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. 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. 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. Army. On 18 December the 7th Armored had learned in a roundabout way that a "Lieutenant Colonel named Stone" had collected a few troops and was holding Gouvy. General Hasbrouck reached St. Vith at 1600-it had taken him all of five hours to thread his way through the traffic jam between Vielsalm and St. Vith. with easy victory and halted it in its tracks. Despite the American withdrawal from the WinterspeltHeckhuscheid area and the promptings of the impatient commander of the LXVI Corps, the 62d only tardily brought itself into conformity with the forward kampfgruppen of the 18th Volks Grenadier Division. 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. As the leading tank platoon hove in sight of Poteau it came immediately under small arms and assault gun fire. Like the Americans on 17 December, jammed on the St. Vith-Vielsalm road, the Germans lacked adequate military police to handle the situation. at La Roche and the VIII Corps headquarters at Bastogne. At best these isolated detachments could serve only as pickets for the 7th Armored, but fortunately the German columns continued marching west. 7 That a gap existed on the right of the 424th was known. won partial control of Crombach and were sitting across the road in the rear of the American tanks and riflemen to the east of the village. The VIII Corps passed to General Patton's Third Army during the 20th. In sharp fighting most of the mechanized force at the tail was destroyed. The 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, unable to reverse itself, turned west to Stavelot and subsequently joined the western group on its way to Vielsalm. By this time the 7th Armored plans for the Schnberg attack were definitely off and a company from the 31St Tank Battalion joined in the affair. The draw extending from the south to the west edge of town served as a boundary between the two CCB's. Montgomery had consulted with General Hodges, the First Army commander, and here, showed the ability to honor the fighting man which had endeared him to the hearts of the Desert Rats in North Africa: "They can come back with all honor. All during the morning of 22 December American observers had watched enemy troops and vehicles milling around Recht, just to the north of Poteau. As a result CCB began its move for St. Vith about 2000 on the 16th. At 0030 on the 23d General Hasbrouck informed General Hoge that his combat command, which was to initiate the move west, would begin withdrawal at 0200. If you served in A Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. Infantry Battalion (Lt. Col. William H. G. Fuller) and B Troop of the 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. 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. When the Germans finally maneuvered into position to renew the attack, the Americans broke free and fell back toward Commanster. The southern column of the 1st SS Panzer Division, which first had captured the town, was long since gone, hurrying west. So far we are missing at least one half of Clarke's force. Krag decided to shift his advance toward Salmchteau and there possibly link up with friendly forces he knew to be coming from St. Vith. The loss of the vital road junction at Poteau, earlier in the day, made the connection between the forces of the division at St. Vith, around Recht, and in the Vielsalm. Task Force Lindsey, whose cavalry and infantry had screened the main withdrawal of the southern segment of the ring, had come under damaging shell-fire as the 62d Volks Grenadier Division artillery got into position. The St. Vith salient looked like this by the morning of the 21st: on the north and east the line was as well organized as the forces available would permit; the southern flank had been somewhat reinforced and prolonged by a covering screen extending westward; the 82d Airborne Division was in position to give some support in the northwestern segment of the gap to the rear of the 7th Armored and 106th Infantry Division; and there was a fair number of light batteries supporting the front and flanks of the salient. Then the German tank group, which had been delayed by a mine field, and an infantry company or two swung to the west and rolled down the main road into the village. The front held by the 7th Armored Division, CCB of the 9th Armored, and attached units by this time had expanded to about thirty-two miles. Stone), and a light tank platoon had been sent to set up an outpost at the village. south and rising against its eastern face. With the Poteau crossroad more or less in the hands of the 7th Armored, with a defensive arc forming north, east, and southeast of St. Vith, and with the Vielsalm-Petit Thier area under control in the west, the next step was to block the possible routes of approach from the south and southwest. A couple of hours earlier the First Army headquarters had told General Middleton that the west column would arrive at 0700 and close at 1900 on the 