The capture of St. Vith was, however, important for three other reasons: to ensure the complete isolation of Allied troops that might be trapped on a nearby ridge called the Schnee Eifel; to cover the German supply lines unraveling behind the armored corps to the north and south; and to feed reinforcements laterally into the main thrusts by using the St. Vith road net. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. General Jones and his staff had pulled out of St. Vith on the morning of the 18th for Vielsalm. 45 mm. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. 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. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. 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 . English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. Those men were a scrappy bunch. 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 . Rebuilding the blown bridge to get their assault guns across was their first priority. 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. 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. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. The 294th Volksgrenadier Regiment was a unit of the larger 18th Volksgrenadier Division. General Lucht hurried to Winterspelt to get the 62nd Volksgrenadier moving to the Our. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. 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 is being outflanked and is retiring west another 2,000 yards refusing both flanks. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. Volksgrenadier Division 2. It is certainly possible that the tank destroyed in this engagement was a Panzer IV or a StuG III but in the absence of new evidence coming to light it can only be concluded that either the Greyhound crew knocked out a completely different tank or were otherwise exaggerating some action. On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. Panzer Tracts No. The men of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps had expected to be on the Meuse by December 19, but on the night of December 20 the Americans still denied them access to St. Vith. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Design, Production & Modifications. Its supporting field artillery battalion was at Kalterherberg, two miles south of Monschau, engaged in firing missions for the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. The division retrained as 22.Luftlande-Division (Air Landing Division) for rapid tactical deployment to capture enemy airbases and performed in that role during the . There is no comparison to Tiger. Ministry of Supply, 1945. Also no Ferdinand/Elefant recorded to have seen combat on Western Front. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. An assault on Thommen forced out the troops holding the town, and efforts to retake it failed. The guns from a platoon of Shermans, the antiaircraft company, and a mortar platoon supplied a covering barrage, which broke up the German assault and inflicted heavy casualties. It is a classic David versus Goliath tale straight out of World War II that features American heroism. 1940. Possibly such events took place in reality. One, the Sixth Panzer Army, was commanded by SS Obergruppenfhrer (brigadier general) Josef Sepp Dietrich, and the other, the Fifth Panzer Army, was commanded by General Hasso von Manteuffel. 120th Infantry Regiment (30th Infantry Division) 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion 319th Field Artillery Glider Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment German Units 3d Parachute Division 12th SS Panzer Division 18th Volksgrenadier Division 246th Volsgrenadier Division 884th March Battalion 905th Assault Gun Brigade The Sherman tanks of B Company repulsed the enemy with fire from their 76mm guns. Boylan, Vincent L. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. Tigers In Combat I. 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. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. The last of the St. Vith defenders to come out were Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry Regiment. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. #WW2 . Soon after its crossing, B Company ran into German infantry dug in along the high ground overlooking the village of Elcherath. Osprey Publishing, 2013. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. Tigers In Combat II. 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. 3. Dragon 1629 1/16th Feldwebel 352nd Volksgrenadier Division R 275.00. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. The entire division was to follow shortly thereafter. 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. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Infanterie-Division 193510 [1] 22 22. Could an M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun even penetrate the rear hull armor of a Tiger I? VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. 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. However, this platoon never completed its mission. Tiger. School of Tank Technology, April 1944. 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. The German tank then stopped dead in its tracks and shuddered; there was a muffled explosion, followed by flames which billowed out of the turret and engine ports. American Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Choose a Unit. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. History. Schneider, Wolfgang. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. During the assault, B Company suffered about 40 casualties including its commanding officer, Captain Henry D. Wirsig. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. 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. Add to cart. 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. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. 1947. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) . The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. 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. An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. Design, Production & Modifications. Schneider, Wolfgang. I should also note that reconnaissance doctrine was to disengage if at all possible and in no way engage enemy armour beyond scout elements. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. Clarke, Bruce. 1940 194111. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English 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. 1940 194111. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. 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. Under the chain of the northern sector command, only General Ridgway was unsure of Field Marshal Montgomerys decision to withdraw from the defense. By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. Unteroffizier Helmus of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division painted the situation when the advance began. The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. The similarity in appearance between the Panzer IV and Tiger I is often cited as a reason to why there are so many claims made by soldiers during World War II of battling Tiger Is, despite Tiger Is being a fairly rare encounter. 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. After learning of the attack by the Fhrer Escort Brigade, Brig. Tigers In Combat II. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 560th Volks Grenadier Division (15-29 Dec. 1944) and 12th VGD (1-28 Jan. 1945). Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. 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. Bergstrm, Christer. 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. Outnumbered and in danger of encirclement, the cannoneers and their rifle support from C Company made a platoon-by-platoon withdrawal toward Winterspelt. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. The original story, if there even was one, was told and retold and distorted until everyone and their brother claimed to know the guys that did it. I have come to believe is that this type of fight happened more than once. But if four versions was not enough, there is potentially another version of this tale contained in a combat interview given by Lieutenant Arthur A. Olson of Troop D, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on the 8th of January, 1945. 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. With this contact, all units in the vicinity of St. Vith, including 9th Armored Division forces, passed to the command of Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgways XVIII Airborne Corps. 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. No reinforcements were expected. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. 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. 223 223. One would think that Lieutenant Colonel Boylan, or at the very least Troop A, would make some sort of mention of this fairly notable engagement. Osprey Publishing, 2010. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. EN. 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. 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? 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. 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. 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. Beevor, Antony. 47. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Amazing discounts for bundles. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. On December 16th at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam road following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. CCB, 9th Armored was linked on its left with CCB, 7th Armored and what was left of the 424th Infantry Regiment on its right. 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. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. The losses in men and equipment for CCB, 9th Armored, as with the rest of the American units defending St. Vith, had been severe. On December 9, 1944, Brig. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. 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. The fight ended when he slammed the M8 (he called it a Greyhound) into the rear of Tiger and the gun crew fired three rapid fire rounds into the engine compartment. Volksgrenadier-Division. He could not believe it. Troy Middletons VIII Corps. To this end, General Hoge was in the town of Monschau to check on the possibility of getting his command across in that area. Contents 1 Allied Forces 1.1 12th Army Group 1.1.1 U.S. First Army 1.1.1.1 V Corps 1.1.1.2 VII Corps 1.1.1.3 XVIII Airborne Corps 1.1.2 U.S. Third Army 1.1.2.1 III Corps 1.1.2.2 VIII Corps 1.1.2.3 XII Corps 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. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. Osprey Publishing, 2002. A platoon of tank destroyers had vanished. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Instead of the M8 Greyhound firing three shots into the Tigers rear, the M8 Greyhound in Lieutenant Olsons version of events fired two shots. This is puzzling, to say the least. Penguin Books, 2016. Could a Panther be a possibility? The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. 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. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a On December 21, 18. The lumbering heavy tank continued moving towards the American line before turning north towards the town of Hunningen, Belgium, passing the armored car. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. 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. There are a few notable issues raised by this morning report and record of events entry, the most obvious one being that the M8 Greyhound is reported as being from Troop A of the 87th, not Troop B of the 87th, as it is in the contemporary story. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. However, it cannot be safely assumed that the tank killed in this engagement was a Tiger I or a Tiger II. It was a clear disappointment to Jones when Clarke told him that he, his operations officer, his aide, and his driver were the only representatives of the 7th Armored Division to have reached St. Vith at that time. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 1941622 . 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. Double-talking his identification over the radio with allusions to West Point football days, Ridgway gave Hoge a location at which to meet him. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. This German World War II article is a stub. The most startling difference however is the range at which this engagement occurred, with Lieutenant Olsons version having the engagement take place at 800 yards (732 meters), compared to the original storys 25 yards (23 meters)! 1/18th Scale Cars; 1/24th Scale Assembly Kits; 1/24th Scale Cars; 1/43rd Scale Cars; . Add to cart. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. Add to cart. Troop D, 89th Recon held the sector from Steinebruck to Weppeler while A Company, 27th AIB put up a defensive line anchored on the high ground east of Maspelt. Daniel P. Kneeland, Grafton, Ma. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. An M8 Greyhound armored car of Troop B, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron was lying in a concealed position just northeast of the vitally important crossroads town of St. Vith, Belgium. Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. Therefore, Montgomery ordered Ridgway to attack to the southeast until Vielsalm could be reached, ensuring an escape corridor for those trapped within the defense. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. However, after careful analysis, it can be said with certainty that neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was killed by an M8 Greyhound from any troop of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on 18th December 1944 near St. Vith. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. of the Army, 1965. Fortunately for Colonel Reid, word came at about 1730 that his 424th Infantry Regiment was to withdraw immediately. Since the move from Faymonville to Winterspelt involved a greater distance, Hoge decided to get his command on the road immediately. The ground was frozen solid. Panzer Tracts, 2001. 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. Then there is the issue of the entrys ambiguity in regards to the Tiger tank that was knocked out. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. 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. 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. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. Company A of the 27th AIB had been assigned to the 99th Infantry Division and was in the process of being retrieved when the march to St. Vith began. Three times the grenadiers [German] tried to rush their way through the foxhole line held by the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion (Lt. Col. William H. G. Fuller) and B Troop of the 87th astride the Schnberg road. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. 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. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. The next move was up to General Lucht and his corps. While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 1945. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division.The division, which was under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. Protected by armor between 25 mm to 145 mm thick and armed with a fearsome 88mm KwK 36 L/56 main gun, the Tiger I was arguably the most feared tank of World War II by Allied soldiers. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army.
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