[148], His comments were interpreted as self-promoting, particularly his claim that when the situation "began to deteriorate," Eisenhower had placed him in command in the north. On December 18, 1944 , very early in the morning , the " 14th Cavalry Group " U.S. fell into an ambush of "Kampfgruppe Hansen "on the road between Post and R. There were reservations about whether the Allied logistical system possessed the required flexibility to support the narrow-front strategy,[135] the reality of terrain and logistics argued strongly against it, and the consequences if the narrow front advance had failed would have been very severe. [164][incomplete short citation] Allied estimates on German casualties range from 81,000 to 103,900. The weather cleared the next day and supplies (primarily ammunition) were dropped over four of the next five days. [27], Field Marshal Montgomery's Operation Market Garden had achieved only some of its objectives, while its territorial gains left the Allied supply situation stretched further than before. . After his tanks had been beaten back at the station, he received word that his rear-guard units had failed to finish the job in Stavelot. The battle severely depleted Germany's armored forces, which remained largely unreplaced throughout the remainder of the war. At Montgomery's orders, St. Vith was evacuated on 21 December; U.S. troops fell back to entrenched positions in the area, presenting an imposing obstacle to a successful German advance. The noose had been drawn. "[150], Many American officers had already grown to dislike Montgomery, who was seen by them as an overly cautious commander, arrogant, and all too willing to say uncharitable things about the Americans. The unit was upgraded to division status on 10 February 1945. Instead, he was provided with a Kampfgruppe of 800 men. Peiper's Panthers flank Stoumont from the fields east of town. Intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. By the time Eisenhower asked him how long it would take, the movement was already underway. The Fifth Panzer Army under General Hasso von Manteuffel was assigned to the middle sector with the objective of capturing Brussels. 5 Kampfgruppe (4) 5 Kavallerie (12) 5 Kavallerie-Division 1 (2) 5 Korps-Abteilung D (1) . The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' superior air forces. Planning for the "Watch on the Rhine" offensive emphasized secrecy and the commitment of overwhelming force. The Allies defended the Ardennes line very thinly, due to the favorable defensive terrain (a densely wooded highland with deep river valleys and a rather thin road network) and because they had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as a rest-and-refit area for its own troops. This fuel shortage intensified after the Soviets overran those fields in the course of their August 1944 Jassy-Kishinev Offensive. Most were shot where they stood, though some managed to flee. By October it was decided that Otto Skorzeny, the German SS-commando who had rescued the former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, was to lead a task force of English-speaking German soldiers in Operation Greif. Eisenhower commented in his own memoirs: "I doubt if Montgomery ever came to realize how resentful some American commanders were. Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. ----military police section with 60 men. The 112th Infantry Regiment (the most northerly of the 28th Division's regiments), holding a continuous front east of the Our, kept German troops from seizing and using the Our River bridges around Ouren for two days, before withdrawing progressively westwards. . I had nothing to do with it. One of the fault lines between the British and American high commands was General Dwight D. Eisenhower's commitment to a broad front advance. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. "Initial" is the sum total of all unit rosters of the respective combatants at the point at which those units entered the battle, while "Final" reflects the state of those units on 16 January 1945. [37] Success in the west would give the Germans time to design and produce more advanced weapons (such as jet aircraft, new U-boat designs and super-heavy tanks) and permit the concentration of forces in the east. [119] Total casualties included at least 9,000 wounded. "[100], In the center, the town of St. Vith, a vital road junction, presented the main challenge for both von Manteuffel's and Dietrich's forces. [187] Among the signs misread were the formation of the new 6th Panzer Army in the build-up area (west bank of the Rhine about Cologne); the new 'Star' (signals control-network) noted by the 'Fusion Room' traffic-analysts, linking "all the armoured divisions [assembling in the build-up area], including some transferred from the Russian front";[191][189] the daily aerial reconnaissance of the lightly defended target area by new Arado Ar 234 jets "as a matter of greatest urgency"; the marked increase in railway traffic in the build-up area; the movement of 1,000 trucks from the Italian front to the build-up area; disproportionate anxiety about tiny hitches in troop movements, suggesting a tight timetable;[190][189] the quadrupling of Luftwaffe fighter forces in the West;[190] and decrypts of Japanese diplomatic signals from Berlin to Tokyo, mentioning "the coming offensive". It overlapped with the Alsace Offensive, subsequently the Colmar Pocket, another series of battles launched by the Germans in support of the Ardennes thrust. Even during interrogation, they continued their goal of spreading disinformation; when asked about their mission, some of them claimed they had been told to go to Paris to either kill or capture General Dwight Eisenhower. Ambush at Poteau : . [124], Winston Churchill, addressing the House of Commons following the Battle of the Bulge said, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory. Troops Fight at Elsenborn Ridge", "Massacre At Malmdy During the Battle of the Bulge", Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II: Final report, 7 December 1941 31 December 1946, "Chapter 20: The German Counteroffensive in the Ardennes", "Fighting with Allies: The Debate Fifty Years On", "Operation Nordwind: The "Other" Battle of the Bulge", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Bulge&oldid=1150473573. General William H. Simpson, commander of Ninth Army, has received little attention in the historiography of World War II. