That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. One task force encountered reconnaissance probes on N27 conducted by units of the 1st SS Panzer Division approximately 1,000 yards north of St. Vith. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. 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. Osprey Publishing, 2010. Clarke pulled back his left flank to protect Hinderhausen, a key position on the emergency exit route to Commanster and Vielsalm. While walking to avoid the traffic congestion, Manteuffel encountered his superior, Field Harshal Model. Both assault groups suffered heavy casualties. 4 Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. 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. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. This one, however, most likely did not. 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. What a fantastic real-life story or is it? 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. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. 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. Required fields are marked *. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. Design, Production & Modifications. There was a bitter struggle to the south of Grufflingen, and the Germans were again active in the Neubruck area. Tigers In Combat I. 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. An attack to the east by the 7th Armored Division could then relieve the two surrounded regiments of the 106th. VGD. 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. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (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. I should also note that reconnaissance doctrine was to disengage if at all possible and in no way engage enemy armour beyond scout elements. Company B was stationed east of Galhausen and maintained contact with the nearest elements of the 7th Armored Division on 9th Armoreds left flank. 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. Panzer Tracts No. Volksgrenadier-Division was formed from the partially formed 571.Volksgrenadier-Division in Denmark in September 1944, it also included excess Kriegsmarine personnel and surviving elements from 18. 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. As each unit joined the rear of the column, it took its turn being the rear guard. 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 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. This is before you take into account that the manufacturing process for German armor allowed for a tolerance in plates which often left plates 2 to 5 mm thicker than ordered. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. 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. 1941622 . Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. 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. Design, Production & Modifications. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. 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. 2014. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. 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. The CCB command post was moved to Neubruck, a small group of farmhouses on Braunlauf Creek about two miles southwest of St. Vith. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. 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. 1940. Shortly thereafter, Hasbrouck called and asked, Bruce, do you think you can get out? Clarke answered, A miracle has happened, General! That night, infantry patrols found German medics removing their wounded. 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. Since 7th Armoreds withdrawal meant that 9th Armoreds left flank would be in danger, the two generals agreed that Hoge would have to readjust part of his line to maintain contact with Clarkes new rearward position. CCBs new position blocked the main Winterspelt-St. Vith highway and the valley of the Braunlauf Creek, a second natural corridor leading to St. Vith. On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. 301 sentences with 'poor shape'. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. 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. During the night, the troopers experienced harassing fire from light and medium artillery and could observe enemy infantry and at least four tanks moving along high ground to the south of the river. Adding to the slowdown of operations against St. Vith, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was still using two of its three regiments and all but one of its artillery battalions against the two trapped 106th Infantry Division regiments on the Schnee Eifel. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "aefa00eeca3d30bd3e762fcc54816f6d" );document.getElementById("f87928873f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Add to cart. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. Infanterie-Division 19398 . The division retrained as 22.Luftlande-Division (Air Landing Division) for rapid tactical deployment to capture enemy airbases and performed in that role during the . The 18. History. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. Sometime later that Monday morning, General Hoge sent his liaison officer to St. Vith to learn the dispositions of CCB, 7th Armored Division. 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. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. Since St. Vith should have been taken on December 16 or the 17th at the latest, he decided to leave his command post at Waxweiler and spend the night with the 18th Volksgrenadier Division at Schoenberg. English PDF (33 MB) Jan B-700 That evening General Clarke also put his command into Commanster. Mines were laid. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. Beevor, Antony. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. The fact that there were Panzer IVs attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B) and the similarity in appearance between the Tiger I and Panzer IV would account for both Troop Es account and Troop Ds potential account of this event. 22 22. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. 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. This German World War II article is a stub. 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. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. German Division Nr. The closest primary German armored thrust route to the south ran through Burg Reuland, also about five miles from St. Vith. Zaloga, Steven. Schneider, Wolfgang. Furthermore, General Clarke had no idea when his command would arrive. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. VGD. 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. 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. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. With the unexplained disappearance of D Troop from the 89th Reconnaissance Platoon, Company B, 27th AIB became the leading element. American Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Choose a Unit. General Jones and his staff had pulled out of St. Vith on the morning of the 18th for Vielsalm. 1946. Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. Add to cart. Those men were a scrappy bunch. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. As a result of 7th Armoreds earlier regrouping, Rodt was the junction point between CCA of the 7th Armored under the command of Colonel Rosebaum and General Clarkes CCB. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. 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. These troops were hit by the Fhrer Escort Brigade and driven from Rogery to Cierreux in some disarray. 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. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. 2014. En route, the officer was approached by a member of General Clarkes staff who told him that German tanks were approaching St. Vith along the road from the north. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. 194311 However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. It is interesting to note that the U.S 7th Armored Division suffered a moderate 425 Battle Casualties, on page 465 of Hitlers Last Gamble by Trevor N. Dupuy, for December 17-23, 1944 in the Battle of Saint Vith including the 1st day of the Battle of Manhay, out of the 3,397 Battle and Non-Battle Casualties suffered during the Battle by the U.S 112th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 28th Infantry Division, the U.S 424th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 106th Infantry Division, Combat Command B of the U.S 9th Armored Division and ofcourse the U.S 14th Cavalry Group. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. 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. 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. 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 staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. Three times the grenadiers [German] tried to rush their way through the foxhole line held by the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion (Lt. Col. William H. G. Fuller) and B Troop of the 87th astride the Schnberg road. 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. 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. 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. This is puzzling, to say the least. 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. Beevor, Antony. 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. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. Yes in theory. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. Ten tanks, numerous supply vehicles, armored cars, and jeeps were lost to enemy action. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. 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. Having failed to find a soft spot to the north, the Germans then moved against Hoges 9th Armored command in the south; however, even before this attack got going three German tanks were knocked out and the rest of the probing force withdrew. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. . 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. 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. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. 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. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 A scratch force made up of one platoon of riflemen from Company A, 27th AIB and a platoon from Company B, 9th Engineers were sent to contain the Germans. of the Army, 1965. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. The troops were exhausted and spread out. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. 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. 47. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division would use these assault guns in small probing attacks on the American lines east of St. Vith that same day. 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. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. Division 3. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. 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 ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. Osprey Publishing, 2003. After conferring with Clarke, Ridgway wanted to talk to one more man in whom he had supreme confidenceBrigadier General Hoge. Two hits were scored on the enemy tank in the rear, and its crew evacuated. 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. The area being defended was beginning to take the form of a large horseshoe, its axis running approximately northeast to southeast. 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. Dragon 1629 1/16th Feldwebel 352nd Volksgrenadier Division R 275.00. 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. 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 . During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. Because Ridgway was not in total agreement with the withdrawal and to get a feel for the real situation on the ground, he and Hasbrouck made their way to General Clarke at Commanster. 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. At 0100 the 23rd, D Troop, 89th Recon lost an armored car and a jeep to antitank guns. Zaloga, Steven. Gen. Bruce C. Clarke, commander of CCB, 7th Armored Division, arrived at General Joness command post in St. Vith at approximately 1030. The Sherman tanks of B Company repulsed the enemy with fire from their 76mm guns. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? Home News Random Article Install Wikiwand Send a suggestion Uninstall Wikiwand Upgrade to Wikiwand 2.0 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. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.