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. 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. 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. Could a Panther be a possibility? Troop D, 89th Recon had positioned its troop headquarters and first platoon to cover the bridge over the Our. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. By mid-afternoon, General Hoge ordered his infantry to halt and dig in. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. Penguin Books, 2016. The southern prong was defended by General Hoges CCB, 9th Armored with the weakened 424th Infantry Regiment tied in and bent back protecting Burg Reuland. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Clarke, Bruce. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. Soon after its crossing, B Company ran into German infantry dug in along the high ground overlooking the village of Elcherath. Infanterie-Division 19398 . 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. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. Based upon this fairly optimistic view, Ridgway, shortly after midnight, ordered the entire St. Vith force to withdraw from its current positions and form a defensive ring west of St. Vith and east of the Salm River. 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. 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 entire division was to follow shortly thereafter. 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)! 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 . They were repulsed by machine-gun fire. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. 281st Security Division (281. However, by noon on December 18 it was quite apparent to Hoge that the Germans infiltrating across the river were converging on the bridge in such numbers that it had to be blown. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. December 20 was a day of disappointment for the Germans around St. Vith. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. Required fields are marked *. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Your email address will not be published. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Perrin told General Hoge, You can continue this attack on towards this back country, but you must be back on this side of the river by nightfall.. Your email address will not be published. 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. 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 . Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. History. Volksgrenadier-Division. In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. It was a race between the Germans who were desperately trying to bring their 88 mm gun to bear and the Americans who were trying to get as close as possible to the Tiger Is rear. However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. Resistance by service company personnel in Rodt was fierce with every possible mandrivers, cooks, radio operatorsemployed in the defense; however, after nine hours of battle against the much superior German force, Rodt fell. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. 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. During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. 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. VGD. 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. As far as Im aware no Ferdinands (all upgraded to Elefants at the stage of Ardennes Offensive) were used in the Ardennes and better yet all Elefants were in Eastern Front with the 614.sPzJgK (formerly 2./653.sPzJgAbt) after August 1944. VGD led by Heinz Kokott, Heinrich Himmler's brother-in-law. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. Schneider, Wolfgang. It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery Company B was stationed east of Galhausen and maintained contact with the nearest elements of the 7th Armored Division on 9th Armoreds left flank. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. 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. 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. 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. By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry eventually found their way into 82nd Airborne Division lines during the night of the 24th, but not before the units suffered heavy losses. At approximately 0930 on December 17, B Company was the first 9th Armored Division unit to cross the Our River. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. 2014. By dark, Lt. Col. Engeman and his two task forces were back in their assembly area in the vicinity of Breitfeld. 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. 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. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. Johnston, W. Wesley. The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The Germans were now on the high ground north of Eigelscheid overlooking the road to Winterspelt. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. Stackpole Books, 2015. That night, infantry patrols found German medics removing their wounded. On this day, CCB of the 9th Armored Division was still in its assembly area in the vicinity of Faymonville. A platoon of tank destroyers had vanished. Mines were laid. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. 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. Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village. At about 1700, the enemy attacked along the Schoenberg road from the east; at 1830, they came down the Malmedy road from the north, and at 2000, an attack started from the southeast along the Prum road. 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. 19454 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. The 27th AIB was ordered to establish a defensive position south, east, west, and southeast of Malempre. Zaloga, Steven. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. Jentz, Thomas. The northern prong of the horseshoe was composed of CCB, 7th Armored Division from Poteau and Vielsalm. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. Inside the command post, General Hoge learned that the Germans had launched a heavy assault on Winterspelt against the men of the 424th Infantry. The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. 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. of the Army, 1965. 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. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier captured Winterspelt, its losses were high and its left regiment had made little headway in the Heckhuschied sector. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. 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. js.src = "//player.ex.co/player/710cf52d-720a-4250-8e95-fc85dcedab01"; 2014. Then, four German antitank guns covering the Grufflingen-Maldange road were encountered. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Tigers In Combat I. 18th Panzer Division (later 18th Artillery Division) 19th Panzer Division (previously 19th Infantry Division) 20th Panzer Division 21st Panzer Division (previously 5th Light Division) 22nd Panzer Division 23rd Panzer Division 24th Panzer Division (previously 1st Cavalry Division) 25th Panzer Division 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. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. The circuitous march up one road and down another led to a new line just a few hundred yards to the west of the old one and was miraculously carried out while under attack without the loss of any men or equipment. 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.