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill found it necessary in a speech to Parliament to explicitly state that the Battle of the Bulge was purely an American victory. Von der Heydte ended up with a total of around 300 troops. After the war ended, the U.S. Army issued battle credit in the form of the Ardennes-Alsace campaign citation to units and individuals that took part in operations in northwest Europe. German Luftwaffe personnel, and later also Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses. The II Parachute Corps was tasked with contributing 100 men from each of its regiments. The other Kampgruppen tried to free the supply route which had also been cut by the Americans (by taking Stavelot) but this also failed. The 12th SS Panzer Division, reinforced by additional infantry (Panzergrenadier and Volksgrenadier) divisions, took the key road junction at Losheimergraben just north of Lanzerath and attacked the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt. Disagreement and confusion at the Allied command prevented a strong response, throwing away the opportunity for a decisive action. He began his career conducting oral histories and research for HBOs miniseries The Pacific and holds the distinction of being the first historian hired by the Museums Research Department. This congestion, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. For more information about Kampfgruppe Von der Heydte,check this out: Tolga, thanks for the link!! While the Allies recovered from their losses within days, the operation left the Luftwaffe ineffective for the remainder of the war.[118]. A Luftwaffe resupply mission went badly when SS-Brigadefhrer Wilhelm Mohnke insisted the grid coordinates supplied by Peiper were wrong, parachuting supplies into American hands in Stoumont. [85] He learned that Stoumont was strongly held and that the Americans were bringing up strong reinforcements from Spa. [86], German efforts to reinforce Peiper were unsuccessful. These weapons were used in the attemptto stop the oncoming German armor, to no effect. Kampfgruppe Hansen made an attempt to break the encirclement but failed. A battle-hardened unit, the Leibstandarte was filled with both young, green troops, and combat veterans in almost equal number. After taking part in the liberation of Bessarabia, the 11. In the initial days of the offensive, Kampfgruppe Peiper rolled through the Ardennes like a slow-moving train. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. Schnellgruppe Knittel was forced to disengage from the heights around Stavelot. [130][131] Thus Hitler gave responsibility for the key right flank of the assault to the best SS troops and a few Volksgrenadier units under the command of "Sepp" (Joseph) Dietrich, a fanatical political disciple of Hitler, and a loyal follower from the early days of the rise of National Socialism in Germany. Twenty years after the battle, GeneralMcAuliffe praised the men of the 10th Armored Tiger Division saying, "Its always seemed regrettable to me, that Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division didnt get the credit it deserved in the battle of Bastogne. Men of the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, muscle a 57mm anti-tank gun into position at what became known as the Hot Corner, a patch of ground the division denied to the advancing Germans which ensured the North Shoulder of the Bulge would hold. Radio reports from outposts counted 15 German tanks and hundreds of infantrymen forming up on the road outside Stoumont. As they did, the Panthers continued their advance on the flanks of town while at the same time the German paratroopers and Panzergrenadiers pushed through the center of the town clearing house after house. See more ideas about german soldiers ww2, ardennes, world war two. Due to the news blackout imposed on the 16th, the change of leadership to Montgomery did not become public information until SHAEF announced that the change in command had "absolutely nothing to do with failure on the part of the three American generals". Thus Peiper was without reinforcements, ammo or fuel and forced to retreat, escaping by sneaking through the American encirclement, leaving all equipment behind. A preliminary Army report restricted to the First and Third U.S. 6 Battle Describing (2) 6 Bearded (12) 6 Before the War (17) 6 Birthday (2) 6 Bunker (1) 6 Camera (4) ", Then Montgomery described the course of the battle for a half-hour. Poor traffic control led to massive traffic jams and fuel shortages in forward units. "[153][154], Bradley and Patton both threatened to resign unless Montgomery's command was changed. [101], To protect the river crossings on the Meuse at Givet, Dinant and Namur, Montgomery ordered those few units available to hold the bridges on 19 December. [citation needed]. Annoyed but unhurt, Prahm forced his massive tank forward. [32], Despite their loyalty, none of the German field commanders entrusted with planning and executing the offensive believed it was possible to capture Antwerp. Armee was formed 5 October 1940 as Kommandostab Leipzig; from 23 April 1941 it was designated Kommandostab Mnchen. During this period he was interviewed by B. H. Liddell Hart, a British author who has since been accused of putting words in the mouths of German generals, and attempting to "rewrite the historical record". Only the 5th Parachute Division of Brandenberger's command was able to thrust forward 19km (12mi) on the inner flank to partially fulfill its assigned role. More than 2,000 black soldiers had volunteered to go to the front. Operation Stsser was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the High Fens (French: Hautes Fagnes; German: Hohes Venn; Dutch: Hoge Venen) area. The photo was taken on December 17, 1944. Kampfgruppe Hansen of the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH were the flank protection for the main force of Kampfgruppe Peiper in the