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However, he kept these misgivings to himself. EN. Approximately three hours later a German company marched out of Neidingen and along the road leading straight into C Companys position, apparently totally unaware of 9th Armoreds recent change of position. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. This initial thrust carried the enemy approximately 400 yards into the battalions sector. He also said that they got a new Greyhound. 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. 1940 194111. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Since the move from Faymonville to Winterspelt involved a greater distance, Hoge decided to get his command on the road immediately. 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. Beevor, Antony. 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 was around 1200 hours and all was quiet when suddenly a German heavy tank was spotted slowly approaching the American line, a Tiger I. By that time the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division should have the bridge at Steinebruck rebuilt, at least two regiments of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division should be forward, and the Fhrer Escort Brigade should be ready to make the principal thrust down the Ambleve highway into St. Vith. These troops were hit by the Fhrer Escort Brigade and driven from Rogery to Cierreux in some disarray. 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 Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. 22 22. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. Bork, Max Hermann (Generalleutnant) - TracesOfWar.nl There is no comparison to Tiger. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. 18th Volksgrenadier Division - Wikiwand This German World War II article is a stub. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a After Clarke and Hoge settled upon a mutually supportive command structure, Clarke noted that Hoges command was, for the most part, forward of a railroad track built on a high embankment. One German tank was seen going up in flames. It saw action in France before taking part in the fighting in the Ardennes where it suffered heavy losses, it continued fighting on the western front until the end . Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village. One gun, firing from the house that had been the 14th Tanks command post an hour earlier, disabled two of the Shermans, but the other tanks managed to knock out the four antitank guns plus three German command vehicles. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. Infanterie-Division 19398 . Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. (1944) 111 111. After the Tiger I had passed, the armored car then slipped out of its concealed position and began accelerating towards the tank in an attempt to close the gap between the two. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. Bergstrm, Christer. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Elements of the 62nd Volksgrenadier had taken the eastern half of Winterspelt during the night, and at daybreak reinforcements finally drove Colonel Reids 1st Battalion from the village. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Zaloga, Steven. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. Roadblocks were set up and manned. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571.Volksgrenadier-Division.Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field . 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. 1947. VGD led by Heinz Kokott, Heinrich Himmler's brother-in-law. At St. Vith, Lt. Col. William H. Slayden was with Jones when Jones received the call from Middleton concerning 7th Armored Division support. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. Volksgrenadier-Division. Dragon 1625 1/16th Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945 R 275.00. Johnston, W. Wesley. Moreover, it was expected that General Luchts two infantry divisions would be forwarded to the Salm River sector as right-wing cover for two panzer corps. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Under cover of automatic weapons fire from a platoon of light tanks, Sergeant Eugene Dorland and two other men from the engineers went into the cold, bullet-splattered water carrying three cases of TNT and placed their charges on the south abutment of the bridge. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. It is interesting to note that the U.S 7th Armored Division suffered a moderate 425 Battle Casualties, on page 465 of Hitlers Last Gamble by Trevor N. Dupuy, for December 17-23, 1944 in the Battle of Saint Vith including the 1st day of the Battle of Manhay, out of the 3,397 Battle and Non-Battle Casualties suffered during the Battle by the U.S 112th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 28th Infantry Division, the U.S 424th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 106th Infantry Division, Combat Command B of the U.S 9th Armored Division and ofcourse the U.S 14th Cavalry Group. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. First-time contributor Charles Gutierrez is the son of a 9th Armored Division veteran. Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. So its quite possible! In addition, elements of the 116th Panzer Division and the 560th Volksgrenadier Division were moving against the weakly held southern flank of St. Vith defended by remnants of the 424th Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division and the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division. The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. However, this version of Captain Ansteys account has one key difference: it was not a Tiger I that was knocked out, but rather a Tiger II, almost analogous to the fisherman whose fish gets bigger each time he tells the tale of his catch. Hoge and Clarke agreed that Hoges entire command should be withdrawn west of the railroad tracks. 110 () - Stackpole Books, 2015. Staff officers were casualties. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. 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. Accordingly, that evening Sixth Panzer Army commander Dietrich issued orders to the 2nd SS Panzer Corps to move to the south so that parts of that corps could assist Manteuffel in taking St. Vith. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. It is possible that it was really a Tiger tank. At approximately 0530 on December 16, eight German armored divisions and 13 infantry divisions launched their all-out attack on five divisions of the U.S. First Army. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. Clarke, Bruce. Schneider, Wolfgang. A Company moved south under the protection of the high river bank, while C Company deployed along the left side of the road as the enveloping company. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. 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. 45 mm. The Tiger II, also known as the King Tiger, Royal Tiger, Knigstiger, and Tiger Ausf.B, was an enormous, 69.8 tonne German heavy tank. Osprey Publishing, 2010. Should 7th Armored lose St. Vith, 9th Armored would be unable to withdraw on its own axis. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. 18th Artillery Division 651. 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. However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. 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) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. The next notable version of this tale comes from a 1966 book by the US Army Armor School titled The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944: A Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. 'poor shape' in a sentence. Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. 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. 16 Dec 2022 08:28:00 Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. A scratch force made up of one platoon of riflemen from Company A, 27th AIB and a platoon from Company B, 9th Engineers were sent to contain the Germans. It is possible that, as part of the attacks on the line held in part by Troop B of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, a lone StuG III was used to probe out the American line, as had been done on the previous day, and was subsequently knocked out by an M8 Greyhound. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. I should also note that reconnaissance doctrine was to disengage if at all possible and in no way engage enemy armour beyond scout elements. December, 1944 By Greg Moore gregpanzerblitz.com December, 2008 Battalion I x 5 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 12 293rd Volks- . 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.