembly area in the vicinity of Breitfeld. Beevor, Antony. Staff Sergeant Frank Mykalo knocked out a German machine-gun position, enabling the men in the lead half-tracks to dismount and deploy along the side of the road. They were followed in order by the half-tracks and other vehicles of the 27th AIB, the tank companies, the antiaircraft company, and the engineers. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. Dragon 1625 1/16th Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945 R 275.00. Since the move from Faymonville to Winterspelt involved a greater distance, Hoge decided to get his command on the road immediately. Staff officers were casualties. Should 7th Armored lose St. Vith, 9th Armored would be unable to withdraw on its own axis. The mud had made the roads and open areas impassable for armored vehicles. Both B and C Companies pulled back to the vicinity of Neidingen, near the battalion command post, while the 14th Tank Battalion established a perimeter defense around its assembly area near Breitfeld about halfway between the Our and St. Vith. Three of these Tiger IIs belonged to Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 501 (Heavy SS Tank Battalion 501); Tiger 105 was abandoned in the town of Stavelot, Belgium after getting itself stuck in a building, Tiger 332 was abandoned near Coo, Belgium as a result of mechanical damage, and Tiger 008 was abandoned at a farmhouse near Trois Ponts, Belgium. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. Mines were laid. Zaloga, Steven. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. 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. 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. Home News Random Article Install Wikiwand Send a suggestion Uninstall Wikiwand Upgrade to Wikiwand 2.0 Company B was stationed east of Galhausen and maintained contact with the nearest elements of the 7th Armored Division on 9th Armoreds left flank. 'poor shape' in a sentence. Boylan, Vincent L. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. Perrin told General Hoge, You can continue this attack on towards this back country, but you must be back on this side of the river by nightfall.. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The most startling difference however is the range at which this engagement occurred, with Lieutenant Olsons version having the engagement take place at 800 yards (732 meters), compared to the original storys 25 yards (23 meters)! js.className = n; At 0100 the 23rd, D Troop, 89th Recon lost an armored car and a jeep to antitank guns. The commanders were at the center of the Foret Domaniale du Grand Bois. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. On its way to the new position, C Company came under a sudden artillery and rocket barrage in the village of Lommersweiler. Just kept to the main story. Stackpole Books, 2015. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. There is no comparison to Tiger. Johnston, W. Wesley. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. Olson states that, on the 18th of December 1944, one of the armored cars opened fire with its 37 mm gun on a German tank at range of 800 yards [732 meters]. 3. VGD. As far as Im aware no Ferdinands (all upgraded to Elefants at the stage of Ardennes Offensive) were used in the Ardennes and better yet all Elefants were in Eastern Front with the 614.sPzJgK (formerly 2./653.sPzJgAbt) after August 1944. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. War Department, 1944. 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. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Out of this grand battle would come a too-good-to-be-true story symbolic of the stiff American resistance put up against the German offensive, that of how an M8 Greyhound armored car destroyed a Tiger I heavy tank. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. The German tank then stopped dead in its tracks and shuddered; there was a muffled explosion, followed by flames which billowed out of the turret and engine ports. However, the monumental traffic jams in the Losheim Gap and at Schoenberg continued to delay both the 18th Volksgrenadier Division and the Fhrer Escort Brigade, and not until after daylight on the 20th would a bridge be ready at Steinebruck for the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division. Ardennes 1944: Hitlers Last Gamble. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. 1947. General Jones wanted Hoge to use the infantry of his 27th AIB to seize the series of hills near Winterspelt while the 14th Tank Battalion was to remain west of the Our River for use as the situation developed. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. 1945. This moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germanys last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. They were repulsed by machine-gun fire. Sometime later that Monday morning, General Hoge sent his liaison officer to St. Vith to learn the dispositions of CCB, 7th Armored Division. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. The division fought in the Ardennes, inflicting on the 106th US Infantry Division the worst defeat suffered by U.S. forces in the ETO, when over 8,000 US soldiers surrendered to the volksgrenadiers. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. Tigers In Combat II. Not only does this change Captain Ansteys version of the story, but this also confirms the possibility that Troop Es entry could have been talking about a Tiger II. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. Both American units were able to drive forward, and the Shermans knocked out six German armored vehicles. Could an M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun even penetrate the rear hull armor of a Tiger I? 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. Rapidly, the M8 advanced to within 25 yards (23 meters) of the Tiger I and quickly pumped three rounds into its rear. Panzer Tracts, 2001. Adding to the slowdown of operations against St. Vith, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was still using two of its three regiments and all but one of its artillery battalions against the two trapped 106th Infantry Division regiments on the Schnee Eifel. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Josef Theissen, the fifteen-year-old who had seen the Germans arrive on Sunday, December 17, watched the soldiers every move with the fascination for things military . At about 0115 on December 17, a platoon from 9th Armoreds D Troop, 89th Recon was detailed to proceed through St. Vith in a southeasterly direction and seize the high ground along Highway N27 south of Steinebruck. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. The division retrained as 22.Luftlande-Division (Air Landing Division) for rapid tactical deployment to capture enemy airbases and performed in that role during the . This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, Schneider, Wolfgang. English PDF (33 MB) Jan B-700 An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. This version is also attributed to Captain Anstey and is nearly the exact same as his original version of the story as well as being plagued by the exact same issues. 47. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. To this end, General Hoge was in the town of Monschau to check on the possibility of getting his command across in that area. Ninth Armored and its attachments traveled southwest on N26 to the junction with N33 west of Beho, then turned north on N33 to Salmchateau, and finally west on N183 through Lierneux to Malempre-Jevigne, southeast of Manhay. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Each attack was preceded by an intense artillery barrage lasting from 15 to 35 minutes. Jones had been counting on this when he sent Hoges 9th Armored Command to Winterspelt rather than Schoenberg. The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. War Department Technical Manual TM 9-1904 Ammunition Inspection Guide. The Germans attacked the center of the 27th AIB. 301 sentences with 'poor shape'. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. Attacking the rear of a Tiger when you had no way of knowing if it was supported by one or more others is extremely unlikely. Gen. Herbert T. Perrin, assistant commander of the 106th Infantry Division, drove up carrying a message from General Jones. While making his reconnaissance at Monschau he received an urgent message to call V Corps headquarters. I think we can make it now. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Volksgrenadier-Division was formed from the partially formed 571.Volksgrenadier-Division in Denmark in September 1944, it also included excess Kriegsmarine personnel and surviving elements from 18. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The northern prong of the horseshoe was composed of CCB, 7th Armored Division from Poteau and Vielsalm. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Volksgrenadier-Division. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. Infantry divisions would begin the attack along the entire length of a 50-mile front, forcing a rupture along the Allied line and giving the German panzer divisions freedom of movement in the unoccupied ground beyond the front. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. Jones explained to Hoge that his division was being attacked along its entire front and that two of his three regiments, the 422nd and the 423rd, had been partly surrounded in the Schnee Eifel area just east of Schoenberg. Once the bridge at Steinebruck was seized, the 62nd was to support the 18th Volksgrenadier Divisions drive on St. Vith by blocking the western and southern routes in and out of the town. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. Although both men agreed that a withdrawal at this stage was the wiser decision, Hoge was skeptical that, given the weather and ground conditions, the defenders would be able to get out. The Tiger I was a 57 tonne German heavy tank that has become one of the most famous tanks in history. 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. Looking at German records The Fhrerbegleit Brigade with one Panzerabteilung of four companies of Pzkw IV and a Sturmgeschutzabteilung with four batteries of StuG III were in reserve assembled in the area around Daun on the 17th and not yet in action only beginning to move up at 1600H on the 18th. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. South of St. Vith, even as Lt. Col. Engemans task forces were responding to the 7th Armoreds cry for help, Germans of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division were trying to get across the Our River at Steinebruck and hit St. Vith from that direction. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. Ridgways 82nd Airborne was building a fairly firm line west of the St. Vith defenders that should prevent the Germans from cutting off the salient from the rear. At about 1700, the enemy attacked along the Schoenberg road from the east; at 1830, they came down the Malmedy road from the north, and at 2000, an attack started from the southeast along the Prum road. Were any of these Tiger Is and or Tiger IIs knocked out on the 18th of December, 1944? Since speed was the key to success of the German plan, two panzer armies would spearhead the offensive. A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. Personally I have not believed this event at all. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. Osprey Publishing, 2003. 6 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen DW to E-100. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. Clarke asked, Why in the world when I had only 2,500 men available to my command on December 17, did you not just execute a powerful frontal assault and overrun me?. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. One German tank was seen going up in flames. The rounded portion of the horseshoe was composed of Colonel Dwight Rosebaums CCA, 7th Armored between Poteau and Rodt and General Clarkes CCB, 7th Armored in the very center protecting St. Vith. Colonel Alexander D. Reid, commander of the 424th Infantry Regiment, had reason to fear encirclement. August 18th, 1989 Kalb, Herbert Kalbhenn, Heinrich * February 3rd, 1915 more Kaldeway, x Kalesse, Gerhard (Grenadier-Regiment 689) * July 15th, 1918 October 23rd, 2011 Kaletsch, Georg * October 16th, 1914 March 6th, 1944 Kaletsch, Wilhelm Kalinowski, Josef (Panzergrenadier-Regiment "GD") * January 23rd, 1916 April 5th, 1944 Grave: UNK 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. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. 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. While walking to avoid the traffic congestion, Manteuffel encountered his superior, Field Harshal Model. Sicherungs-Division) was a rear-security division in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. Collins, Joshua, and Erik Albertson. The original story, if there even was one, was told and retold and distorted until everyone and their brother claimed to know the guys that did it. Back in the 1970s I worked with a man who told this story, he claimed he was the driver. Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. And why would it not? Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? Given that the American accounts do not give a consistent account of what happened that day at St. Vith, the other side of this story must also be investigated. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. (function (d, s, n) { Osprey Publishing, 2013. This article already explains ballistics and mentions that while Panther was vulnerable to lower-caliber AT guns, the Tigers were almost immune to them. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. The two commanders agreed that even without the mud to contend with the withdrawal would have to be delayed simply because of heavy enemy pressure.