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. Besides the previously mentioned absence of any recountings of this event in several notable documents that should have contained it, and most peculiarly, Captain Anstey himself makes no mention of the engagement when he discusses and documents the events of the 18th of December 1944 in a combat interview he gave on the 2nd of January 1945, just over two weeks after the event supposedly took place. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. Zaloga, Steven. js = d.createElement(s); The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. 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. I think we can make it now. Then, four German antitank guns covering the Grufflingen-Maldange road were encountered. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. 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. 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]. 1945. That cold snap that hit us has frozen the roads. 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. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. We made several probing attacks, and every time we went into your position, we encountered armor. Ministry of Supply, 1945. 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 greatest danger existed in the 424ths position because the regiments flank lay vulnerable to attacks by the 116th Panzer Division to the south. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. However, this version of Captain Ansteys account has one key difference: it was not a Tiger I that was knocked out, but rather a Tiger II, almost analogous to the fisherman whose fish gets bigger each time he tells the tale of his catch. General Lucht hurried to Winterspelt to get the 62nd Volksgrenadier moving to the Our. Between these units, a place was found for the provisional company composed of the 424th Infantry stragglers. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. Volksgrenadier-Division. By midnight on the 19th, the horseshoe- shaped defense of St. Vith had taken form. The German armored and infantry attacks were preceded by the shelling of the American positions with at least 657 light, medium, and heavy guns and howitzers and 340 multiple rocket launchers. Infanterie-Division . js.className = n; 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. While 9th Armored was thus engaged in the Winterspelt area during the morning hours of December 17, Brig. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. Since General Hoge was supposed to be under Joness command and did not understand the overall situation around St. Vith, he decided to find out exactly what was going on. Also no Ferdinand/Elefant recorded to have seen combat on Western Front. Such events might have taken place in reality, true. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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 closest primary German armored thrust route to the south ran through Burg Reuland, also about five miles from St. Vith. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. The area being defended was beginning to take the form of a large horseshoe, its axis running approximately northeast to southeast. 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. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. 10 Apr. Manteuffel answered, We estimated that we were up against a division, and perhaps against an entire corps. 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. A strong attack has just developed against Clarke again. Johnston, W. Wesley. Orders for CCB, 9th Armored to move to a new defensive position were issued at 1600. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Schneider, Wolfgang. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. 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 surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. The U.S. 9th Armored Division arrived in the European Theater of Operations in late October 1944 as a reserve for Maj. Gen. I wanted to focus on the M8 vs Tiger story, I already noticed the Ferdinand claim, but decided not to mention it. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. VGD. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); When you get surprised like this, you become cautious.Undoubtedly much, if not most, of the armor encountered by Manteuffels probing actions during the early days of the German offensive belonged to CCB, 9th Armored Division. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. 2014. General Frederich Kittel, the division commander, ordered his mobile battalion up from his 164th Regiment reserve at Pronsfeld and into the attack along the Winterspelt road. The lumbering heavy tank continued moving towards the American line before turning north towards the town of Hunningen, Belgium, passing the armored car. VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 301 sentences with 'poor shape'. Schneider, Wolfgang. The ground was frozen solid. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a Gen. Herbert T. Perrin, assistant commander of the 106th Infantry Division, drove up carrying a message from General Jones. 1941622 . VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. The 16th Field Artillery also pitched in, as did a battalion of 155mm howitzers sited around Commanster. To this end, General Hoge was in the town of Monschau to check on the possibility of getting his command across in that area. Since speed was the key to success of the German plan, two panzer armies would spearhead the offensive. Farther to the north, in the 7th Armored sector, the pressure exerted by the enemy was also intense. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. No one knew what was happening. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. He is being outflanked and is retiring west another 2,000 yards refusing both flanks. 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. 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. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Out of this grand battle would come a too-good-to-be-true story symbolic of the stiff American resistance put up against the German offensive, that of how an M8 Greyhound armored car destroyed a Tiger I heavy tank. . The mobile battalion consisted of three platoons of assault guns, a company of engineers, and another of fusiliers. The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. 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. Close. Design, Production & Modifications. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. (function (d, s, n) { Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. The unit was converted to an infantry division in 1945, while stationed in Courland. 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. 1947. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. Anderson, Thomas. Little offtopic here but another misidentification might be the 1 destroyed 88mm assault gun (Ferdinand). 