The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. The armored infantrymen kept themselves well hidden until the column was directly in front of them and then opened fire. 1946. Staff officers were casualties. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. 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. These troops were hit by the Fhrer Escort Brigade and driven from Rogery to Cierreux in some disarray. The CCB command post was moved to Neubruck, a small group of farmhouses on Braunlauf Creek about two miles southwest of St. Vith. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. First-time contributor Charles Gutierrez is the son of a 9th Armored Division veteran. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Wikizero - 18th Volksgrenadier Division After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. The 27th AIB was ordered to establish a defensive position south, east, west, and southeast of Malempre. 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. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. Because the Our had ceased to be a barrier anywhere else, General Hoge felt that there was little to gain in continuing to overextend his command to hold the low ground along the river. Osprey Publishing, 2003. The circuitous march up one road and down another led to a new line just a few hundred yards to the west of the old one and was miraculously carried out while under attack without the loss of any men or equipment. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. According to British penetration diagrams from 1944, the 37 mm M6 gun firing its standard round, the 37 mm APC M51, could, under ideal conditions, penetrate the 80 mm thick rear hull armor angled at 9 degrees when firing at an angle of 0 degrees, albeit just barely. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. During the night, the troopers experienced harassing fire from light and medium artillery and could observe enemy infantry and at least four tanks moving along high ground to the south of the river. Penguin Books, 2016. 19454 Zaloga, Steven. 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. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. EN RU CN DE ES. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. At CCB, 9th Armored Divisions headquarters in Faymonville, General Hoge was just finishing up his briefing for his commands move to the Losheim Gap and Manderfeld when the call came through from General Jones informing him of 9th Armoreds new Winterspelt mission. Sturmpanzer.com - Sturmpanzer and WW2 German Army Research Thus, the job of rescuing the two trapped infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel passed from the 9th to the 7th Armored Division. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. Should 7th Armored lose St. Vith, 9th Armored would be unable to withdraw on its own axis. Sell, Buy or Rent Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of 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. Airfix J6017 Volkswagen Camper Van (Quick Build) R 405.00. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. Such was not the case, however, and by the evening of the December 20, the Germans were feeling the growing negative effects of the St. Vith salient. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The 294th Volksgrenadier Regiment was a unit of the larger 18th Volksgrenadier Division. On December 21, 18. 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. Resistance by service company personnel in Rodt was fierce with every possible mandrivers, cooks, radio operatorsemployed in the defense; however, after nine hours of battle against the much superior German force, Rodt fell. 301 Sentences With "poor shape" | Random Sentence Generator 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. js = d.createElement(s); VGD division was absorbed into the 26. 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 ground was frozen solid. events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. 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. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. However, it cannot be safely assumed that the tank killed in this engagement was a Tiger I or a Tiger II. 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. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. 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. Tiger. December, 1944 By Greg Moore gregpanzerblitz.com December, 2008 Battalion I x 5 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 12 293rd Volks- . Close. Jentz, Thomas. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-603 352d Volks Grenadier Division (19 Freb.-21 Mar. Soldiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division infiltrated the American lines at the villages of Roth, Weckerath, Kobscheid, and Auw before the artillery barrage began. . On December 16th at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam road following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. This article already explains ballistics and mentions that while Panther was vulnerable to lower-caliber AT guns, the Tigers were almost immune to them. When a particularly heavy onslaught was launched against 7th Armored, near 9th Armoreds left flank, Company A, 14th Tank Battalion shifted its mediums to fire directly on Breitfield in support of its armored neighbor to the north. Initially, General Jones wanted Hoge to move his command into the Losheim Gap at Maderfeld and arrive there at dawn on December 17 to counterattack and erase the enemy penetrations that were threatening 106th Division positions on the Schnee Eifel. The Sixth Panzer Army, with the 15th Army on its right, was to launch the main attack between Monschau in the north and Prum in the south. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. Model informed Manteuffel that he would be given the Fhrer Escort Brigade, which was nearly equal in strength to an American light armored division, for the upcoming assault on St. Vith. 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. 1964. No reinforcements were expected. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. He could not believe it. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. Roadblocks were set up and manned. School of Tank Technology, April 1944. The leading vehicles of General Hoges command entered St. Vith on Sunday morning just as dawn was breaking and halted close to the 106th Divisions command post at the St. Joseph Kloster. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Company B was stationed east of Galhausen and maintained contact with the nearest elements of the 7th Armored Division on 9th Armoreds left flank. Those men were a scrappy bunch. Such events might have taken place in reality, true. Armour Plate Porforation [sic: Perforation] of Tank and Anti Tank Guns. Captain Ansteys version lacks supporting documentation. The only known witness to the supposed event, Captain Walter Henry Anstey, died on 26th October 2003 at the age of 90, taking the truth of the events that day to his grave. The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. Additionally, the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull and rear casemate armor of the StuG III. Tigers In Combat II. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. The southernmost battle group of the 18th Volksgrenadier would also undertake a mobile thrust and, finally, the 62nd Volksgrenadier would break loose at Heckhuscheid and drive for the Our River Valley. Division 3. Hoge and Ridgway had been on the West Point football team together when Ridgway had been the teams manager. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. Its mission was to break through to the south of the 18th Volksgrenadier in the Grosslangenfeld-Heckhuschied sector, advance northwest on a broad front, and seize the Our River crossing at Steinebruck, five miles southeast of St. Vith. While walking to avoid the traffic congestion, Manteuffel encountered his superior, Field Harshal Model. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. 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. As each unit joined the rear of the column, it took its turn being the rear guard. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. Zaloga, Steven. Zaloga, Steven. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. The Germans were now on the high ground north of Eigelscheid overlooking the road to Winterspelt. Schneider, Wolfgang. . In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. Add to cart. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. By dark, Lt. Col. Engeman and his two task forces were back in their assembly area in the vicinity of Breitfeld. Gen. Herbert T. Perrin, assistant commander of the 106th Infantry Division, drove up carrying a message from General Jones. 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. This break appeared to be only a dream, however, as it seemed every outfit wanted a piece of CCB, 9th Armored to help shore up its positions. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. The new sector assigned to CCB was on the fringe of territory the Sixth Panzer Army had mapped out for its further maneuvers. General Hoge set up his command post in the Belgian village of Faymonville, approximately 12 miles north of the town of St. Vith, unaware of the pivotal role his command was to play in a very different battle. According to Hugh M. Cole, an American historian and army officer. Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; 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. Fortunately for Colonel Reid, word came at about 1730 that his 424th Infantry Regiment was to withdraw immediately. 3. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. 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 An assault on Thommen forced out the troops holding the town, and efforts to retake it failed. 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. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. The attacks made east of St. Vith on 18 December were carried by a part of the 294th Infantry [German], whose patrols had been checked by the 168th Engineers [US] the previous day. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. On December 9, 1944, Brig. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. Jones had been counting on this when he sent Hoges 9th Armored Command to Winterspelt rather than Schoenberg. 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 . Those factors dictated that at least another 24 hours would be needed before a major assault on St. Vith could begin. Yes in theory. Amazing discounts for bundles. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. War Department, 1944. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications.