18th volksgrenadier division
Zaloga, Steven. 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 failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. In my opinion, the only definite conclusion that can be made from all this is that some American vehicle engaged something at St. Vith on the night of the 18th. That eliminates this units Pzkw IV being the Tiger encountered by the Troop B M8 on Dec. 18th . Two hits were scored on the enemy tank in the rear, and its crew evacuated. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. Elements of D Company, 89th Recon screened the flanks. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. 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. 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. The message was that his command was now back with VIII Corps and that he was to go to St. Vith and report to Maj. Gen. Alan W. Jones, commander of the newly arrived 106th Infantry Division. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Germany) (Paperback) Dragon 1629 1/16th Feldwebel 352nd Volksgrenadier Division R 275.00. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. 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 424th Infantry still blocked the road to the Our River and Steinebruck. 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. The German armored and infantry attacks were preceded by the shelling of the American positions with at least 657 light, medium, and heavy guns and howitzers and 340 multiple rocket launchers. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. 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. VGD led by Heinz Kokott, Heinrich Himmler's brother-in-law. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. The armored infantrymen kept themselves well hidden until the column was directly in front of them and then opened fire. Add to cart. His troops remained in place, and the pullout to the west side of the Our River began at dusk. American Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Choose a Unit. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. Hoge could not see much sense in making an attack, taking ground, and then turning right around and coming back, especially if the attack was successful. 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. VGD. Additionally, the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull and rear casemate armor of the StuG III. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. Excellent deductive research! In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. The two task forces held onto their respective positions on N23 and N27, deflecting all German armored attempts to penetrate St. Vith, until they were relieved late in the afternoon by CCB, 7th Armored Division. At approximately 0100 on December 18, a German force of about 30 men tried to cross the Our at Steinebruck after a brief artillery barrage. While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Captain Ansteys version lacks supporting documentation. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. 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. This one, however, most likely did not. Together they broke up the attack. The reason for this comparative respite was due to the fact that the roads to the German rear were completely jammed. There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. Osprey Publishing, 2013. 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. At the close of the first day of battle, General Lucht could look with some satisfaction at the days events, although his 62nd Volksgrenadier Division had yet to break through the American line. Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. This is puzzling, to say the least. Osprey Publishing, 2003. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. 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. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. As stated above, a 37mm cant penetrate the armor of an Tiger tank. Ten tanks, numerous supply vehicles, armored cars, and jeeps were lost to enemy action. So its quite possible! 301 Sentences With "poor shape" | Random Sentence Generator The guns from a platoon of Shermans, the antiaircraft company, and a mortar platoon supplied a covering barrage, which broke up the German assault and inflicted heavy casualties. 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. 45 mm. Beevor, Antony. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. Hoge managed to stop the stragglers, and soon a provisional company of men from the 424th was formed to reinforce the 27th AIB on its march toward the Our. The platoon lost four men missing and two wounded in the ensuing engagement. Clarke asked, Why in the world when I had only 2,500 men available to my command on December 17, did you not just execute a powerful frontal assault and overrun me?. The corps consisted of two infantry divisions. 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. Jentz, Thomas. At about 2130, General Clarke phoned General Hoge to tell him that the enemy was entering St. Vith from the north and that his forces were withdrawing to form a new line northwest of the city. However, this version of Captain Ansteys account has one key difference: it was not a Tiger I that was knocked out, but rather a Tiger II, almost analogous to the fisherman whose fish gets bigger each time he tells the tale of his catch. So, rather than spill blood needlessly to take meaningless ground, Hoge called off the attack on Winterspelt. The closest primary German armored thrust route to the south ran through Burg Reuland, also about five miles from St. Vith. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. 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. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division drove the American defenders from Winterspelt, all was not going well for the Germans. Furthermore, General Clarke had no idea when his command would arrive. Our preliminary briefings had told us that there would be no armor in our path. 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. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. 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. The lumbering heavy tank continued moving towards the American line before turning north towards the town of Hunningen, Belgium, passing the armored car. 2014. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) Toegekend op: 30 oktober 1917. 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. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. Osprey Publishing, 2010. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. 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. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. Zaloga, Steven. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. One, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, was holding the northern reaches of the Schnee Eifel. 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. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. To this end, General Hoge was in the town of Monschau to check on the possibility of getting his command across in that area. 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. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht), the Glossary At daybreak on December 21, the Germans launched their first assault of the day on CCB, 9th Armored. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. 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 . Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. 2014. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. The Tiger I was a 57 tonne German heavy tank that has become one of the most famous tanks in history. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division completed its southern swing, encircling the two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. 18th Volksgrenadier Division | Detailed Pedia 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. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. All but five troopers of 2nd Platoon were lost to enemy action. Created as 22.Infanterie-Division in 1935, one regiment participated in the 1939 Invasion of Poland; the rest of the division stayed in garrison on the Siegfried Line in case of a French attack in defense of Poland. Sturmpanzer.com - Sturmpanzer and WW2 German Army Research 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.
