Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. This one, however, most likely did not. Could an M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun even penetrate the rear hull armor of a Tiger I? of the Army, 1965. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. Panzer Tracts No. The division, which was under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, absorbed . 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. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. The platoon lost four men missing and two wounded in the ensuing engagement. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. But if four versions was not enough, there is potentially another version of this tale contained in a combat interview given by Lieutenant Arthur A. Olson of Troop D, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on the 8th of January, 1945. Do you have more information about this person? . During the 27th AIBs assault, a call went out for the 14th Tank Battalion to join the action. The 9th Armored Divisions position at the Our was no longer tenable. Volksgrenadier Division 2. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. Lieutenant Colonel Boylan also makes no mention of this event in a 1946 letter he wrote to Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck, the former commanding general of the 7th Armored Division, which details the actions of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron at the Battle of St. Vith. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 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. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. He said that the fight took about ninety minutes and that they used almost all their ammunition. (1944) 111 111. 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. The situation on Reids left flank was unclear, and the Germans were attacking in considerable force against his right flank. Rebuilding the blown bridge to get their assault guns across was their first priority. 4 Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV. Therefore, he decided to use the 9th Armored at Winterspelt, since capture of that area by the Germans would open to the enemy a direct route to St. Vith, a route even shorter than that leading from the Schnee Eifel. Home News Random Article Install Wikiwand Send a suggestion Uninstall Wikiwand Upgrade to Wikiwand 2.0 By midnight on the 19th, the horseshoe- shaped defense of St. Vith had taken form. Furthermore, the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report (AAR) for the month of December 1944, written by Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Laurence Boylan, the commanding officer of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron at the time, makes no mention of this event either. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. 2014. These troops were hit by the Fhrer Escort Brigade and driven from Rogery to Cierreux in some disarray. The staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. General Jones and his staff had pulled out of St. Vith on the morning of the 18th for Vielsalm. The tanks of the 14th Tank Battalion and the half-tracks of the 27th AIB paused to pick up the foot elements of the 424th RCT, 106th Infantry Division. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. However, he kept these misgivings to himself. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Both assault groups suffered heavy casualties. 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. Fifth Panzer was to attack from Prum in the north down to Bitburg and Bastogne in the south. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. Armament T-70 gun cal. Penguin Books, 2016. Add to cart. Mines were laid. 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. 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 corps consisted of two infantry divisions. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. 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. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. However, I am not so emotionally attached to my favorite LAV that I cant see the improbabilities. 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. Double-talking his identification over the radio with allusions to West Point football days, Ridgway gave Hoge a location at which to meet him. 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. Beevor, Antony. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. Tiger. 12th Volksgrenadier Division 89; 197; 487; 557; 650; 727. 1945). To this end, General Hoge was in the town of Monschau to check on the possibility of getting his command across in that area. 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. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. Due to the lack of detail in Troop Es entry, it is impossible to tell which Tiger tank is the one being referred to in the account. Both B and C Companies pulled back to the vicinity of Neidingen, near the battalion command post, while the 14th Tank Battalion established a perimeter defense around its assembly area near Breitfeld about halfway between the Our and St. Vith. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. Possibly such events took place in reality. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. Colonel Alexander D. Reid, commander of the 424th Infantry Regiment, had reason to fear encirclement. 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 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. 16 Dec 2022 08:28:00 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. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. An attack to the east by the 7th Armored Division could then relieve the two surrounded regiments of the 106th. 1945. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. Close. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English The time was approximately 1800 on Saturday, December 16, when Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division began its move to St. Vith. The resulting blast damaged the bridge to such an extent that the Germans would not be able to bring vehicles across for at least 24 hours. 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. js = d.createElement(s); The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. #WW2 . Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. 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. 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. Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. Clad in armor between 25 mm and 180 mm thick and armed with deadly 88mm KwK 43 L/71 gun, the Tiger II was one of the deadliest tanks of the Second World War. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. 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. He was also told that all that stood in their way were two troops of the 87th Recon Squadron, 7th Armoreds 87th, and a few antiaircraft half-tracks. Both task forces reached St. Vith shortly before noon on the 18th to find not one, but two German attacks moving against the town. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. The unit was converted to an infantry division in 1945, while stationed in Courland. 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. A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Anderson, Thomas. 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. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division 5 [ ] 120th Infantry Regiment (30th Infantry Division) 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion 319th Field Artillery Glider Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment German Units 3d Parachute Division 12th SS Panzer Division 18th Volksgrenadier Division 246th Volsgrenadier Division 884th March Battalion 905th Assault Gun Brigade Collins, Joshua, and Erik Albertson. With the unexplained disappearance of D Troop from the 89th Reconnaissance Platoon, Company B, 27th AIB became the leading element. 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. 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. Generals Manteuffel and Lucht had planned an all-out attack to take St. Vith starting at daylight with a three- pronged envelopment by the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division against 9th Armored positions in the south. The entire division was to follow shortly thereafter. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. 10 Apr. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Since the move from Faymonville to Winterspelt involved a greater distance, Hoge decided to get his command on the road immediately. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. On December 16th at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam road following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. 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. 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. General Lucht hurried to Winterspelt to get the 62nd Volksgrenadier moving to the Our. One, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, was holding the northern reaches of the Schnee Eifel. 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. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. 13 relations. Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. Jentz, Thomas. The Germans were now on the high ground north of Eigelscheid overlooking the road to Winterspelt. The story begins on the 18th of December 1944, two days after the start of the German offensive. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. 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. 281st Security Division (281. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. English PDF (33 MB) Jan B-700 On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, The Sherman tanks of B Company repulsed the enemy with fire from their 76mm guns. 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. Within the Kloster, General Hoge found a division headquarters staff in a state of disarray and confusion. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. It is certainly possible that the tank destroyed in this engagement was a Panzer IV or a StuG III but in the absence of new evidence coming to light it can only be concluded that either the Greyhound crew knocked out a completely different tank or were otherwise exaggerating some action. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. Infanterie-Division . VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. 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. . VGD division was absorbed into the 26. Hoge and Clarke agreed that Hoges entire command should be withdrawn west of the railroad tracks. Schneider, Wolfgang. 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. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. After learning of the attack by the Fhrer Escort Brigade, Brig. That eliminates this units Pzkw IV being the Tiger encountered by the Troop B M8 on Dec. 18th . Clarke, Bruce. Dragon 1625 1/16th Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945 R 275.00. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. 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 . events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. At approximately 0930 on December 17, B Company was the first 9th Armored Division unit to cross the Our River. He could not believe it. Outnumbered and in danger of encirclement, the cannoneers and their rifle support from C Company made a platoon-by-platoon withdrawal toward Winterspelt. Volksgrenadier Division 5. On December 9, 1944, Brig. Zaloga, Steven. On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 22 22. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. The Germans attacked the center of the 27th AIB. How to use 'poor shape' in a sentence? 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. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division completed its southern swing, encircling the two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. Model informed Manteuffel that he would be given the Fhrer Escort Brigade, which was nearly equal in strength to an American light armored division, for the upcoming assault on St. Vith. Osprey Publishing, 2002. Hoge departed Faymonville at approximately 1800, arriving at General Joness headquarters in the St. Josephs Kloster about a half hour later. 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. 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 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. 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. The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. 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. Johnston, W. Wesley. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. 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.