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. Ridgways plan was premised on the assumption that that the American forces in this goose egg-shaped defense could be supplied by air; however, whoever drew up the plan was thinking in terms of supply requirements for the lighter airborne divisions, not for fuel-hungry and shell-reliant armored forces. German Division Nr. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. On December 21, 18. of the Army, 1965. As each unit joined the rear of the column, it took its turn being the rear guard. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. Collins, Joshua, and Erik Albertson. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. Tiger. One task force was made up of A and B Companies of the 14th Tank Battalion, B Company of the 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery, and another platoon of the 14th. This is puzzling, to say the least. Sometime later that Monday morning, General Hoge sent his liaison officer to St. Vith to learn the dispositions of CCB, 7th Armored Division. The guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. Join historians and history buffs alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereigns military history magazines. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. 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 . Moreover, at least a regiment from the 1st SS Panzer Division was in sporadic conflict with the American defenders in the Recht-Poteau area and, in the south, elements of the 560th Volksgrenadier Division, part of General Walter Kruegers 58th Panzer Corps, were also identified as pushing against American forces in the St. Vith salient. Our preliminary briefings had told us that there would be no armor in our path. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . If it was on a slope and firing down to the engine bay, then maybe but that would require it to be at such an angle that the M8 would topple and roll down. Just kept to the main story. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. If neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was killed on 18th December 1944 in or around the town of St. Vith by an M8 Greyhound, what was? VGD division was absorbed into the 26. History. Stackpole Books, 2015. Between these units, a place was found for the provisional company composed of the 424th Infantry stragglers. . How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? All in all, the only things that the American claims concerning the famed M8 Greyhound versus Tiger engagement can agree on are that on the 18th of December 1944 an M8 Greyhound from some unit of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron killed some sort of German tank in or around the town of St. Vith. This is an issue because there were two distinct types of German Tiger tanks, both of which took part in the Battle of the Bulge: The Tiger I and the Tiger II. No reinforcements were expected. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. Infanterie-Division . At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. Zaloga, Steven. 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. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. Then there is the issue of the entrys ambiguity in regards to the Tiger tank that was knocked out. Once in St. Vith, Jones explained that only the leading elements of the 7th Armored Division had arrived thus far and that St. Viths northern approach was under attack. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. Company B was stationed east of Galhausen and maintained contact with the nearest elements of the 7th Armored Division on 9th Armoreds left flank. It appeared now that the fate of his two northern regiments was sealed. General Frederich Kittel, the division commander, ordered his mobile battalion up from his 164th Regiment reserve at Pronsfeld and into the attack along the Winterspelt road. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. The village of St. Vith lay approximately 12 miles behind the front lines on December 16, 1944, the day the offensive code-named Operation Watch on the Rhine began. (function (d, s, n) { Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. The hardest hit, though, were the armored infantrymen of the 27th AIB with nearly 300 battle casualties. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-603 352d Volks Grenadier Division (19 Freb.-21 Mar. War Department, 1944. It is time to withdraw.. Gen. William Hoges Combat Command B (CCB) of the 9th was attached to V Corps to support the 2nd Infantry Division in its planned attack through the Monschau Forest as part of the U.S. Armys strategy to capture or destroy the Roer River dams. He was also told that all that stood in their way were two troops of the 87th Recon Squadron, 7th Armoreds 87th, and a few antiaircraft half-tracks. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. Jentz, Thomas. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. 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. Situated next to B Company were Company A, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Volksgrenadier-Division. Although the 7th Armored Division was finally arriving, General Jones had been led to believe that the whole division would arrive in St. Vith starting at 0700. Thus, there are four different versions of this story circulating: Troop Es version with a Tiger I, Troop Es version with a Tiger II, Captain Ansteys version with a Tiger I, and Captain Ansteys version with a Tiger II. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. It can be safely assumed that the armored car that Lieutenant Olson is talking about in his story is an M8 Greyhound due to the fact that the only armored cars that the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron fielded were M8 Greyhounds. Mines were laid. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. Schneider, Wolfgang. Lieutenant Colonel Boylan also makes no mention of this event in a 1946 letter he wrote to Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck, the former commanding general of the 7th Armored Division, which details the actions of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron at the Battle of St. Vith. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. As a result of 7th Armoreds earlier regrouping, Rodt was the junction point between CCA of the 7th Armored under the command of Colonel Rosebaum and General Clarkes CCB. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. 22 () - The Fifth and Sixth Panzer Armies were to advance abreast, cross the Meuse River, and then drive for the Belgian port city of Antwerp, a major staging and supply center for the Allied armies in western Europe. 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. Instead of the M8 Greyhound firing three shots into the Tigers rear, the M8 Greyhound in Lieutenant Olsons version of events fired two shots. 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. 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. 18th Panzer Division (later 18th Artillery Division) 19th Panzer Division (previously 19th Infantry Division) 20th Panzer Division 21st Panzer Division (previously 5th Light Division) 22nd Panzer Division 23rd Panzer Division 24th Panzer Division (previously 1st Cavalry Division) 25th Panzer Division 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. 223 () - 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 Thus, the job of rescuing the two trapped infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel passed from the 9th to the 7th Armored Division. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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?. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The earliest known mention can be found in the December 18th, 1944 morning report and record of events entry of Troop E, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron which briefly states that an M-8 atchd [attached] to A Tr [Troop A] knocked out one Tiger tank. 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. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. 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. 223 223. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. 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. Soon after its crossing, B Company ran into German infantry dug in along the high ground overlooking the village of Elcherath. . The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. Rather than reaching the Meuse and driving on to Antwerp, the offensive stalled and eventually was turned back. Armament T-70 gun cal. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. 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. Manteuffel met near Wallerode with Model and Lucht that day. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. 