17th, and that the combat command on the east road would arrive at 1100 and close at 1700. Already Hasbrouck had ordered Task Force Jones to shorten its line because the last reserve available behind the southern wing (the 17th Tank Battalion) was en route to reinforce CCB. did much to check the grenadiers. other officers set to work to organize a breakout. By dark the 293d Regiment was marching through Poteau and the rest of the infantry formations of the division were jumbled along a five-mile front on the east side of the Salm. c. The road net within our position is totally inadequate to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein. By noon most of the 424th Infantry and Wemple's force were across the Salm. The division, assembled about fifteen miles north of Aachen, had taken no part as a unit in the November drive toward the Roer, although companies and battalions on occasion had been attached to attacking infantry divisions. The piecemeal employment of lower units, made unavoidable by the march of events, resulted in most involved methods of communication. They are standing in rows with 13 sitting on the ground in front with 6 men reclining in front of them. It would seem that a German rifle company first crossed into Weppler, now unoccupied, then wheeled and encircled the 2d Platoon on the hill. The German force left at Recht was no more than a screen, although under orders to maintain pressure on Poteau. Unit Casualty List By Last Name Unit Casualty List By Date Army BBS Both American units were able to drive forward and the Shermans knocked out six light panzers or assault guns. Earlier, Task Force Jones (deployed on the southern flank of the salient) had captured a German engineer officer who, under questioning, said that his division, the 2d SS Panzer Division, was moving toward Gouvy. of the German attack. The gap between Hoge's command and CCB, 7th Armored, which at dark had been 3,000 yards across, closed during the night when a light tank company and an anti-aircraft battery came in. 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 between the 7th Armored rear headquarters and the St. Vith command post It was here that the unsuccessful attacks launched earlier by the 18th Volks Grenadier Division and the Fuehrer Begleit Brigade had formed. 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. A counterattack thrown in by a scratch force of infantry and tanks from Bauvenn drove the Germans out and freed those Americans still alive. During the 19th the two CCB's had been operating with very limited artillery support, although the 275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and the 16th Armored Field Artillery Battalion had done yeoman service for their respective combat commands. This small village, 4,000 yards west of St. Vith, lay on the reverse slope of a ridge line along which extended the north flank of the 7th Armored Division. The 82d Airborne Division, it was estimated, would reach Werbomont (about the same distance northwest of Vielsalm) on the morning of 19 December, but it was apparent that in this area also the enemy barred any solid contact with the St. Vith defenders. Its presence on the weak southern flank (in case the captured officer was not a "plant") was disturbing. The course of the valley westward proffered a natural line of advance, and through it, in the early hours of the 22d, pushed small detachments of the 62d Volks Grenadier Division. range served as a breakwater diverting heavy highway traffic so that They had met an entire German corps flushed Within half an hour the German regimental commander was hors de combat and the attack dissipated. About the same time the provisional rifle company west of Steinebrck took off and one of the cavalry platoons had to be switched hastily to cover this gap. these units had carried out a successful withdrawal under the most difficult difficult job of disengaging from an enemy who might continue the attack Remer's heavy Panthers had made bad going of the muddy roads north of Rodt. After three hours of this the Americans observed the enemy going into attack formation in an open field next to the village church. During the night of l9-20 December the Germans completed a division bridge at Steinebrck near that destroyed by the American armored engineers, and division artillery and heavy vehicles began their move north and west. over 2,000 and sufficient billets to house a division headquarters. The first German waves then hit between Company A of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion and Company A of the 23d Armored Infantry Battalion. As light broke, the right battalion of Remer's brigade attacked to cut the main western road close to Poteau. Again the 168th Engineers gave a The bombs dropped on Schnberg and its narrow streets late in the day may have delayed the arrival of reinforcements, and air attack certainly helped to scatter the most advanced German troops. While Boylan's men took positions to defend Hinderhausen against attack from Rodt, Lohse's heavy column formed to enter the trail at Hinderhausen. before the 21st, but the lengthy and destructive barrage laid down by the enemy had caused very severe casualties and shaken the defenders. Field Artillery Battalions > 365th Battalion. It was important, however, as the knot which tied the roads running 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. north, south, and west. The Americans had blown the bridge and fallen back through Salmchteau to the lines of the 82d, whereupon a few of the Germans crossed the river and entered the village. the line that the light tanks in the van had been hit by enemy fire General Hoge conferred with General Jones at St. Vith and the two decided that the combat command should withdraw from the river northwest to slightly higher ground. 