18th volksgrenadier division

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 division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Thus, the job of rescuing the two trapped infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel passed from the 9th to the 7th Armored Division. On his way to St. Vith, General Hoge stopped in Faymonville to alert his command to be prepared to move immediately. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. Infanterie-Division 19398 . Despite the loss of St. Vith, General Ridgway believed that the American armored and infantry forces defending St. Vith since December 16 could still hold. Manteuffels operation in the St. Vith area was already three days behind schedule. 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. 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. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. Division 3. The greatest danger existed in the 424ths position because the regiments flank lay vulnerable to attacks by the 116th Panzer Division to the south. 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. 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. The armored infantrymen kept themselves well hidden until the column was directly in front of them and then opened fire. Established in 1941, the unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, in the Army Group North Rear Area. 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. Moreover, it was expected that General Luchts two infantry divisions would be forwarded to the Salm River sector as right-wing cover for two panzer corps. General Hoge set up his command post in the Belgian village of Faymonville, approximately 12 miles north of the town of St. Vith, unaware of the pivotal role his command was to play in a very different battle. 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. #WW2 . Panzer Tracts, 2001. 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. 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. The closest primary German armored thrust route to the south ran through Burg Reuland, also about five miles from St. Vith. I should also note that reconnaissance doctrine was to disengage if at all possible and in no way engage enemy armour beyond scout elements. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. Because the Our had ceased to be a barrier anywhere else, General Hoge felt that there was little to gain in continuing to overextend his command to hold the low ground along the river. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. The southern prong was defended by General Hoges CCB, 9th Armored with the weakened 424th Infantry Regiment tied in and bent back protecting Burg Reuland. The troop was to hold until relieved by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) and then reconnoiter farther down the road toward Winterspelt. 324 324. The second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. 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. Having first conferred with General Jones, Hoge ordered a withdrawal from the river to begin after nightfall. Zaloga, Steven. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Situated next to B Company were Company A, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Such events might have taken place in reality, true. 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. There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. Six paved or macadam roads converged at St. Vith, but none of these was considered by the Germans to be a major military trunk line. The 9th Armored Divisions position at the Our was no longer tenable. The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. The German plan for the attack through the Ardennes, an offensive that would forever be known as the Battle of the Bulge, was to be accomplished in the conventional manner. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 Infanterie-Division 193510 [1] 22 22. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. On December 16th at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam road following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. Fifth Panzer was to attack from Prum in the north down to Bitburg and Bastogne in the south. General Clarke again called on the 9th Armored for assistance to help stiffen his line, and Hoge responded by sending the 3rd Battalion, 424th Regimental Combat Team. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; 194311 Bergstrm, Christer. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division.The division, which was under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. 2014. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. EN. 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. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. 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. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The area being defended was beginning to take the form of a large horseshoe, its axis running approximately northeast to southeast. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. The ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. Panzer Tracts No. Josef Theissen, the fifteen-year-old who had seen the Germans arrive on Sunday, December 17, watched the soldiers every move with the fascination for things military . Lever het aan! 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. No reinforcements were expected. A strong attack has just developed against Clarke again. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. 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. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. None of these Tiger IIs were lost at St. Vith and from photographic evidence at least three are recorded to have no burn damage and/or holes in the rear. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. At about 0115 on December 17, a platoon from 9th Armoreds D Troop, 89th Recon was detailed to proceed through St. Vith in a southeasterly direction and seize the high ground along Highway N27 south of Steinebruck. These German tanks would later be specified to be Panzer IVs or Mark IVs. The column came upon stragglers from the 424th Infantry retreating in disarray toward St. Vith. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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 . Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. Jentz, Thomas. 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 . I am a huge M8 Greyhound fan, having built a model at age 13 and I now own a 1:6 scale one with 4-man crew. Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. 16 Dec 2022 08:28:00 560th Volks Grenadier Division (15-29 Dec. 1944) and 12th VGD (1-28 Jan. 1945). English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. 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 . Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. 1940 194111. Hoge and Ridgway had been on the West Point football team together when Ridgway had been the teams manager. Anderson, Thomas. South of Sixth Panzer Army was General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army, with the Seventh Army on its left. Together they broke up the attack. Given that the American accounts do not give a consistent account of what happened that day at St. Vith, the other side of this story must also be investigated. Do you have more information about this person? It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery And why would it not? 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. This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. Possibly such events took place in reality. One German tank was seen going up in flames. That eliminates this units Pzkw IV being the Tiger encountered by the Troop B M8 on Dec. 18th . They were repulsed by machine-gun fire. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. 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 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. 1/18th Scale Cars; 1/24th Scale Assembly Kits; 1/24th Scale Cars; 1/43rd Scale Cars; . This one, however, most likely did not. EN RU CN DE ES. Could an M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun even penetrate the rear hull armor of a Tiger I? 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. Penguin Books, 2016. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. 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]. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. 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. Each attack was preceded by an intense artillery barrage lasting from 15 to 35 minutes. So its quite possible! 1945. The earliest known mention can be found in the December 18th, 1944 morning report and record of events entry of Troop E, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron which briefly states that an M-8 atchd [attached] to A Tr [Troop A] knocked out one Tiger tank. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Beevor, Antony. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. of the Army, 1965. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. Additionally, the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull and rear casemate armor of the StuG III. 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. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. One would think that Lieutenant Colonel Boylan, or at the very least Troop A, would make some sort of mention of this fairly notable engagement. The time was approximately 1800 on Saturday, December 16, when Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division began its move to St. Vith. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. Armament T-70 gun cal. 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 northern prong of the horseshoe was composed of CCB, 7th Armored Division from Poteau and Vielsalm. Attacking the rear of a Tiger when you had no way of knowing if it was supported by one or more others is extremely unlikely. The event simply was not that notable. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. js.src = "//player.ex.co/player/710cf52d-720a-4250-8e95-fc85dcedab01"; Volksgrenadier-Division. 2014. Volksgrenadier-Division. Panzertruppen Volume 2 The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Deployment of The German Tank Forces 1943-1945. Infanterie-Division 19398 . While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. 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. General Jones and his staff had pulled out of St. Vith on the morning of the 18th for Vielsalm. On December 21, 18. By 1245, the original line was restored, and the antitank guns of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were recovered. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. Zaloga, Steven. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. 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. Division 4. Not long after Rodt fell to the Fhrer Escort Brigade, an attack came against the 7th Armored from the direction of Recht. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. 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. 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. This forest was criss-crossed only by trails. 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. 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. What a fantastic real-life story or is it? At daybreak on December 21, the Germans launched their first assault of the day on CCB, 9th Armored. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. Osprey Publishing, 2002. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. The commanders were at the center of the Foret Domaniale du Grand Bois. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. Johnston, W. Wesley. events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. That evening General Clarke also put his command into Commanster. 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. Manteuffel met near Wallerode with Model and Lucht that day. 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. To execute this maneuver, Hoges entire command would have to move all the way up to St. Vith and back down again. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. The last of the St. Vith defenders to come out were Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry Regiment. Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. Join historians and history buffs alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereigns military history magazines. 1964. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. Germanys Tiger Tanks VK45.02 to TIGER II. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. Jentz, Thomas. Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. In this version the M8 is replaced by an M5 Stuart from the 17th Tank Battalion of the 7th Armored during the retreat from St. Vith, that somehow miraculously ended up behind a Tiger when they thought they were following a Sherman. 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. 6 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen DW to E-100. At St. Vith, Lt. Col. William H. Slayden was with Jones when Jones received the call from Middleton concerning 7th Armored Division support. Add to cart. Volksgrenadier-Division. Airfix J6017 Volkswagen Camper Van (Quick Build) R 405.00. The American armor of the 7th and 9th Armored Divisions plus supporting units were being pressed into an area in which motorized forcestanks, half-tracks, self-propelled artillery, tank destroyersoperated with great difficulty. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Panzer Tracts No. The Americans knew that their only hope in doing any sort of damage to this beast was to get as close as possible to it and shoot its weaker rear armor. 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. It is time to withdraw.. The failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. Soon after General Hoge left 106th Division headquarters for the drive back to Faymonville, Jones received a call from Middleton informing him that a combat command of Brig. 1941622 . 12th Volksgrenadier Division 89; 197; 487; 557; 650; 727. On December 9, 1944, Brig. 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 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. At 0100 the 23rd, D Troop, 89th Recon lost an armored car and a jeep to antitank guns. That cold snap that hit us has frozen the roads. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. Bergstrm, Christer. 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 . German reports are also far from subtlety. Manteuffel answered, We estimated that we were up against a division, and perhaps against an entire corps. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division would use these assault guns in small probing attacks on the American lines east of St. Vith that same day. The U.S. 9th Armored Division arrived in the European Theater of Operations in late October 1944 as a reserve for Maj. Gen. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. Orders for CCB, 9th Armored to move to a new defensive position were issued at 1600. The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. Zaloga, Steven. On December 21, 18. Ninth Armored sent out billeting parties as it reached its new area. 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. 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.. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. Beevor, Antony. 188 was raised in late 1939. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. I wanted to focus on the M8 vs Tiger story, I already noticed the Ferdinand claim, but decided not to mention it. 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.

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