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. 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. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Alchetron, the free social The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. EN RU CN DE ES. Beevor, Antony. 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. PDF German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. December, 1944 Johnston, W. Wesley. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier captured Winterspelt, its losses were high and its left regiment had made little headway in the Heckhuschied sector. Hoge departed Faymonville at approximately 1800, arriving at General Joness headquarters in the St. Josephs Kloster about a half hour later. 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. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. I am a huge M8 Greyhound fan, having built a model at age 13 and I now own a 1:6 scale one with 4-man crew. 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. He also said that they got a new Greyhound. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. Since speed was the key to success of the German plan, two panzer armies would spearhead the offensive. The troop was to hold until relieved by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) and then reconnoiter farther down the road toward Winterspelt. Zaloga, Steven. The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. At about 1330, three German self-propelled guns and 19 or 20 horse-drawn artillery pieces went into position on the high ground 800 yards to the southeast of Steinebruck. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. Furthermore, late-war Panzer IVs equipped with Schrzen additional armor would look bigger, even closer to the size of a Tiger and this is before consideration is made on the stress of war, camouflaging materials applied to vehicles, the weather, and level of knowledge of the crews. 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. The 18. Inside the command post, General Hoge learned that the Germans had launched a heavy assault on Winterspelt against the men of the 424th Infantry. 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. 194311 On top of the contradictions and ambiguity of Troop Es entry, there is also the curious fact that Troop A does not make any mention of this event in its morning report and record of events entry for the 18th of December, 1944. 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. Troop D, 89th Recon and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion formed a line from Grufflingen to Thommen, and Companies B and C of the 14th Tank Battalion took up positions between Thommen and Maldange. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. 4 Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division completed its southern swing, encircling the two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Sturmpanzer.com - Sturmpanzer and WW2 German Army Research The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. This one, however, most likely did not. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. Amazing discounts for bundles. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. I should also note that reconnaissance doctrine was to disengage if at all possible and in no way engage enemy armour beyond scout elements. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. 2014 Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. 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. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. 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. While no Tiger Is were lost on the 18th of December, 1944, four Tiger IIs were lost that day. 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. Clad in armor between 25 mm and 180 mm thick and armed with deadly 88mm KwK 43 L/71 gun, the Tiger II was one of the deadliest tanks of the Second World War. Osprey Publishing, 2013. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was to attack along the two roads from Schoenberg, with the Fhrer Escort Brigade assaulting from the north. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. Tough Stand of the Golden Lions - Warfare History Network 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. The village of Bauvenn was designated the linkage point for the two combat commands. In addition, the massive road jam caused by the inability to pass through St. Vith was creating acute shortages of gasoline and ammunition well to the west of St. Vith. In this version the M8 is replaced by an M5 Stuart from the 17th Tank Battalion of the 7th Armored during the retreat from St. Vith, that somehow miraculously ended up behind a Tiger when they thought they were following a Sherman. CCB, 9th Armored was linked on its left with CCB, 7th Armored and what was left of the 424th Infantry Regiment on its right. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. The M8 was used mostly as a reconnaissance vehicle for scouting. Hoge and Clarke agreed that Hoges entire command should be withdrawn west of the railroad tracks. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. The 27th AIB was ordered to establish a defensive position south, east, west, and southeast of Malempre. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. Im going to guess that they just created this all up in their head. Before departing, however, Hoge gave orders to Lt. Col. Leonard E. Engeman, commander of the 14th Tank Battalion, to get a strong force ready to move out to assist 7th Armored should it become necessary. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. The same story is retold in A Colonel in the Armored Divisions A Memoir, 19411945 by William S. Triplet, and like a game of telephone it gets even more distorted. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Germany) - liquisearch.com 2014. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. . Osprey Publishing, 2003. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? Close. The resulting blast damaged the bridge to such an extent that the Germans would not be able to bring vehicles across for at least 24 hours. The second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. This initial thrust carried the enemy approximately 400 yards into the battalions sector. In my opinion, the only definite conclusion that can be made from all this is that some American vehicle engaged something at St. Vith on the night of the 18th. This forest was criss-crossed only by trails. The Sherman tanks of B Company repulsed the enemy with fire from their 76mm guns. General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. Tigers In Combat II. The sector now defended by CCB, 9th Armored extended across five miles of rugged terrain that was primarily held by the three infantry companies making up the 27th AIB. Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. Rebuilding the blown bridge to get their assault guns across was their first priority. 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. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. . On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. 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. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. Volksgrenadier-Division. The silhouettes of the Panzer IV and the Tiger I are quite similar, especially due to their rectangular shapes and rounded turret (rounded through the later use of a curved armor plate around the otherwise angular turret). Despite nearly a foot of snow, the ground underneath was still soft, and with the passage of only a few heavy vehicles it was soon churned into a morass of mud. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. During the assault, B Company suffered about 40 casualties including its commanding officer, Captain Henry D. Wirsig. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. Staff officers were casualties. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. Johnston, W. Wesley. }(document, 'script', 'exco-player')); The M8 Greyhound was a small, 7.9 tonne American armored car with 6.4 mm to 25.4 mm of armor, only enough to protect against rifle caliber bullets, and armed with a 37 mm M6 main gun, a peashooter at this point in the war. This German World War II article is a stub. 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. There was a bitter struggle to the south of Grufflingen, and the Germans were again active in the Neubruck area. 1941622 . Germanys Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to TIGER II. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. which, in principle, is comparable to the 37 mm American gun. 10 Apr. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. 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. 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.
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