Also no Ferdinand/Elefant recorded to have seen combat on Western Front. Both assault groups suffered heavy casualties. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Armament T-70 gun cal. The staff officer wanted to know if 9th Armored could spare some desperately needed help. Jentz, Thomas. Osprey Publishing, 2013. With the enemy inside Steinebruck and excellent direct fire by the German artillery, what was left of 2nd Platoon, 89th Recon withdrew along the St. Vith road. Once in St. Vith, Jones explained that only the leading elements of the 7th Armored Division had arrived thus far and that St. Viths northern approach was under attack. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. 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 . Penguin Books, 2016. It would be unable to turn its full strength on St. Vith until the American surrender in that area. The 16th Field Artillery also pitched in, as did a battalion of 155mm howitzers sited around Commanster. 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. An assault on Thommen forced out the troops holding the town, and efforts to retake it failed. Gen. Hasbrouck, commander of the 7th Armored Division, sent a message to General Ridgway urging withdrawal, which in part read, P.S. 45 mm. 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. 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. 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. js.className = n; Outnumbered and in danger of encirclement, the cannoneers and their rifle support from C Company made a platoon-by-platoon withdrawal toward Winterspelt. 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. Do you have more information about this person? The 9th Armored Divisions position at the Our was no longer tenable. Volksgrenadier Division 5. Elements of the 62nd Volksgrenadier had taken the eastern half of Winterspelt during the night, and at daybreak reinforcements finally drove Colonel Reids 1st Battalion from the village. Were any of these Tiger Is and or Tiger IIs knocked out on the 18th of December, 1944? During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Panzer Tracts No. Volksgrenadier-Division. It is possible (if unlikely) that this event was completely unrelated to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story. 188 was raised in late 1939. 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. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. Tigers In Combat II. 1940 194111. There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. Anderson, Thomas. The new sector assigned to CCB was on the fringe of territory the Sixth Panzer Army had mapped out for its further maneuvers. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Boylan, Vincent L. Letter to Robert W. Hasbrouck. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. Zaloga, Steven. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. Inside the command post, General Hoge learned that the Germans had launched a heavy assault on Winterspelt against the men of the 424th Infantry. What he claimed was that the fight wasnt as easy as it is presented here. . Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Its possible that the M8 took out an late production Panzer IV, but even that is unlikely due to the danger of more troops coming from behind with Panzerfausts or even a 20 millimeter. The CCB command post was moved to Neubruck, a small group of farmhouses on Braunlauf Creek about two miles southwest of 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. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. 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. 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 14th Tank Battalion was on its way to the Steinebruck bridge when Brig. Lever het aan! 1/18th Scale Cars; 1/24th Scale Assembly Kits; 1/24th Scale Cars; 1/43rd Scale Cars; . The troops were exhausted and spread out. 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. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. Anderson, Thomas. 1945) English PDF (18 MB) Jan B-627 Volkssturm (Oct. 1944-Apr. I have come to believe is that this type of fight happened more than once. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . However, by noon on December 18 it was quite apparent to Hoge that the Germans infiltrating across the river were converging on the bridge in such numbers that it had to be blown. 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. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. Bergstrm, Christer. 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. By midnight on the 19th, the horseshoe- shaped defense of St. Vith had taken form. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Tigers In Combat I. Additionally, the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull and rear casemate armor of the StuG III. The guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. Rapidly, the M8 advanced to within 25 yards (23 meters) of the Tiger I and quickly pumped three rounds into its rear. 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 . This story has gained a good deal of attention in recent years, especially on the internet thanks to videos such as The Tank Duel at St. Vith, Belgium by Lance Geiger The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. 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. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 2014. Shortly thereafter, Hasbrouck called and asked, Bruce, do you think you can get out? Clarke answered, A miracle has happened, General! Volksgrenadier-Division. A second attempt on the bridge, made by about 40 men four hours later, was also thrown back by machine-gun fire. VGD division was absorbed into the 26. It is time to withdraw.. It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery 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. 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. By 2300 enemy patrols tested 27th AIBs new position and a night attack was thrown back with the help of D Troop, 89th Recon. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. The StuG III explanation also accounts for why Troop B makes no mention of it in their morning report and record of events entry for 18th December 1944 and why Lieutenant Colonel Boylan makes no mention of it his 1946 letter or in the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons After Action Report for the month of December 1944. 