18th volksgrenadier division

The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. At approximately 0530 on December 16, eight German armored divisions and 13 infantry divisions launched their all-out attack on five divisions of the U.S. First Army. Volksgrenadier Division 2. On December 21, 18. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. Luftwaffe-Feld-Division. Despite nearly a foot of snow, the ground underneath was still soft, and with the passage of only a few heavy vehicles it was soon churned into a morass of mud. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. 1946. The 27th AIB was ordered to establish a defensive position south, east, west, and southeast of Malempre. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Its population in 1944 was about 2,000, and its citizens were very much pro-German. 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. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. Tiger. 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. The losses in men and equipment for CCB, 9th Armored, as with the rest of the American units defending St. Vith, had been severe. 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. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. There was a bitter struggle to the south of Grufflingen, and the Germans were again active in the Neubruck area. 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 two commanders agreed that even without the mud to contend with the withdrawal would have to be delayed simply because of heavy enemy pressure. Mines were laid. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. 1940 194111. Thus, there are four different versions of this story circulating: Troop Es version with a Tiger I, Troop Es version with a Tiger II, Captain Ansteys version with a Tiger I, and Captain Ansteys version with a Tiger II. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. 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. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. He also said that they got a new Greyhound. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. One, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, was holding the northern reaches of 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. 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. Gen. Bruce C. Clarke, commander of CCB, 7th Armored Division, arrived at General Joness command post in St. Vith at approximately 1030. 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. 47. War Department Technical Manual TM 9-1904 Ammunition Inspection Guide. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. 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. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. The unit was converted to an infantry division in 1945, while stationed in Courland. Colonel Alexander D. Reid, commander of the 424th Infantry Regiment, had reason to fear encirclement. Manteuffel answered, We estimated that we were up against a division, and perhaps against an entire corps. One German tank was seen going up in flames. 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. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. At 0130 the 27th AIB was hit hard and the sector held by Company B, 9th Engineers was deeply penetrated, causing the armored infantry to fall back under the protective guns of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Osprey Publishing, 2013. The StuG III explanation also accounts for why Troop B makes no mention of it in their morning report and record of events entry for 18th December 1944 and why Lieutenant Colonel Boylan makes no mention of it his 1946 letter or in the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report for the month of December 1944. 45 mm. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. For example, when G.I. Inform us! Johnston, W. Wesley. 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. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. . According to two combat interviews given by men of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report for the month of December 1944, and Lieutenant Colonel Boylans 1946 letter, on 18th December 1944, the Germans attacked the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B) with infantry and tanks. 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. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. Osprey Publishing, 2003. One gun, firing from the house that had been the 14th Tanks command post an hour earlier, disabled two of the Shermans, but the other tanks managed to knock out the four antitank guns plus three German command vehicles. }(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. Volksgrenadier-Division. 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. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for 18th Volksgrenadier Division. Ninth Armored and its attachments traveled southwest on N26 to the junction with N33 west of Beho, then turned north on N33 to Salmchateau, and finally west on N183 through Lierneux to Malempre-Jevigne, southeast of Manhay. While 9th Armored was thus engaged in the Winterspelt area during the morning hours of December 17, Brig. This moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germanys last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. 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. The U.S. 9th Armored Division arrived in the European Theater of Operations in late October 1944 as a reserve for Maj. Gen. 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. 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. The ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. Beevor, Antony. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 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. It is stated as being reported to Major Boyer by one Captain Walter Henry Anstey of Company A of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, who is said to have been a witness to the event. Jentz, Thomas. To cover this dangerous gap in the line C Company, 27th AIB was ordered to the Our between Troop D, 89th Recon and Company A, 27th AIB. Then there is the issue of the entrys ambiguity in regards to the Tiger tank that was knocked out. Jones had been counting on this when he sent Hoges 9th Armored Command to Winterspelt rather than Schoenberg. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: . The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. With the unexplained disappearance of D Troop from the 89th Reconnaissance Platoon, Company B, 27th AIB became the leading element. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. Engeman set out with two task forces to meet the enemy. Field Marshal Montgomery, believing that Ridgways Corps could not attack successfully toward Vielsalm and that the American forces within the goose egg could better be used in support of other forces committed to the northern shoulder defense, decided upon a general withdrawal. Panzer Tracts No. Not only does Troop Es version of the story involve a different unit than the original story, it also takes place in a different location, note the following map. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. Under cover of automatic weapons fire from a platoon of light tanks, Sergeant Eugene Dorland and two other men from the engineers went into the cold, bullet-splattered water carrying three cases of TNT and placed their charges on the south abutment of the bridge. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. 560th Volks Grenadier Division (15-29 Dec. 1944) and 12th VGD (1-28 Jan. 1945). Do you have more information about this person? https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=18th_Volksgrenadier_Division&oldid=1127007404, Military units and formations established in 1944, Military units and formations disestablished in 1945, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 December 2022, at 11:24. 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. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. War Department, 1944. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. While no Tiger Is were lost on the 18th of December, 1944, four Tiger IIs were lost that day. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Its possible that the M8 took out an late production Panzer IV, but even that is unlikely due to the danger of more troops coming from behind with Panzerfausts or even a 20 millimeter. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map 47. Captain Ansteys version lacks supporting documentation. The only known witness to the supposed event, Captain Walter Henry Anstey, died on 26th October 2003 at the age of 90, taking the truth of the events that day to his grave. 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. Gen. Herbert T. Perrin, assistant commander of the 106th Infantry Division, drove up carrying a message from General Jones. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. Rather than reaching the Meuse and driving on to Antwerp, the offensive stalled and eventually was turned back. The CCB command post was moved to Neubruck, a small group of farmhouses on Braunlauf Creek about two miles southwest of St. Vith. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. By dark, Lt. Col. Engeman and his two task forces were back in their assembly area in the vicinity of Breitfeld. Infanterie-Division 193510 [1] 22 22. I have come to believe is that this type of fight happened more than once. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. At daybreak on December 21, the Germans launched their first assault of the day on CCB, 9th Armored. Tigers In Combat II. 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. 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. . South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. 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. An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. 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. However, it cannot be safely assumed that the tank killed in this engagement was a Tiger I or a Tiger II. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. The village of Bauvenn was designated the linkage point for the two combat commands. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. 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. Clarke, Bruce. Such events might have taken place in reality, true. 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. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. The distance from Burg Reuland on the southeast to Poteau on the northwest was about 10 miles with only a single secondary road as a line of retreat for thousands of men defending the horseshoe against attack from three directions. So, rather than spill blood needlessly to take meaningless ground, Hoge called off the attack on Winterspelt. 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. 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 event simply was not that notable. Those men were a scrappy bunch. 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. Division 4. Just kept to the main story. Could an M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun even penetrate the rear hull armor of a Tiger I? 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. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. Unteroffizier Helmus of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division painted the situation when the advance began. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. 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. Schneider, Wolfgang. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. Your email address will not be published. The mobile battalion consisted of three platoons of assault guns, a company of engineers, and another of fusiliers. There is no comparison to Tiger. 1/18th Scale Cars; 1/24th Scale Assembly Kits; 1/24th Scale Cars; 1/43rd Scale Cars; . Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. 2014. Anderson, Thomas. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. Gen. Robert Hasbroucks 7th Armored Division would be arriving at St. Vith at 0700 on the 17th. 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. (function (d, s, n) { js = d.createElement(s); The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. 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 . Infanterie-Division 19398 . 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. Volksgrenadier-Division. The 18th 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.. Although both men agreed that a withdrawal at this stage was the wiser decision, Hoge was skeptical that, given the weather and ground conditions, the defenders would be able to get out. Tigers In Combat I. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. Much like the Panzer IV, the StuG III was a mainstay of the German army as well as Germanys most produced armored fighting vehicle of the war with over 9,400 produced. Dragon 1629 1/16th Feldwebel 352nd Volksgrenadier Division R 275.00. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. 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. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. 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. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. By 1300 on the 21st, the entire line was ablaze with German artillery, rockets, tanks, and infantry. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. The hardest hit, though, were the armored infantrymen of the 27th AIB with nearly 300 battle casualties. 1945) English PDF (18 MB) Jan B-627 Volkssturm (Oct. 1944-Apr. 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. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was to attack along the two roads from Schoenberg, with the Fhrer Escort Brigade assaulting from the north. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. 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 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. The Tiger II, also known as the King Tiger, Royal Tiger, Knigstiger, and Tiger Ausf.B, was an enormous, 69.8 tonne German heavy tank. 10 Apr. 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. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. 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. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English 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. The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. On this day, CCB of the 9th Armored Division was still in its assembly area in the vicinity of Faymonville. Volksgrenadier Division 5. The platoon lost four men missing and two wounded in the ensuing engagement. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. 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 . 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.

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