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 18. 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. While making his reconnaissance at Monschau he received an urgent message to call V Corps headquarters. 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. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. The defense of St. Vith was now achieving some kind of order in contrast to the chaos that had reigned during the previous three days. One German tank was seen going up in flames. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. The rounded portion of the horseshoe was composed of Colonel Dwight Rosebaums CCA, 7th Armored between Poteau and Rodt and General Clarkes CCB, 7th Armored in the very center protecting St. Vith. Osprey Publishing, 2010. First-time contributor Charles Gutierrez is the son of a 9th Armored Division veteran. 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. 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 reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. 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. Since speed was the key to success of the German plan, two panzer armies would spearhead the offensive. Together they broke up the attack. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. The unit was converted to an infantry division in 1945, while stationed in Courland. Volksgrenadier-Division 5 [ ] 'poor shape' in a sentence. 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. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. Under the chain of the northern sector command, only General Ridgway was unsure of Field Marshal Montgomerys decision to withdraw from the defense. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. The 294th Volksgrenadier Regiment was a unit of the larger 18th Volksgrenadier Division. Instead of the M8 Greyhound firing three shots into the Tigers rear, the M8 Greyhound in Lieutenant Olsons version of events fired two shots. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. Armament T-70 gun cal. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. 10 Apr. By dark, Lt. Col. Engeman and his two task forces were back in their assembly area in the vicinity of Breitfeld. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. 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. He also hoped the 3rd Armored Division soon might attack to remove all threat of encirclement. It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery Your email address will not be published. Infanterie-Division 19398 . 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. 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]. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. Approximately three hours later a German company marched out of Neidingen and along the road leading straight into C Companys position, apparently totally unaware of 9th Armoreds recent change of position. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. 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 . Yes in theory. Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Germanys Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to TIGER II. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Panzer Tracts No. The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. 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. However, he kept these misgivings to himself. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. This is an issue because there were two distinct types of German Tiger tanks, both of which took part in the Battle of the Bulge: The Tiger I and the Tiger II. 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. }(document, 'script', 'exco-player')); The M8 Greyhound was a small, 7.9 tonne American armored car with 6.4 mm to 25.4 mm of armor, only enough to protect against rifle caliber bullets, and armed with a 37 mm M6 main gun, a peashooter at this point in the war. Such was not the case, however, and by the evening of the December 20, the Germans were feeling the growing negative effects of the St. Vith salient. 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. On December 21, 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.. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. 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. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. With the enemy inside Steinebruck and excellent direct fire by the German artillery, what was left of 2nd Platoon, 89th Recon withdrew along the St. Vith road. 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. Tigers In Combat II. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. For example, when G.I. Inform us! Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. I wanted to focus on the M8 vs Tiger story, I already noticed the Ferdinand claim, but decided not to mention it. Such events might have taken place in reality, true. 1945). #WW2 . War Department, 1944. Johnston, W. Wesley. In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. 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. EN RU CN DE ES. Do you have more information about this person? Jentz, Thomas. Hoge managed to stop the stragglers, and soon a provisional company of men from the 424th was formed to reinforce the 27th AIB on its march toward the Our. 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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? 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. 2014. The last of the St. Vith defenders to come out were Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry Regiment. 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 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)! However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) . They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. 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. 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 18th Volksgrenadier Division ( 18. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. One task force was made up of A and B Companies of the 14th Tank Battalion, B Company of the 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery, and another platoon of the 14th. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. 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 Tiger I was a 57 tonne German heavy tank that has become one of the most famous tanks in history. According to Hugh M. Cole, an American historian and army officer. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. Each attack was preceded by an intense artillery barrage lasting from 15 to 35 minutes. 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 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 . Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. 6 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen DW to E-100. 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. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. So its quite possible! A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. It appeared now that the fate of his two northern regiments was sealed. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. The troops request for armored support was denied by General Hoge because his tank companies sent north to help the 7th Armored had not yet returned and no reserve was on hand. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. 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. Jentz, Thomas. 4 Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? 1940 194111. This German World War II article is a stub. 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. On its way to the new position, C Company came under a sudden artillery and rocket barrage in the village of Lommersweiler. Not long after Rodt fell to the Fhrer Escort Brigade, an attack came against the 7th Armored from the direction of Recht. German Division Nr. 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. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division completed its southern swing, encircling the two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. Hoge departed Faymonville at approximately 1800, arriving at General Joness headquarters in the St. Josephs Kloster about a half hour later. 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! 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. The area being defended was beginning to take the form of a large horseshoe, its axis running approximately northeast to southeast. Staff officers were casualties. 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. Manteuffels operation in the St. Vith area was already three days behind schedule. The division fought in the Ardennes, inflicting on the 106th US Infantry Division the worst defeat suffered by U.S. forces in the ETO, when over 8,000 US soldiers surrendered to the volksgrenadiers. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. Volksgrenadier-Division. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: . Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. 13th Company, 28th Jager Regiment, 8th Jager Division 286. Volksgrenadier-Division. 223 223. 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 guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. Were any of these Tiger Is and or Tiger IIs knocked out on the 18th of December, 1944? Lever het aan! At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. By 1245, the original line was restored, and the antitank guns of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were recovered. Boylan, Vincent L. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. 22 22. 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. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. It would be unable to turn its full strength on St. Vith until the American surrender in that area. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. The division fought in the Ardennes, inflicting on the 106th US Infantry Division the worst defeat suffered by U.S. forces in the ETO, when over 8,000 US soldiers surrendered to the volksgrenadiers. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. 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. This is puzzling, to say the least. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. Bergstrm, Christer. The staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. The attacks made east of St. Vith on 18 December were carried by a part of the 294th Infantry [German], whose patrols had been checked by the 168th Engineers [US] the previous day. Accordingly, that evening Sixth Panzer Army commander Dietrich issued orders to the 2nd SS Panzer Corps to move to the south so that parts of that corps could assist Manteuffel in taking St. Vith. . Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Back in the 1970s I worked with a man who told this story, he claimed he was the driver. 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. 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. 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. Although the American forces in the St. Vith area came under command of General Ridgways XVIII Airborne Corps, the Airborne Corps itself was under the command of Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, overall commander of the northern sector of the Bulge. 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. This article already explains ballistics and mentions that while Panther was vulnerable to lower-caliber AT guns, the Tigers were almost immune to them. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . Sicherungs-Division) was a rear-security division in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. 1945. The losses in men and equipment for CCB, 9th Armored, as with the rest of the American units defending St. Vith, had been severe. (1944) 111 111. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. 324 324. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. Tigers In Combat II. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. Aside from the cold and mud, there was also the enemy to contend with. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Close. The event simply was not that notable. of the Army, 1965. 281st Security Division (281. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. Infanterie-Division . Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. This moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germanys last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. Amazing discounts for bundles. Mines were laid. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a 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. Yeah but Panthers rear and side armor is very weak, so its completely different story. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. The mobile battalion consisted of three platoons of assault guns, a company of engineers, and another of fusiliers. At 0600 Im going to start to move.. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. 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. 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.