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. 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. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. Excellent deductive research! Tigers In Combat I. 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 division, which was under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, absorbed . Hoge pointedly asked Ridgway how it could be done. Zaloga, Steven. Troop D, 89th Recon and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion formed a line from Grufflingen to Thommen, and Companies B and C of the 14th Tank Battalion took up positions between Thommen and Maldange. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. Jentz, Thomas. 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. Penguin Books, 2016. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. In light of these circumstances, General Hasbrouck felt compelled to write to Clarke that unless the withdrawal began soon the opportunity will be gone., During the night of December 22, a cold wind had begun to blow out of the east bringing what weathermen call a Russian high. Although both Clarke and Hoge noted it, they saw little hope that the ground might freeze in time to aid their withdrawal, but after receiving Hasbroucks message Clarke stepped out and tested the ground. 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. December, 1944 By Greg Moore gregpanzerblitz.com December, 2008 Battalion I x 5 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 12 293rd Volks- . A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. The second task force hit another probe by the 1st SS Panzer and pushed it out of Hunningen. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. 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. War Department, 1944. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. The next move was up to General Lucht and his corps. Seventh Armored Division Association 2517 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 8, D.C., 1947. Schneider, Wolfgang. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. Between these units, a place was found for the provisional company composed of the 424th Infantry stragglers. EN. 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. The Seventh Armored Division in the Battle of St. Vith. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. The silhouettes of the Panzer IV and the Tiger I are quite similar, especially due to their rectangular shapes and rounded turret (rounded through the later use of a curved armor plate around the otherwise angular turret). Osprey Publishing, 2010. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. While on its way, the platoon was commandeered by a colonel from the 106th Division. Your email address will not be published. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. The corps consisted of two infantry divisions. The fortified goose egg ran nearly 10 miles in diameter, containing a mass of forest and only one decent road running northwest to southwest. 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. . 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. Roadblocks were set up and manned. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. Hoge departed Faymonville at approximately 1800, arriving at General Joness headquarters in the St. Josephs Kloster about a half hour later. 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. After putting down a heavy concentration of artillery fire, the Germans moved their infantry across the river east of the position held by the 2nd platoon of D Troop, 89th Recon. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army. Ridgway knew Hoge to be calm, courageous, and imperturbable. In the early afternoon of the 22nd, he arrived at General Hasbroucks headquarters in Vielsalm to plan the withdrawal. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Beevor, Antony. Another attack hit the left flank of 7th Armored. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. Gen. Bruce C. Clarke, commander of CCB, 7th Armored Division, arrived at General Joness command post in St. Vith at approximately 1030. Ridgways plan was premised on the assumption that that the American forces in this goose egg-shaped defense could be supplied by air; however, whoever drew up the plan was thinking in terms of supply requirements for the lighter airborne divisions, not for fuel-hungry and shell-reliant armored forces. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. 1940. Early on the 19th, the Germans made reconnaissance probes. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. 18th Flak Division 651 . At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. 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. Rather than reaching the Meuse and driving on to Antwerp, the offensive stalled and eventually was turned back. The town was also in Fifth Panzer Armys area of advance. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. 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. Under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, the new division absorbed elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. At about noon that day, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions 190th Regiment had broken through north of the 424th Infantrys Cannon Company. Beevor, Antony. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. 194311 10 Apr. The bridge at Steinebruck was intentionally left intact by General Hoge on the outside chance that some of the American troops trapped in the vicinity of the Schnee Eifel might be able to maneuver their way there. 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. of the Army, 1965. The men of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps had expected to be on the Meuse by December 19, but on the night of December 20 the Americans still denied them access to St. Vith. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. Schiffer Publishing, 1997. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. 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.