18th volksgrenadier division

Gen. William Hoges Combat Command B (CCB) of the 9th was attached to V Corps to support the 2nd Infantry Division in its planned attack through the Monschau Forest as part of the U.S. Armys strategy to capture or destroy the Roer River dams. js.className = n; 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. 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. According to British penetration diagrams from 1944, the 37 mm M6 gun firing its standard round, the 37 mm APC M51, could, under ideal conditions, penetrate the 80 mm thick rear hull armor angled at 9 degrees when firing at an angle of 0 degrees, albeit just barely. Please click for detailed translation, meaning, pronunciation and example sentences for 18e volksgrenadier division in English Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. The 424th Infantry had its back to the Our River, and if the Germans seized the bridge at Steinebruck and spread along the far bank his regiment would be hard pressed to effectively withdraw. 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. Revised Edition, Arms and Armour Press, 1973. After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. General Luchts 66th Corps was shifted from General Manteuffels Fifth Panzer Army to the Sixth Panzer. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Next came B Company, 9th Armored Engineers; the 16th Armored Field Artillery; B Company, 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery; and the 14th Tank Battalion. 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 ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. Aside from the cold and mud, there was also the enemy to contend with. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. One, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, was holding the northern reaches of the Schnee Eifel. After that mornings enemy assaults, the line of the 27th AIB was reestablished west of Neubruck. 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. 22 22. Volksgrenadier-Division. 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. That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. 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. A strong attack has just developed against Clarke again. Osprey Publishing, 2013. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. What Jones did not tell Hoge was that in one of those regiments his own son was serving at regimental headquarters. 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. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. Schneider, Wolfgang. General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. The last of the St. Vith defenders to come out were Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry Regiment. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Osprey Publishing, 2013. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. 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?. 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. 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. Our preliminary briefings had told us that there would be no armor in our path. 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. 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. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. Were any of these Tiger Is and or Tiger IIs knocked out on the 18th of December, 1944? 2014 The corps consisted of two infantry divisions. 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. A Company moved south under the protection of the high river bank, while C Company deployed along the left side of the road as the enveloping company. 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 . Schiffer Publishing, 1997. The mud had made the roads and open areas impassable for armored vehicles. 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. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . Soldiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division infiltrated the American lines at the villages of Roth, Weckerath, Kobscheid, and Auw before the artillery barrage began. Outnumbered and in danger of encirclement, the cannoneers and their rifle support from C Company made a platoon-by-platoon withdrawal toward Winterspelt. 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. At St. Vith, Lt. Col. William H. Slayden was with Jones when Jones received the call from Middleton concerning 7th Armored Division support. [1] On March 6, 1945, when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18. 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. 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 village of Bauvenn was designated the linkage point for the two combat commands. 1946. The hardest hit, though, were the armored infantrymen of the 27th AIB with nearly 300 battle casualties. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. At 0100 the 23rd, D Troop, 89th Recon lost an armored car and a jeep to antitank guns. 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. 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. This one, however, most likely did not. Troy Middletons VIII Corps. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. This left General Clarke with only one full company of armored infantrymen. Infantry divisions would begin the attack along the entire length of a 50-mile front, forcing a rupture along the Allied line and giving the German panzer divisions freedom of movement in the unoccupied ground beyond the front. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. 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. Gen. Robert Hasbroucks 7th Armored Division would be arriving at St. Vith at 0700 on the 17th. 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. No one knew what was happening. Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. Schneider, Wolfgang. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. 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. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. Both assault groups suffered heavy casualties. Counter to the plan laid out earlier by General Jones, Hoge had decided to launch his attack on Winterspelt with the entire 14th Tank Battalion as the lead element rather than with the more vulnerable infantry of the 27th AIB. That night, infantry patrols found German medics removing their wounded. This is an issue because there were two distinct types of German Tiger tanks, both of which took part in the Battle of the Bulge: The Tiger I and the Tiger II. 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. On this day, CCB of the 9th Armored Division was still in its assembly area in the vicinity of Faymonville. 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. Manteuffel had hoped for considerably more on the 19th. The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. Ridgways 82nd Airborne was building a fairly firm line west of the St. Vith defenders that should prevent the Germans from cutting off the salient from the rear. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. Yes in theory. 45 mm. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. 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. 10 Apr. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Perrin told General Hoge, You can continue this attack on towards this back country, but you must be back on this side of the river by nightfall.. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map 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. Fifth Panzer was to attack from Prum in the north down to Bitburg and Bastogne in the south. It is possible that it was really a Tiger tank. Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. 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. During the rest of the day and on into the evening of December 17, CCB, 7th Armored moved into St. Vith and began a buildup that resembled a large horseshoe on the high ground to the east of the village. Manteuffels operation in the St. Vith area was already three days behind schedule. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. The original story, if there even was one, was told and retold and distorted until everyone and their brother claimed to know the guys that did it. Osprey Publishing, 2002. 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. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. Farther to the north, in the 7th Armored sector, the pressure exerted by the enemy was also intense. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. 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. Daniel P. Kneeland, Grafton, Ma. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. The fall of Rodt effectively split 7th Armoreds CCA from General Clarkes CCB. }(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. At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. 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. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Furthermore, late-war Panzer IVs equipped with Schrzen additional armor would look bigger, even closer to the size of a Tiger and this is before consideration is made on the stress of war, camouflaging materials applied to vehicles, the weather, and level of knowledge of the crews. 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. For example, when G.I. 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. Chamberlain, Peter, et al. Zaloga, Steven. Add to cart. Although the Germans were quick to build up beyond the Our River after the American withdrawal, they made no immediate moves against the new American line. 223 223. Together they broke up the attack. According to Hugh M. Cole, an American historian and army officer. 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. This German World War II article is a stub. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. 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 . 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. 194311 The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. He said that the fight took about ninety minutes and that they used almost all their ammunition. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south.

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