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. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. Sicherungs-Division) was a rear-security division in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. 194311 VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Panzer Tracts No. 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. The staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. According to Hugh M. Cole, an American historian and army officer. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. Thus, the job of rescuing the two trapped infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel passed from the 9th to the 7th Armored Division. On December 21, 18. Since the move from Faymonville to Winterspelt involved a greater distance, Hoge decided to get his command on the road immediately. 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. A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. 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. He said that the fight took about ninety minutes and that they used almost all their ammunition. 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. Inform us! 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). The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. js = d.createElement(s); 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. Zaloga, Steven. 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. Additionally, the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull and rear casemate armor of the StuG III. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Tiger. 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. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. 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 second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. Division 3. Ministry of Supply, 1945. General Hoge received his order to pull CCB, 9th Armored out at 0605 on December 23. Jentz, Thomas. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. 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 9th Armored Divisions position at the Our was no longer tenable. 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. 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. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. 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. This is before you take into account that the manufacturing process for German armor allowed for a tolerance in plates which often left plates 2 to 5 mm thicker than ordered. Just kept to the main story. 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. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Infanterie-Division . Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. 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. 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. 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. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); The greatest danger existed in the 424ths position because the regiments flank lay vulnerable to attacks by the 116th Panzer Division to the south. 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. 1945). . Once St. Vith was taken, Model intended to drive the brigade swiftly for the Meuse River or cut behind the opposition on the Elsenborn Ridge that was bottling up the Sixth Panzer Army. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. of the Army, 1965. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. 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. Close. 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? On December 9, 1944, Brig. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. Late on the 20th, patrols of the 82nd Airborne Division, on the other side of the Salm River, established contact with patrols of the 7th Armored Division. En route, the officer was approached by a member of General Clarkes staff who told him that German tanks were approaching St. Vith along the road from the north. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. 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. The armored infantrymen kept themselves well hidden until the column was directly in front of them and then opened fire. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. 3. 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. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. 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?. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. 301 sentences with 'poor shape'. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. 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. When Model released the Fhrer Escort Brigade to General Manteuffel, he thought that he would be able to gain quick access to the St. Vith road network. Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. Your email address will not be published. In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. By dark, just as General Hoges command was getting underway from Faymonville, Kittels mobile battalion and infantry from the 190th Regiment were closing in on Winterspelt. The colonel ordered the troop east along the road to Schoenberg to delay a German tank and infantry team approaching St. Vith from that direction. 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. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. VGD led by Heinz Kokott, Heinrich Himmler's brother-in-law. Lever het aan! 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. At about midday, the field marshal sent a message to General Hasbrouck: You have accomplished your missiona mission well done. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. 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. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. These troops were hit by the Fhrer Escort Brigade and driven from Rogery to Cierreux in some disarray. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. Stackpole Books, 2015. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Volksgrenadier-Division. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. 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. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. 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. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "aefa00eeca3d30bd3e762fcc54816f6d" );document.getElementById("f87928873f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Osprey Publishing, 2002. 19454 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. 22 22. 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. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division would use these assault guns in small probing attacks on the American lines east of St. Vith that same day. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. Beevor, Antony. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. An attack to the east by the 7th Armored Division could then relieve the two surrounded regiments of the 106th. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. At the close of the first day of battle, General Lucht could look with some satisfaction at the days events, although his 62nd Volksgrenadier Division had yet to break through the American line. Johnston, W. Wesley. Troy Middletons VIII Corps. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. 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. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. 1964. The mud had made the roads and open areas impassable for armored vehicles. Volksgrenadier-Division. On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division ( 18. Two hits were scored on the enemy tank in the rear, and its crew evacuated. This German World War II article is a stub. Ten tanks, numerous supply vehicles, armored cars, and jeeps were lost to enemy action. js.className = n; Osprey Publishing, 2013. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. This is puzzling, to say the least. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a Soon after General Hoge left 106th Division headquarters for the drive back to Faymonville, Jones received a call from Middleton informing him that a combat command of Brig. Created as 22.Infanterie-Division in 1935, one regiment participated in the 1939 Invasion of Poland; the rest of the division stayed in garrison on the Siegfried Line in case of a French attack in defense of Poland. 10 Apr. I wanted to focus on the M8 vs Tiger story, I already noticed the Ferdinand claim, but decided not to mention it. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. 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. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. 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. He also hoped the 3rd Armored Division soon might attack to remove all threat of encirclement. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. Out of the 1,467 tanks the Germans brought with them to the Battle of the Bulge on the 16th of December, 1944, 52 of them were Tiger IIs and 14 of them were Tiger Is. The 424th Infantry still blocked the road to the Our River and Steinebruck. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. Furthermore, General Clarke had no idea when his command would arrive. 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. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. Jentz, Thomas. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth.