18th volksgrenadier division 18th volksgrenadier division

Volksgrenadier Division 2. This information came from the division's senior headquarters, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. 120th Infantry Regiment (30th Infantry Division) 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion 319th Field Artillery Glider Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment German Units 3d Parachute Division 12th SS Panzer Division 18th Volksgrenadier Division 246th Volsgrenadier Division 884th March Battalion 905th Assault Gun Brigade 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. 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. No reinforcements were expected. I wanted to focus on the M8 vs Tiger story, I already noticed the Ferdinand claim, but decided not to mention it. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18. General Hoge received his order to pull CCB, 9th Armored out at 0605 on December 23. 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. The second task force consisted of B Company of the 811th Tank Destroyers. It was around 1200 hours and all was quiet when suddenly a German heavy tank was spotted slowly approaching the American line, a Tiger I. Personally I have not believed this event at all. The move had scarcely begun when an enemy attack hit the junction between Company B, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. 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. Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. Although the Germans were facing stiff resistance all along the American defensive line, they were determined to take St. Vith. Field Marshal Montgomery, believing that Ridgways Corps could not attack successfully toward Vielsalm and that the American forces within the goose egg could better be used in support of other forces committed to the northern shoulder defense, decided upon a general withdrawal. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? Tiger. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. 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. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. There are two likely candidates, the first being a Panzer IV. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. 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. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. Zaloga, Steven. Out of the 1,467 tanks the Germans brought with them to the Battle of the Bulge on the 16th of December, 1944, 52 of them were Tiger IIs and 14 of them were Tiger Is. 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. A platoon of medium tanks counterattacked, and the enemy retreated. Although the bridge over the Our was blown, the German presence kept growing. Schneider, Wolfgang. The M8 was used mostly as a reconnaissance vehicle for scouting. The Germans attacked the center of the 27th AIB. 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. VGD. 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. 1964. 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 event that Lieutenant Olson recounts does bare a resemblance to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story, with both events taking place at or near St. Vith on the 18th of December 1944 and involving an American armored car from the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron knocking out a German tank by shooting it in the rear. The southern prong was defended by General Hoges CCB, 9th Armored with the weakened 424th Infantry Regiment tied in and bent back protecting Burg Reuland. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. Operation Nordwind 1945 Hitlers last offensive in the West. Infanterie-Division 19398 . Infanterie-Division . What Jones did not tell Hoge was that in one of those regiments his own son was serving at regimental headquarters. 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. Panzer Tracts No. He also hoped the 3rd Armored Division soon might attack to remove all threat of encirclement. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. Early on the 19th, the Germans made reconnaissance probes. Soldiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division infiltrated the American lines at the villages of Roth, Weckerath, Kobscheid, and Auw before the artillery barrage began. Although General Jones was deeply worried about his two regiments on the Schnee Eifel, he was also highly concerned about the German advances in the Winterspelt area where his 424th Infantry Regiment was defending. Rebuilding the blown bridge to get their assault guns across was their first priority. August 18th, 1989 Kalb, Herbert Kalbhenn, Heinrich * February 3rd, 1915 more Kaldeway, x Kalesse, Gerhard (Grenadier-Regiment 689) * July 15th, 1918 October 23rd, 2011 Kaletsch, Georg * October 16th, 1914 March 6th, 1944 Kaletsch, Wilhelm Kalinowski, Josef (Panzergrenadier-Regiment "GD") * January 23rd, 1916 April 5th, 1944 Grave: UNK September 18th, 1944: Kdr. First Edition, Stackpole Books, 2004. 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 . The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18. Late on December 17, General Manteuffel was concerned with the lack of progress in his attack beyond the Schnee Eifel toward St. Vith. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. If neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was killed on 18th December 1944 in or around the town of St. Vith by an M8 Greyhound, what was? 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. 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. 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.. At 0200 on December 22, the Fhrer Escort Brigade launched its attack against the town of Rodt, a small village west of St. Vith. Double-talking his identification over the radio with allusions to West Point football days, Ridgway gave Hoge a location at which to meet him. 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. General Frederich Kittel, the division commander, ordered his mobile battalion up from his 164th Regiment reserve at Pronsfeld and into the attack along the Winterspelt road. VGD. The losses in men and equipment for CCB, 9th Armored, as with the rest of the American units defending St. Vith, had been severe. The division had lost four companies of armored infantry. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 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. Johnston, W. Wesley. Unteroffizier Helmus of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division painted the situation when the advance began. This German World War II article is a stub. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. War Department Field Manual FM 2-20 Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Mechanized. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division(18th VGD) was a volksgrenadierdivision of the German Army(Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. 1945. How about a Tiger II? When Model released the Fhrer Escort Brigade to General Manteuffel, he thought that he would be able to gain quick access to the St. Vith road network. 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map 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. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. Perhaps the most unlikely performer of the entire battle was the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. 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. 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. This was no place to conduct a mobile defense with armor-heavy forces. Close. Olson states that, on the 18th of December 1944, one of the armored cars opened fire with its 37 mm gun on a German tank at range of 800 yards [732 meters]. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. At CCB, 9th Armored Divisions headquarters in Faymonville, General Hoge was just finishing up his briefing for his commands move to the Losheim Gap and Manderfeld when the call came through from General Jones informing him of 9th Armoreds new Winterspelt mission. One task force was made up of A and B Companies of the 14th Tank Battalion, B Company of the 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery, and another platoon of the 14th. 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. Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: October 30th, 1917. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1): St Vith and the Northern Shoulder. Contents 1 Allied Forces 1.1 12th Army Group 1.1.1 U.S. First Army 1.1.1.1 V Corps 1.1.1.2 VII Corps 1.1.1.3 XVIII Airborne Corps 1.1.2 U.S. Third Army 1.1.2.1 III Corps 1.1.2.2 VIII Corps 1.1.2.3 XII Corps While walking to avoid the traffic congestion, Manteuffel encountered his superior, Field Harshal Model. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. This break appeared to be only a dream, however, as it seemed every outfit wanted a piece of CCB, 9th Armored to help shore up its positions. Moreover, it was expected that General Luchts two infantry divisions would be forwarded to the Salm River sector as right-wing cover for two panzer corps. On its way to the new position, C Company came under a sudden artillery and rocket barrage in the village of Lommersweiler. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Much like the Panzer IV, the StuG III was a mainstay of the German army as well as Germanys most produced armored fighting vehicle of the war with over 9,400 produced. I mention it for the sake of completeness as I suspect that the whole thing is a myth. The CCB command post was moved to Neubruck, a small group of farmhouses on Braunlauf Creek about two miles southwest of St. Vith. EN RU CN DE ES. An appropriate start for the investigation of this action is to identify contemporary American accounts. 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. This leads to a second candidate, the StuG III. Tigers In Combat II. As each unit joined the rear of the column, it took its turn being the rear guard. Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. The guns of two platoons of Company A, 811th Tank Destroyers were overrun. Similar events have happened more than once, though on the Eastern Front. Griffin, Marcus S. After Action Report, Month of December 1944. 223 223. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. 194311 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. After conferring with Clarke, Ridgway wanted to talk to one more man in whom he had supreme confidenceBrigadier General Hoge. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Sometime later that Monday morning, General Hoge sent his liaison officer to St. Vith to learn the dispositions of CCB, 7th Armored Division. Lever het aan! However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. One, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, was holding the northern reaches of the Schnee Eifel. 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. Fortunately, a tank destroyer from Vielsalm turned up and hit the leading two German panzers, which drove the rest for cover. 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. The ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. He is being outflanked and is retiring west another 2,000 yards refusing both flanks. 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. VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. 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.