In the east, at Rodt, Remer's left battalion tried to rush the village from the woods but ran straight into artillery fire. German columns heading west. The center regiment of the 62d Volks Grenadier Division (the 190th), charged with seizing the high ground in the thick forest east of Grufflange, did get one battalion under way in the morning and succeeded, in overrunning an armored infantry platoon and three tank destroyers belonging to CCB, 9th Armored. American 90-mm. About 2200 General Clark reached General Hasbrouck with word of what had happened at St. Vith and the latter immediately informed the XVIII Airborne Corps. About the same time the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, temporarily under the command of Maj. Charles A. Cannon, Jr., reported to General Clarke in St. Vith, the first unit of the 7th Armored to reach the 106th Division. During the early morning hours of 19 December messages
Meanwhile the 293d Regiment had pushed south of the Schnberg highway toward Company B of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, Troop B, 87th Reconnaissance Squadron, and Company A, 81st Combat Engineers, left to right. Prisoners subsequently told of very severe losses here in the forest.3. hand, the bulk of the 23d Armored Infantry Battalion appeared to reinforce
By this time the last of the milling traffic was leaving Poteau; eight 8-inch howitzers of the 740th Field Artillery Battalion were abandoned here as the German fire increased, ostensibly because they could not be hauled out of the mud onto the road. but the attack made no further headway and perhaps was intended only
There two companies of the 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry, were deployed, guarding a draw and secondary road which provided quick access to the Salm valley at a point midway between Jones's assembly area at Bovigny and Salmchteau. Even so the one-way trail was a poor and precarious road to safety; a sudden thaw or one tank askew could trap both Lohse and Boylan. A disabled German self-propelled gun is in the foreground. free main road which served as the main supply route for two armored
In general, however, the battle was waning all along the eastern arc, bringing a brief respite to the men in the foxholes, now subjected to a freezing, blasting wind after hours of fighting in snow and slush. 922nd Battalion. The three 105mm battalions were assigned to one of the three infantry regiments to support, forming a combat team. the village, then funneled slowly into the woods. With the arrival of the assault guns some attempt was made to probe the American defenses east of St. Vith. The detachment drove them out in a sharp fight but at nightfall withdrew to a road junction a mile and a half to the west, here blocking any further German move toward the north. 141st Field Artillery World War, 1939-1945--Military personnel--American. The First Army headquarters was in process of drafting plans for uniting the XVIII Airborne Corps and the St. Vith force when General Hasbrouck's letter arrived. I also need plenty of air support. All through the day and night of 19 December German vehicles (units of the 116th Panzer Division and the advance guard of the 560th Volks Grenadier Division) had rolled past Gouvy to the south and west, but no attempt had been made to repeat the attack of the previous day. I have no contact with Corps but Corps has ordered us to hold and situation well in hand. Hope to see you soon: have sent you copy of all messages sent you. the line east of St. Vith, and by dark all lost ground had been retaken. The plan for withdrawal, slowly and carefully worked out by Hasbrouck and Colonel Ryan on the evening of the 22d, envisaged a progressive siphoning from the units farthest to the east in which these troops passed gradually into the main routes leading to the bridges while rear guard forces staged holding actions in echelon along the roads and trails. Since the shift would leave Hoge's northern flank open, it was agreed that contact between the two combat commands would be re-established at Bauvenn, necessitating that Hoge's left be pulled back some two thousand yards. The capture of Rodt left General Clarke no alternative but further withdrawal. Liaison and staff officers coming from Bastogne brought word of only meager American reinforcements anywhere in the neighborhood of St. Vith. 780 Field Artillery Battalion YORK, E. T. 8. of the 38th Armored Infantry line. The division commander, General Hoffmann-Schnborn, did try a piecemeal attack on the high ground north of the Schnberg road with the intent to seize the St. Vith railroad station. This then was the extent of the Fuehrer Begleit effort on the 20th; Remer decided to await the arrival of the full brigade.2. So he compromised by sending a large combat patrol into the woods west of that village with orders to find a covered route along which the tanks might advance on Vielsalm once they arrived. Even as a logistical exercise withdrawal presented a
Even so, a number of vehicles mired and had to be abandoned at the soft banks of a small stream. To the right of the cavalry the most advanced units of CCB had reinforced the 168th Engineer Combat Battalion on the Schnberg road and pushed out to either side for some distance as flank protection. Heavy Antitank Battalion, was toiling slowly westward on the single,
Incidentally, the quick and forceful reaction to all German probing during the day and the fact that Hasbrouck had kept only a very small reserve out of the line had created an impression of American strength in the enemy headquarters well beyond the fact. By noon German infantry were in Setz, with at least five hours of daylight remaining and less than five miles to go, much of that distance being uncontested. On the morning of 18 December General Hoge, CCB commander, was ordered to hurry to the 106th headquarters where he was told of the threat developing north of St. Vith. Fortunately bright moonlight allowed some maneuver. The bulk of CCB, 7th Armored Division, represented by Task Force Lohse (formerly Erlenbusch), commanded by Maj. Leslie A. Lohse, and Task Force Boylan, started to withdraw shortly after daybreak, Boylan's command acting as the division rear guard. His accompanying battalion of self-propelled artillery was within range of Salmchteau. by artillery fire, to thrust a few tanks along the east road. This estimate was received at the headquarters of the VIII Corps at 0500 on 17 December, the first indication, it would appear, that the leading armored elements would arrive at 1400 instead of 0700 as planned. Finally,
nor did the American outposts on the Schnberg road catch any sound
Facilities Managment Company. German documents, taken in the fight at Gouvy, showed clearly the intention of the LVIII Panzer Corps to drive on Hotton, at the moment the location of the 3d Armored Division command post. gap in a column on any one of the roads would be serious. tricky staff problem. There remained a narrow, rutted trail running from Hinderhausen (around which Task Force Boylan was deployed) west through the woods to the crossroads at Commanster, from which a secondary road ran to the bridge at Vielsalm. About midnight orders from the 106th Division arrived at the group headquarters which had been set up in Poteau: the cavalry were to return to Born, which they had just evacuated, and occupy the high ground. The fir trees interlocked at their low branches so everyone had to stoop all the time. new orders to Hasbrouck (it was now about 0200 on the 22d). TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. For some reason this attack never fully developed-later German reports indicated that the assault waves lost their direction while moving through the thick woods. 5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Chrain. Communication between
By this time Task Force Jones was
The 164th Regiment, reinforced by engineers and assault guns, apparently took some time to re-form after its fight with the 9th Armored Division counterattack force on 17 December. At 0718 Wemple sent the guns blazing into the western side of the village in an attempt by smoke and shell to drive the Germans off the streets. Find 365th Field Artillery Battalion unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com. General Hasbrouck was apprised of this new enemy threat; by what he later remembered as "one of the funniest. But the 7th Armored Division was a veteran organization; the general officers in the area dealt with one another on a very cooperative basis; and within the sub-commands established around the coalescing perimeter, the local commanders acted with considerable freedom and initiative. They had given the XVIII Airborne Corps badly
Colonel Boylan led the rear guard back toward the bridge but then was ordered, because of a traffic jam at the bridge, to hold on the east bank until the 7th Armored Division headquarters could cross. Remer's battalion of armored infantry and two assault gun batteries, waiting in reserve in the valley below, never were committed. threatening to run down the vehicles barring the road, from Vielsalm
Originally three routes were chosen: a northern route along the Poteau-Vielsalm road; a center route from Commanster to the Vielsalm bridge (nothing more than a poor woods road); and a southern route via Maldingen, Beho, and Bovigny, thence north along the Salm valley road to the Salmchteau bridge and east along the Salmchteau- La Roche road by way of the Baraque de Fraiture crossroads, which at this time was still in American hands. I can delay them the rest of today maybe but will be cut off by tomorrow. By daybreak the Fuehrer Begleit advance guard had arrived at the edge of the forest north of Rodt. During this entire action the 275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion,
There had been no contact whatever with the 424th Infantry to the south. On General Hoge's order a platoon of armored engineers went down and blew the bridge-almost in the teeth of the grenadiers on the opposite bank. by the collection of American armor confronting him-"tanks were everywhere," said the 18th Volks Grenadier Division-and by the amount of artillery fire his every movement attracted. No withdrawal orders reached the troops now behind the enemy. 800 Port Company (517 Port Bn) BLEVINS, JAMES LEWIS. CG was well pleased with everything you have done. promised the entrapped troops had not been dropped. The infantry, considerably disorganized,
liaison officer with such an order had left Hasbrouck's command post
19 December the bulk of the 1130th Regiment, 560th
A number of prisoners were later rounded up by the Americans on the Recht road. During the night a quick freeze had hardened the ground just enough to allow the tanks and half-tracks from the east, covered with clinging foot troops, to swing cross-country and south to the Braunlauf road. Organization Battery Headquarters (1 OF, 4 OR) M1165A1 Expanded Capacity Truck* From this point on Kampfgruppe Krag fought two battles, one to mop up the town, the other to capture American vehicles trying to break out of the valley road in the south. 1125th Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 8.54 KB: 999th Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 9.14 KB: 991st Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 9.28 KB: 987th Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 8.53 KB: 978th Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 9.02 KB: 977th Field Artillery Battalion.pdf 8.88 KB Summary of Content This is a photograph of 83 members of the 969th Field Artillery Battalion. in the cellars, but most of the battalion finally had to pull back. On the morning of 20 December the Americans defending St. Vith held
Faced with the problem of organizing and integrating a defensive line which had come into being piecemeal and with little regard to the integrity of the tactical units involved, the Americans divided command responsibility along easily discerned map features. By mid-afternoon the enemy had reached the 168th Engineer positions less than two miles from St. Vith. tank destroyers. Horse-drawn artillery succeeded in getting into position nearby and had a share in the action. The battalion landed at Utah Beach during Operation Neptune, and participated in the liberation of France and Belgium. (thirty-five miles by road) was extremely difficult. needed time to gather for a coordinated and effective defense. failed when the 4.5-inch guns of the 770th Field Artillery Battalion were cut off at Samre en route from La Roche. The German assault here was beaten off by the drivers in a vehicle park who used the .50-caliber machine guns on their two-score half-tracks in a withering fusillade. The northern penetration,
When the last vehicle of CCA roared over the Vielsalm bridge (at 1620) the remaining artillery followed; then came the little force from CCR which had held the road open while CCA made its withdrawal. By midmorning of 22 December the flood of vehicles streaming into St. Vith was out of control. All through the morning the enemy pressed in on Poteau, moving his machine guns, mortars, and assault guns closer and closer. Late in the evening of the 17th and during the morning of the 18th, however, the scope and direction of the German drive thrusting past St. Vith in the north became more clearly discernible as the enemy struck in a series of attacks against Recht, Poteau, and Hnningen. None of the charts on traffic density commonly used in general staff or armored school training could give a formula for establishing the coefficient of "friction" in war, in this case the mass of jeeps, prime movers, guns, and trucks which jammed the roads along which the 7th Armored columns had to move to St. Vith. Early on the 18th, Lt. Col. Augustine Duggan, senior of the remaining staff, intercepted elements of the 18th Squadron, part of Troop C, 32d Squadron, and the one remaining platoon of towed 3-inch guns from the 820th Tank Destroyer. The Fuehrer Begleit trains could not negotiate the churned and mired trails at all. 1945 (approximate) Subject. Over the field telephone General Jones concurred in the opinion furnished Montgomery and Ridgway, but at 1250 Jones dispatched a memo to Ridgway saying, "My intentions are to retain the ground now defended." During the night of
Veteran C. Young. On most of the front held by the 7th Armored and the troops of the 9th Armored and 106th the morning passed in ominous quiet. The CCB position at the Our (where two companies of armored infantry, a company each of light and medium tanks, plus the reconnaissance company, were deployed on a front over 4,000 yards) was no longer tenable. On the afternoon of 17 December the 14th Cavalry Group commander had ordered the remnants of his two squadrons to fall back to Recht. The easternmost defenses, as a result, were in the sector bounded by the Prm road on the right and the Bllingen road on the left, susceptible to penetration at either flank or both. It is difficult to determine with surety how much of the 7th Armored Division, CCB, 9th Armored, 424th Infantry, 112th Infantry, and the numerous attached units had been lost during the, fight for St. Vith and in the subsequent withdrawal. Find your Brothers on Army.TogetherWeServed.com JOIN FOR FREE TODAY! 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