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. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. That eliminates this units Pzkw IV being the Tiger encountered by the Troop B M8 on Dec. 18th . 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 M8 was used mostly as a reconnaissance vehicle for scouting. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. 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. 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. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. This one, however, most likely did not. 13th Flak Division 651 . On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. 47. 194311 The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. 45 mm. js.src = "//player.ex.co/player/710cf52d-720a-4250-8e95-fc85dcedab01"; 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. Hoge has just reported an attack. Two regiments of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division attacked 9th Armored positions early that morning, their goal to gain the Salm River at Salmchateau. 2014. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two.
When B Company pulled back to refuel and rearm, A Company passed through to take up the fight. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. 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. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. The German tank then stopped dead in its tracks and shuddered; there was a muffled explosion, followed by flames which billowed out of the turret and engine ports. 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. They were repulsed by machine-gun fire. It was at full strength and supplied with the latest equipment. 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. Osprey Publishing, 2003. Schneider, Wolfgang. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army. The fight lasted for more than three hours before the Germans withdrew, leaving one burning tank and approximately 150 dead. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. Company A of the 27th AIB had been assigned to the 99th Infantry Division and was in the process of being retrieved when the march to St. Vith began. It is a classic David versus Goliath tale straight out of World War II that features American heroism. Schneider, Wolfgang. Late in the day, the Germans launched three major attacks, each directed along a main road leading into the town. Daniel P. Kneeland, Grafton, Ma. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. The U.S. 9th Armored Division contested the German advance around St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, and won precious time in the process. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating 571. 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 closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Staff Sergeant Frank Mykalo knocked out a German machine-gun position, enabling the men in the lead half-tracks to dismount and deploy along the side of the road. 18th Flak Division 651 . 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. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. Osprey Publishing, 2002. Back in the 1970s I worked with a man who told this story, he claimed he was the driver. Communications with division headquarters in St. Vith were limited to liaison officers running along a road now being shelled by the Germans. What a fantastic real-life story or is it? Therefore, Montgomery ordered Ridgway to attack to the southeast until Vielsalm could be reached, ensuring an escape corridor for those trapped within the defense. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. 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. However, it cannot be definitively stated that this is another version of the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story due to its ambiguity. The job of capturing St. Vith went to the Fifth Panzer Armys 66th Corps, commanded by General Walther Lucht. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. The 18.
Battle of Losheim Gap - Wikipedia 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. The most startling difference however is the range at which this engagement occurred, with Lieutenant Olsons version having the engagement take place at 800 yards (732 meters), compared to the original storys 25 yards (23 meters)! It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a This means that 50% of shots fired will penetrate this amount of armor. VGD. While 9th Armored was thus engaged in the Winterspelt area during the morning hours of December 17, Brig. Its mission was to break through to the south of the 18th Volksgrenadier in the Grosslangenfeld-Heckhuschied sector, advance northwest on a broad front, and seize the Our River crossing at Steinebruck, five miles southeast of St. Vith. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. 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. 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. Design, Production & Modifications. Third Printing, US Army Armored School, 1966. 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. September 18th, 1944: Kdr. 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 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. Penguin Books, 2016. 194311 Armour Plate Porforation [sic: Perforation] of Tank and Anti Tank Guns. Jentz, Thomas. Tigers In Combat I.
18. Volksgrenadier-Division - Axis History Early on the 19th, the Germans made reconnaissance probes. Ninth Armored and its attachments traveled southwest on N26 to the junction with N33 west of Beho, then turned north on N33 to Salmchateau, and finally west on N183 through Lierneux to Malempre-Jevigne, southeast of Manhay. A two-day rest was planned for everyone. The next move was up to General Lucht and his corps. Between these units, a place was found for the provisional company composed of the 424th Infantry stragglers. The StuG III was a turretless assault gun based on the Panzer III. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army ( Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. This battalion hit the 424ths Cannon Company at the Weissenhof crossroads. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. I have come to believe is that this type of fight happened more than once. 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. Inform us! Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. VGD. Rebuilding the blown bridge to get their assault guns across was their first priority. Both assault groups suffered heavy casualties. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. December, 1944 By Greg Moore gregpanzerblitz.com December, 2008 Battalion I x 5 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 12 293rd Volks- . The similarity in appearance between the Panzer IV and Tiger I is often cited as a reason to why there are so many claims made by soldiers during World War II of battling Tiger Is, despite Tiger Is being a fairly rare encounter. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. 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. Volksgrenadier-Division.
22nd Air Landing Division (wehrmacht) - Encyclopedia Information First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2005. The 62nd, like the 18th, included three regiments of two battalions each. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. However, he kept these misgivings to himself. On top of the contradictions and ambiguity of Troop Es entry, there is also the curious fact that Troop A does not make any mention of this event in its morning report and record of events entry for the 18th of December, 1944. 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. 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. 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. 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. Tiger. Jones explained to Hoge that his division was being attacked along its entire front and that two of his three regiments, the 422nd and the 423rd, had been partly surrounded in the Schnee Eifel area just east of Schoenberg.
About: 18th Volksgrenadier Division - dbpedia.org Clarke, Bruce. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. Ardennes 1944: Hitlers Last Gamble.