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. Vith.". The 7th Armored Division Move to St. Vith, When the counteroffensive began, the 7th Armored Division (Brig. German columns heading west. The arrival of gasoline, rations, ammunition, and the presence of a few replacement vehicles in the division park would make the last-ditch stand or withdrawal, whichever it might be, a little easier. A heavy barrage (the 62d Volks Grenadier Division by this time had a number of pieces. Don't move 'til you hear from me. No one could say with certainty, of course, what strength the enemy was preparing for the final assault to gain St. Vith. North of the threatened area the 295th Regiment had come out of the woods behind Wallerode and started an advance southwest, covered by assault gun or tank fire from the ridge west of the town. named deputy commander of the 7th Armored. 365th Battalion. He is extended and cannot protect the right flank of the zone between Recht and Poteau. Acutely aware of the threat now forming, General Hasbrouck stripped such elements as he dared from his north flank, added the remnants of the 14th Cavalry Group, and created Task Force Jones (Lt. Col. Robert B. Jones, Commanding Officer, 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion) to guard the south and southwestern flank. This move brought the grenadiers across open ground and under flanking fire from American tanks located by the railroad underpass just north of St. Vith. As they approached Gouvy station, a railroad stop south of the village, they ran afoul of three German tanks which were just coming in from the south. Without further orders the two commanders, their staffs, and subordinates set to work on plans for demolitions and a rear guard stand to keep the escape routes to the Salm open. On this day it was necessary to instruct all unit commanders that the rations, water, and gasoline on hand must be made to last for three days. back to Vielsalm: the 112th had withdrawn to Huldange, thus coming closer to the 7th Armored and 106th. All through the morning the enemy pressed in on Poteau, moving his machine guns, mortars, and assault guns closer and closer. As a result of the regrouping. The threatened sector remained the line from Poteau to St. Vith, and from St. Vith along the eastern front covered by CCB, 7th Armored, and CCB, 9th Armored. At St. Vith enemy pressure failed to increase during the 19th, and the American commanders took advantage of the breathing spell to reassess their dispositions for defense. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. nonexistent, even by radio. This, however, was not the main mission assigned the advance guard of the 18th Volks Grenadier Division, for the original plan of advance had called on the Mobile Battalion to seize the high ground at Wallerode, northeast of St. Vith, which overlooked the valley road from Schnberg. Actually this change had no effect on the conduct of subsequent operations and was effective for only a few hours. Meanwhile, as dawn drew near, the left wing of the 164th moved against Thommen, where a cavalry platoon held an outpost to the south of the main CCB, 9th Armored, lines. General Jones, beset by messages reporting the German advance along the Schnberg road, sent urgent requests for the armor to hurry. It was located along the German-Belgium border, and was about 50 square miles. The First Army commander still expected, on the night of the 21st, that Ridgway's corps would shortly gain contact with the 7th Armored-but the situation was deteriorating at a fast clip. 413th AAA Gun Bn (Mbl) 20 Dec 44-24 Dec 44. The arrival of an additional field artillery battalion belonging to the 7th Armored and two 155-mm. The enemy grenadiers and gunners refused to stay put. The formation adopted by CCA was based on a semicircle of ten medium tanks fronting from northwest to east, backed by tank destroyers and with riflemen in a foxhole line well to the front. and an assault gun platoon, was deployed along the 3,000 yard stretch Redesignated as 732nd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion (90 mm), a unit originally allocated to Portland but never activated, 1 February 1949; a new 965th activated at Portland. Brigade attacked to cut the main western road close to Poteau existed on the weak southern flank ( in the... 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