Design, Production & Modifications. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. . 1964. Outnumbered and in danger of encirclement, the cannoneers and their rifle support from C Company made a platoon-by-platoon withdrawal toward Winterspelt. Orders for CCB, 9th Armored to move to a new defensive position were issued at 1600. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was to attack along the two roads from Schoenberg, with the Fhrer Escort Brigade assaulting from the north. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. #WW2 . 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. . Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. 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. Hoge and Ridgway had been on the West Point football team together when Ridgway had been the teams manager. After conferring with Clarke, Ridgway wanted to talk to one more man in whom he had supreme confidenceBrigadier General Hoge. 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. The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. PDF German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. December, 1944 The troops were exhausted and spread out. Schneider, Wolfgang. 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 . Wikizero - 281st Security Division (Wehrmacht) Ministry of Supply, 1945. 301 sentences with 'poor shape'. 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. School of Tank Technology, April 1944. Infanterie-Division 19398 . Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. () - The failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. 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. 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. 301 Sentences With "poor shape" | Random Sentence Generator Instead of the M8 Greyhound firing three shots into the Tigers rear, the M8 Greyhound in Lieutenant Olsons version of events fired two shots. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. 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. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Germany) (Paperback) On his way to St. Vith, General Hoge stopped in Faymonville to alert his command to be prepared to move immediately. Each attack was preceded by an intense artillery barrage lasting from 15 to 35 minutes. 1945. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force | World War II by Day Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. 22 () - According to Hugh M. Cole, an American historian and army officer. Inside the command post, General Hoge learned that the Germans had launched a heavy assault on Winterspelt against the men of the 424th Infantry. 2014 On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. 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. 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. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. 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. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. General Clarke again called on the 9th Armored for assistance to help stiffen his line, and Hoge responded by sending the 3rd Battalion, 424th Regimental Combat Team. 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. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. 1940 194111. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. After learning of the attack by the Fhrer Escort Brigade, Brig. Should 7th Armored lose St. Vith, 9th Armored would be unable to withdraw on its own axis. 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. Communications with division headquarters in St. Vith were limited to liaison officers running along a road now being shelled by the Germans. Bergstrm, Christer. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery Since St. Vith should have been taken on December 16 or the 17th at the latest, he decided to leave his command post at Waxweiler and spend the night with the 18th Volksgrenadier Division at Schoenberg. This German World War II article is a stub. Fortunately for Colonel Reid, word came at about 1730 that his 424th Infantry Regiment was to withdraw immediately. CCB, 9th Armored was linked on its left with CCB, 7th Armored and what was left of the 424th Infantry Regiment on its right. Farther to the west, the 82nd Airborne, trying to keep a corridor open for the St. Vith defenders, was coming under intense pressure from the 2nd SS Panzer Division. 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. 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. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. 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. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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 . 6 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen DW to E-100. So many soldiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division converged on Wallerode for the final push against St. Vith that the villagers themselves threatened to be squeezed out. Given the unreliability of the American accounts of this supposed event and the lack of any supporting documentation from the Germans, it is safe to say that neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was knocked out by an M8 Greyhound on 18th December 1944 in or around the town of St. Vith. 10 Apr. 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. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. Close. The foot elements of the 27th AIB were then to move out with Company B, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery and some light tanks from Company D, 14th Tank Battalion following behind Company B, 27th AIB. The troops request for armored support was denied by General Hoge because his tank companies sent north to help the 7th Armored had not yet returned and no reserve was on hand. Sturmpanzer.com - Sturmpanzer and WW2 German Army Research There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. 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. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. In minutes, a platoon of medium tanks from A Company of the 14th rolled across the bridge at Steinebruck and placed high explosive and heavy machine-gun fire on the enemys position in the woods and along the draw. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. It is possible (if unlikely) that this event was completely unrelated to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story. While a single troop of the 14th Cavalry Group continued to resist the German spearheads, the 106th's engineers dug in to block the crucial Schoenberg road 2 miles east of St. Vith, a last ditch defense, hoping . On December 21, 18. 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. Germanys Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to TIGER II. Although the Germans were quick to build up beyond the Our River after the American withdrawal, they made no immediate moves against the new American line. WWII German Military Units (1) - WWII History Center The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. 2014. By 1245, the original line was restored, and the antitank guns of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were recovered. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. However, it cannot be safely assumed that the tank killed in this engagement was a Tiger I or a Tiger II. 110 () - Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. The losses in men and equipment for CCB, 9th Armored, as with the rest of the American units defending St. Vith, had been severe. 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. A platoon of tank destroyers had vanished. On December 21, 18. 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.. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. Zaloga, Steven. While no Tiger Is were lost on the 18th of December, 1944, four Tiger IIs were lost that day. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. Anderson, Thomas. Although General Jones was deeply worried about his two regiments on the Schnee Eifel, he was also highly concerned about the German advances in the Winterspelt area where his 424th Infantry Regiment was defending. Penguin Books, 2016. The southern prong was defended by General Hoges CCB, 9th Armored with the weakened 424th Infantry Regiment tied in and bent back protecting Burg Reuland. 188 was raised in late 1939. Osprey Publishing, 2013. 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. Jones had been counting on this when he sent Hoges 9th Armored Command to Winterspelt rather than Schoenberg. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Shortly thereafter, Hasbrouck called and asked, Bruce, do you think you can get out? Clarke answered, A miracle has happened, General! VGD. That evening General Clarke also put his command into Commanster. 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. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. This forest was criss-crossed only by trails. 223 () - Wikiwand 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. He also hoped the 3rd Armored Division soon might attack to remove all threat of encirclement.

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