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. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. The new sector assigned to CCB was on the fringe of territory the Sixth Panzer Army had mapped out for its further maneuvers. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Armament T-70 gun cal. 13th Company, 28th Jager Regiment, 8th Jager Division 286. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. At about 2130, General Clarke phoned General Hoge to tell him that the enemy was entering St. Vith from the north and that his forces were withdrawing to form a new line northwest of the city. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. 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. 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. Lever het aan! 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. Developed in the 1930s, the Panzer IV was one of the mainstay German armored fighting vehicles of the Second World War as well as Germanys most-produced tank of the war, with over 8,500 produced. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. At 0600 Im going to start to move.. 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 . events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense 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. . The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. It is possible (if unlikely) that this event was completely unrelated to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. Not long after Rodt fell to the Fhrer Escort Brigade, an attack came against the 7th Armored from the direction of Recht. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. General Hoge received his order to pull CCB, 9th Armored out at 0605 on December 23. Similar events have happened more than once, though on the Eastern Front. Within the Kloster, General Hoge found a division headquarters staff in a state of disarray and confusion. The column came upon stragglers from the 424th Infantry retreating in disarray toward St. Vith. 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. Shortly thereafter, Hasbrouck called and asked, Bruce, do you think you can get out? Clarke answered, A miracle has happened, General! Daniel P. Kneeland, Grafton, Ma. 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. Boylan, Vincent L. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. 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. 1940 194111. 12th Volksgrenadier Division 89; 197; 487; 557; 650; 727. The German plan for the attack through the Ardennes, an offensive that would forever be known as the Battle of the Bulge, was to be accomplished in the conventional manner. The unit attacking Troop B, the 294th Volksgrenadier Regiment, had StuG IIIs and had been using StuG IIIs the previous day in small probing attacks east of St. Vith where Troop B would end up being positioned. Six paved or macadam roads converged at St. Vith, but none of these was considered by the Germans to be a major military trunk line. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. 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 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. The hardest hit, though, were the armored infantrymen of the 27th AIB with nearly 300 battle casualties. 18th Flak Division 651 . 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. Hoge pointedly asked Ridgway how it could be done. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: . 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. Those men were a scrappy bunch. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. Staff officers were casualties. Established in 1941, the unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, in the Army Group North Rear Area. While no Tiger Is were lost on the 18th of December, 1944, four Tiger IIs were lost that day. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Elements of the 62nd Volksgrenadier had taken the eastern half of Winterspelt during the night, and at daybreak reinforcements finally drove Colonel Reids 1st Battalion from the village. 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. Looking at German records The Fhrerbegleit Brigade with one Panzerabteilung of four companies of Pzkw IV and a Sturmgeschutzabteilung with four batteries of StuG III were in reserve assembled in the area around Daun on the 17th and not yet in action only beginning to move up at 1600H on the 18th. 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. By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. Rapidly, the M8 advanced to within 25 yards (23 meters) of the Tiger I and quickly pumped three rounds into its rear. 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. 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. Armour Plate Porforation [sic: Perforation] of Tank and Anti Tank Guns. 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. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division would use these assault guns in small probing attacks on the American lines east of St. Vith that same day. How about a Tiger II? Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. 1945) English PDF (18 MB) Jan B-627 Volkssturm (Oct. 1944-Apr. Roadblocks were set up and manned. Zaloga, Steven. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. 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. Possibly such events took place in reality. 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. 19454 Personally I have not believed this event at all. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Three of these Tiger IIs belonged to Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 501 (Heavy SS Tank Battalion 501); Tiger 105 was abandoned in the town of Stavelot, Belgium after getting itself stuck in a building, Tiger 332 was abandoned near Coo, Belgium as a result of mechanical damage, and Tiger 008 was abandoned at a farmhouse near Trois Ponts, Belgium. 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. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. 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. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. 1945. Once in St. Vith, Jones explained that only the leading elements of the 7th Armored Division had arrived thus far and that St. Viths northern approach was under attack. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. They were repulsed by machine-gun fire. 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. 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 story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. Given that the rear hull armor of a Tiger II is 80 mm of RHA angled at 30 degrees, it is essentially impossible for the M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun to penetrate the rear hull armor of the Tiger II. 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. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm.