The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. Jentz, Thomas. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. 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. Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. VGD. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Personally I have not believed this event at all. The American armor of the 7th and 9th Armored Divisions plus supporting units were being pressed into an area in which motorized forcestanks, half-tracks, self-propelled artillery, tank destroyersoperated with great difficulty. Zaloga, Steven. 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)! At St. Vith, Lt. Col. William H. Slayden was with Jones when Jones received the call from Middleton concerning 7th Armored Division support. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. 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. The troop was to hold until relieved by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) and then reconnoiter farther down the road toward Winterspelt. The bridge at Steinebruck was intentionally left intact by General Hoge on the outside chance that some of the American troops trapped in the vicinity of the Schnee Eifel might be able to maneuver their way there. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. 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. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. 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. Jentz, Thomas. Not long after Rodt fell to the Fhrer Escort Brigade, an attack came against the 7th Armored from the direction of Recht. Division 4. 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. The Tiger I was a 57 tonne German heavy tank that has become one of the most famous tanks in history. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) Wiki 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. Then, four German antitank guns covering the Grufflingen-Maldange road were encountered. 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. Infanterie-Division . For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for 18th Volksgrenadier Division. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. No one knew what was happening. Counter to the plan laid out earlier by General Jones, Hoge had decided to launch his attack on Winterspelt with the entire 14th Tank Battalion as the lead element rather than with the more vulnerable infantry of the 27th AIB. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. 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. The last Tiger II belonged to Schwere Panzer Abteilung 506 (Heavy Tank Battalion 506) and was lost to enemy fire on the Lentzweiler road in Luxemburg. 18. Volksgrenadier-Division - Axis History 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. Roadblocks were set up and manned. Shortly thereafter, Hasbrouck called and asked, Bruce, do you think you can get out? Clarke answered, A miracle has happened, General! Battle of the Bulge order of battle | Military Wiki | Fandom Double-talking his identification over the radio with allusions to West Point football days, Ridgway gave Hoge a location at which to meet him. 223 () - Wikiwand 'poor shape' in a sentence. Hoge pointedly asked Ridgway how it could be done. With all of these contradictions, ambiguity, and lack of supporting documentation and evidence surrounding Troop Es entry in mind, it is safe to conclude that this is not the most reliable account of what really happened on the 18th of December, 1944 at St. Vith. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. The next version of this story can be found in a 1947 book by Major Donald P. Boyer of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion titled St. Vith, The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge, 17-23 December 1944: A Narrative After Action Report. 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. Volksgrenadier Division 2. United States 106th Infantry Division on the 16th and 17th of December 1944 (the first two days of the battle of the Ardennes were as follows: 1. 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. Possibly such events took place in reality. 13th Company, 28th Jager Regiment, 8th Jager Division 286. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. 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. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. 22 () - VGD led by Heinz Kokott, Heinrich Himmler's brother-in-law. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. Therefore, Montgomery ordered Ridgway to attack to the southeast until Vielsalm could be reached, ensuring an escape corridor for those trapped within the defense. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. Each attack was preceded by an intense artillery barrage lasting from 15 to 35 minutes. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Fortunately for Colonel Reid, word came at about 1730 that his 424th Infantry Regiment was to withdraw immediately. Should 7th Armored lose St. Vith, 9th Armored would be unable to withdraw on its own axis. However, this platoon never completed its mission. 6 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen DW to E-100. 1946. 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. Just kept to the main story. 16 Dec 2022 08:28:00 However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. Panzer Tracts No. One German tank was seen going up in flames. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. The Germans attacked the center of the 27th AIB. 2014. Staff Sergeant Frank Mykalo knocked out a German machine-gun position, enabling the men in the lead half-tracks to dismount and deploy along the side of the road. 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. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. EN. Add to cart. Gen. Herbert T. Perrin, assistant commander of the 106th Infantry Division, drove up carrying a message from General Jones. 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. 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. Home News Random Article Install Wikiwand Send a suggestion Uninstall Wikiwand Upgrade to Wikiwand 2.0 Jones explained to Hoge that his division was being attacked along its entire front and that two of his three regiments, the 422nd and the 423rd, had been partly surrounded in the Schnee Eifel area just east of Schoenberg. General Luchts 66th Corps was shifted from General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army to the Sixth Panzer. By midnight on the 19th, the horseshoe- shaped defense of St. Vith had taken form. 4 Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. 111 () - 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. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. which, in principle, is comparable to the 37 mm American gun. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. 223 223. That cold snap that hit us has frozen the roads. 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. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. Schneider, Wolfgang. That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. What Jones did not tell Hoge was that in one of those regiments his own son was serving at regimental headquarters. Communications with division headquarters in St. Vith were limited to liaison officers running along a road now being shelled by the Germans. 110 () - Osprey Publishing, 2003. Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village. A platoon of tank destroyers had vanished. Panzer Tracts No. Johnston, W. Wesley. December 20 was a day of disappointment for the Germans around St. Vith. 12th Volksgrenadier Division 89; 197; 487; 557; 650; 727. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. Little offtopic here but another misidentification might be the 1 destroyed 88mm assault gun (Ferdinand). War Department Technical Manual TM 9-1904 Ammunition Inspection Guide. The mud had made the roads and open areas impassable for armored vehicles. 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 second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Overall operational command for the offensive fell to Field Marshal Walther Model. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. 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. Tigers In Combat I. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. Sicherungs-Division) was a rear-security division in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. 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. Ridgway answered, Bill, we can and we will. The withdrawal plan called for a general pullback west of the Salm River to an assembly area in the zone controlled by the 82nd Airborne Division in the vicinity of Lierneux. Troop D, 89th Recon had positioned its troop headquarters and first platoon to cover the bridge over the Our. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. Penguin Books, 2016. . An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. While walking to avoid the traffic congestion, Manteuffel encountered his superior, Field Harshal Model. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. 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. On this day, CCB of the 9th Armored Division was still in its assembly area in the vicinity of Faymonville. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. 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. 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?. He said that the fight took about ninety minutes and that they used almost all their ammunition. 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. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 WWII German Military Units (1) - WWII History Center General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. The ground was frozen solid. 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. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. Its supporting field artillery battalion was at Kalterherberg, two miles south of Monschau, engaged in firing missions for the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. Airfix J6017 Volkswagen Camper Van (Quick Build) R 405.00. 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. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. 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. 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 . When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. Sturmpanzer.com - Sturmpanzer and WW2 German Army Research Volksgrenadier-Division. Division 3. The platoon lost four men missing and two wounded in the ensuing engagement. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. The mobile battalion consisted of three platoons of assault guns, a company of engineers, and another of fusiliers. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. 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. Within the Kloster, General Hoge found a division headquarters staff in a state of disarray and confusion. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. This moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. Furthermore, the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report (AAR) for the month of December 1944, written by Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Laurence Boylan, the commanding officer of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron at the time, makes no mention of this event either. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. Situated next to B Company were Company A, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? Its population in 1944 was about 2,000, and its citizens were very much pro-German. js = d.createElement(s); Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. It would be unable to turn its full strength on St. Vith until the American surrender in that area. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. Those factors dictated that at least another 24 hours would be needed before a major assault on St. Vith could begin. 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. The Germans were now on the high ground north of Eigelscheid overlooking the road to Winterspelt. 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 last of the St. Vith defenders to come out were Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry Regiment. Lever het aan! 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 20th Panzergrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Atozwiki.com Although it was beaten off, the attacking Germans were identified as new to the area, soldiers of the 9th SS Panzer Division, a cause for considerable concern at this point in the battle. No reinforcements were expected. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Zaloga, Steven. 1964. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. Rejection & Neglect available to buy on Payhip! Panzer Tracts No. A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. German reports are also far from subtlety. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. Infanterie-Division 19398 . By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. English PDF (33 MB) Jan B-700 18th Volksgrenadier Division - Wikiwand The new sector assigned to CCB was on the fringe of territory the Sixth Panzer Army had mapped out for its further maneuvers. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. For example, when G.I. This one, however, most likely did not. However, once a closer look is taken at this story, cracks begin to appear, and soon enough one begins to wonder whether or not this story really is too good to be true. events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. 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. Add to cart. 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. 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. Bork, Max Hermann (Generalleutnant) - TracesOfWar.com That evening General Clarke also put his command into Commanster. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. So its quite possible! The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. Mines were laid. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. After learning of the attack by the Fhrer Escort Brigade, Brig. Wikizero - 281st Security Division (Wehrmacht) Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. Gen. Robert Hasbroucks 7th Armored Division would be arriving at St. Vith at 0700 on the 17th. 301 Sentences With "poor shape" | Random Sentence Generator That night, infantry patrols found German medics removing their wounded. Volksgrenadier-Division. #WW2 . Staff officers were casualties. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. 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. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. 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. 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 moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germanys last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. VGD. 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. This story has gained a good deal of attention in recent years, especially on the internet thanks to videos such as The Tank Duel at St. Vith, Belgium by Lance Geiger The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. The unit was converted to an infantry division in 1945, while stationed in Courland. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. Olson states that, on the 18th of December 1944, one of the armored cars opened fire with its 37 mm gun on a German tank at range of 800 yards [732 meters]. Manteuffel met near Wallerode with Model and Lucht that day. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. Hoge could not see much sense in making an attack, taking ground, and then turning right around and coming back, especially if the attack was successful. The brigade had 9,000 men, Mark IV tanks, assault guns, 104mm and 105mm artillery, 88mm antiaircraft guns, and a number of heavy automatic weapons batteries. 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.

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