18th volksgrenadier division 18th volksgrenadier 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.. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. 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. This is before you take into account that the manufacturing process for German armor allowed for a tolerance in plates which often left plates 2 to 5 mm thicker than ordered. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. In addition, elements of the 116th Panzer Division and the 560th Volksgrenadier Division were moving against the weakly held southern flank of St. Vith defended by remnants of the 424th Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division and the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . Developed in the 1930s, the Panzer IV was one of the mainstay German armored fighting vehicles of the Second World War as well as Germanys most-produced tank of the war, with over 8,500 produced. 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. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. The Fifth and Sixth Panzer Armies were to advance abreast, cross the Meuse River, and then drive for the Belgian port city of Antwerp, a major staging and supply center for the Allied armies in western Europe. The 424th Infantry still blocked the road to the Our River and Steinebruck. Hoge immediately got on the phone and ordered Engeman to move out. Now with a new armored combat command due to arrive at 0700 hours the next day, and with the rest of the division to follow, Jones believed he would soon have the potential to deal with both the Schnee Eifel and Winterspelt emergencies. 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. 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. Add to cart. 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. Established in 1941, the unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, in the Army Group North Rear Area. Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. While making his reconnaissance at Monschau he received an urgent message to call V Corps headquarters. 1945) English PDF (18 MB) Jan B-627 Volkssturm (Oct. 1944-Apr. General Lucht hurried to Winterspelt to get the 62nd Volksgrenadier moving to the Our. 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. What Jones did not tell Hoge was that in one of those regiments his own son was serving at regimental headquarters. 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. Ardennes-Alsace Campaign While no Tiger Is were lost on the 18th of December, 1944, four Tiger IIs were lost that day. Wikizero - 281st Security Division (Wehrmacht) If it was on a slope and firing down to the engine bay, then maybe but that would require it to be at such an angle that the M8 would topple and roll down. 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. Inside the command post, General Hoge learned that the Germans had launched a heavy assault on Winterspelt against the men of the 424th Infantry. Captain Ansteys version lacks supporting documentation. An assault on Thommen forced out the troops holding the town, and efforts to retake it failed. Orders for CCB, 9th Armored to move to a new defensive position were issued at 1600. Osprey Publishing, 2010. War Department Technical Manual TM 9-1904 Ammunition Inspection Guide. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. 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. 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; 18. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. Situation reports suggested that the Germans were intent on crossing the Our River at Steinebruck. The formations started to peel backward in succession from opposite Neubruck to Maldingen. War Department, 1944. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. 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. 13th Flak Division 651 . The other, the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, bore the number of an infantry division destroyed on the Eastern Front, which had been reconstituted. Zaloga, Steven. Then, four German antitank guns covering the Grufflingen-Maldange road were encountered. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. 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. 47. 110 () - Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) . When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. Hoge and Clarke agreed that Hoges entire command should be withdrawn west of the railroad tracks. 1946. Personally I have not believed this event at all. Manteuffel answered, We estimated that we were up against a division, and perhaps against an entire corps. For example, when G.I. 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. The guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. 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. 47. 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. Tiger. General Hoge moved his command post to Commanster. The rounded portion of the horseshoe was composed of Colonel Dwight Rosebaums CCA, 7th Armored between Poteau and Rodt and General Clarkes CCB, 7th Armored in the very center protecting St. Vith. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Thus, the job of rescuing the two trapped infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel passed from the 9th to the 7th Armored Division. 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. Not to mention that the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull armor of the Panzer IV, which was only 20 mm thick angled at 10 degrees. By midnight on the 19th, the horseshoe- shaped defense of St. Vith had taken form. In minutes, a platoon of medium tanks from A Company of the 14th rolled across the bridge at Steinebruck and placed high explosive and heavy machine-gun fire on the enemys position in the woods and along the draw. The 18. It would be unable to turn its full strength on St. Vith until the American surrender in that area. English PDF (15 MB) Jan B-513 German General Staff Officers, Casualties. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. Wikizero - 18th Volksgrenadier Division The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village. Volksgrenadier-Division. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. Your email address will not be published. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division completed its southern swing, encircling the two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. And why would it not? 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. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. Jones wanted Clarke to counterattack immediately with his combat command and break that ring that these people have closed around the Schnee Eifel.. Panzer Tracts No. 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. There are no German records or histories which indicate that, on 18th December 1944, a Tiger I or a Tiger II was knocked out in or around St. Vith. 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. That cold snap that hit us has frozen the roads. 2014. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. On December 9, 1944, Brig. The capture of St. Vith was, however, important for three other reasons: to ensure the complete isolation of Allied troops that might be trapped on a nearby ridge called the Schnee Eifel; to cover the German supply lines unraveling behind the armored corps to the north and south; and to feed reinforcements laterally into the main thrusts by using the St. Vith road net. 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. Design, Production & Modifications. 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. 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. Also no Ferdinand/Elefant recorded to have seen combat on Western Front. Double-talking his identification over the radio with allusions to West Point football days, Ridgway gave Hoge a location at which to meet him. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. Johnston, W. Wesley. Roadblocks were set up and manned. Despite nearly a foot of snow, the ground underneath was still soft, and with the passage of only a few heavy vehicles it was soon churned into a morass of mud. . Osprey Publishing, 2003. Rather than reaching the Meuse and driving on to Antwerp, the offensive stalled and eventually was turned back. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. This is puzzling, to say the least. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 The column came upon stragglers from the 424th Infantry retreating in disarray toward St. Vith. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) Wiki The Tiger II, also known as the King Tiger, Royal Tiger, Knigstiger, and Tiger Ausf.B, was an enormous, 69.8 tonne German heavy tank. 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. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. of the Army, 1965. Slayden had been sent to Jones by Middleton as an adviser until the 106th Division could become acclimated. 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 . Tigers In Combat II. Unteroffizier Helmus of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division painted the situation when the advance began. 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. Communications with division headquarters in St. Vith were limited to liaison officers running along a road now being shelled by the Germans. 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. 16 Dec 2022 08:28:00 The mobile battalion consisted of three platoons of assault guns, a company of engineers, and another of fusiliers. Zaloga, Steven. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. Rejection & Neglect available to buy on Payhip! 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. Lucht anticipated that the Americans would counterattack the next day, but that their reaction would be too late to avoid complete encirclement. 1945. The Battle at St. Vith, Belgium 17-23 December 1944 An Historical Example of Armor in the Defense. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Anderson, Thomas. Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. On his way to St. Vith, General Hoge stopped in Faymonville to alert his command to be prepared to move immediately. If Hoge told him that the situation was bad, then without a doubt the situation was worse than he thought. 2014. Jentz, Thomas. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Combat Interviews of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient, December 17-23, 1944. Farther to the north, in the 7th Armored sector, the pressure exerted by the enemy was also intense. What a fantastic real-life story or is it? Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. . The stubborn defenders of St. Vith played a major role in defeating the final German offensive of World War II in Western Europe. Maurice Delaval Papers Collection of the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Staff officers were casualties. The failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. He also said that they got a new Greyhound. Clarke, Bruce. He also hoped the 3rd Armored Division soon might attack to remove all threat of encirclement. Sell, Buy or Rent Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of Volksgrenadier-Division. It is possible (if unlikely) that this event was completely unrelated to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story. 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. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. There was a bitter struggle to the south of Grufflingen, and the Germans were again active in the Neubruck area. 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. 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. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. 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. 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. That night, infantry patrols found German medics removing their wounded. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: . However, there is one major issue with this explanation, Panzer IVs were not attacking Troop B. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. 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. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. While 9th Armored was thus engaged in the Winterspelt area during the morning hours of December 17, Brig. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. which, in principle, is comparable to the 37 mm American gun. By noon, the 27th AIB, with the help of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, had retaken that first stretch of high ground. In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. 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. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Farther to the west, the 82nd Airborne, trying to keep a corridor open for the St. Vith defenders, was coming under intense pressure from the 2nd SS Panzer Division. 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. 1941622 . After 1200 hours on 17th December 1944, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was reinforced by a mobile battalion. of the Army, 1965. 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. However, Company B, 27th AIB was sent to help ease the situation, covering the cavalrys left flank. Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. This initial thrust carried the enemy approximately 400 yards into the battalions sector. 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. 18th Volksgrenadier Division - Wikiwand 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. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. The village of St. Vith lay approximately 12 miles behind the front lines on December 16, 1944, the day the offensive code-named Operation Watch on the Rhine began. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. December 20 was a day of disappointment for the Germans around St. Vith. 22 22. It is interesting to note that the U.S 7th Armored Division suffered a moderate 425 Battle Casualties, on page 465 of Hitlers Last Gamble by Trevor N. Dupuy, for December 17-23, 1944 in the Battle of Saint Vith including the 1st day of the Battle of Manhay, out of the 3,397 Battle and Non-Battle Casualties suffered during the Battle by the U.S 112th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 28th Infantry Division, the U.S 424th Infantry Regiment of the U.S 106th Infantry Division, Combat Command B of the U.S 9th Armored Division and ofcourse the U.S 14th Cavalry Group. The new sector assigned to CCB was on the fringe of territory the Sixth Panzer Army had mapped out for its further maneuvers. The Germans attacked the center of the 27th AIB. 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. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier captured Winterspelt, its losses were high and its left regiment had made little headway in the Heckhuschied sector. By this time the Germans had essentially closed the trap on the two infantry regiments on the Schnee Eifel. The closest primary German armored thrust route to the south ran through Burg Reuland, also about five miles from St. Vith. 1940. Ninth Armored sent out billeting parties as it reached its new area. General Luchts plan for December 17 was simple. 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. 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.