advance west as part of Wach. Western Allied offensive plans delayed by five to six weeks. German paratrooperstend to one of Prahm's wounded crewmen as Prahm's Panther burns in the background. The defenders, led by the 7th Armored Division, included the remaining regiment of the 106th U.S. Infantry Division, with elements of the 9th Armored Division and 28th U.S. Infantry Division. Armies were separated by about 40km (25mi). Kampfgruppe Oppeln was created from the regiment on D-Day. [29] German forces remained in control of several major ports on the English Channel coast into the autumn, while Dunkirk remained under siege until the end of the war in May 1945. In October, the First Canadian Army fought the Battle of the Scheldt, opening the port of Antwerp to shipping. The lead role in the attack was given to the 6th Panzer Army, commanded by SS Oberstgruppenfhrer Sepp Dietrich. ^ r m ji 4 JI \0 4 - \ fr. During the liberation of France, the extensive network of the French Resistance had provided valuable intelligence about German dispositions. In Pursuit of Military Excellence; The Evolution of Operational Theory'; by Shimon Naveh, pg 108-109. The author states they are a part of 2. The offensive went forward regardless. This Army was made up of only four infantry divisions, with no large-scale armored formations to use as a spearhead unit. The 109th and 110th Regiments of the 28th Division fared worse, as they were spread so thinly that their positions were easily bypassed. Peiper turned north and halted his forces in the woods between La Gleize and Stoumont. These soldiers were to be dressed in American and British uniforms and wear dog tags taken from corpses and prisoners of war. Within a week 250,000 troops had been sent. American progress in the south was also restricted to about a kilometer or a little over half a mile per day. The next day GIs who relieved the Rangers reported a considerable movement of German troops inside the Ardennes in the enemy's rear, but that no one in the chain of command connected the dots. Kampfgruppe Peiper did not begin his advance until nearly 16:00, more than 16 hours behind schedule and didn't reach Bucholz Station until the early morning of 17 December. Montgomery's contribution to restoring the situation was that he turned a series of isolated actions into a coherent battle fought according to a clear and definite plan. Conditions inside the perimeter were toughmost of the medical supplies and medical personnel had been captured. The 14th Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Actually, the 10thArmored Division was in there December 18th, a day before we were, and had some very hard fighting before we ever got into it, and I sincerely believe that we would never have been able to get into Bastogne if it had not been for the defensive fighting of the three elements of the 10th Armored Division who were first into Bastogne and protected the town from invasion by the Germans.[109], In the extreme south, Brandenberger's three infantry divisions were checked by divisions of the U.S. VIII Corps after an advance of 6.4km (4mi); that front was then firmly held. Dec 18, 2018 - Explore Herzog's board "Kampfgruppe Hansen" on Pinterest. The main forces were to advance westward to the Meuse River, then turn northwest for Antwerp and Brussels. To preserve the quantity of armor available, the infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division, had been ordered to clear the village first. As Prahms leviathan straightened out on the main road, it was struck by three shells from one of the 90mm anti-aircraft guns. Mohnke ordered Hansen to throw his Jagdpanzer tank destroyers against Company E 505 at Trois-Ponts on December 21 in an attempt to capture the damaged bridge there, repair it and . For the strength of the opposing sides at any one time, see table above. The plan originally called for just under 45 divisions, including a dozen panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions forming the armored spearhead and various infantry units to form a defensive line as the battle unfolded. The General Staff estimated they only had enough fuel to cover one third to one half of the ground to Antwerp in heavy combat conditions. While the Ardennes Counteroffensive is the correct term in Allied military language, the official Ardennes-Alsace campaign reached beyond the Ardennes battle region, and the most popular description in English speaking countries remains simply 'Battle of the Bulge'. SS-Panzergrenadier Regt 1 "LSSAH". Indeed, General Bradley and his American commanders were already starting their counterattack by the time Montgomery was given command of 1st and 9th U.S. As he withdrew from Cheneux, American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division engaged the Germans in fierce house-to-house fighting. He later attributed this to needing more time for preparation on the northern front. The battle has been the most interesting, I think possibly one of the most interesting and tricky battles I have ever handled. Another, smaller, massacre was committed in Wereth, Belgium, approximately 6.5 miles (10.5km) northeast of Saint-Vith on 17 December 1944. In the 12 years he was Manager of Research Services, Seth and his team increased the oral history collection from 25 to nearly 5,000 oral histories. The Allies captured the port of Antwerp intact in the first days of September, but it was not operational until 28 November. There were 96 Allied divisions at or near the front, with an estimated ten more divisions on the way from the United Kingdom. St. Vith World War II. Hansen, Max, born 31-07-1908 in Niebull, as the son of a rail freight forwarder, and a total of six Hansen brothers served on the war front during the war, plus three sisters. [192][193], For its part, Hut 3 had grown "shy of going beyond its job of amending and explaining German messages. As the battle ensued, on the northern shoulder of the offensive, Dietrich stopped the armored assault on the twin villages after two days and changed the axis of their advance southward through the hamlet of Domne Btgenbach. Training time, equipment and supplies were inadequate during the preparations. ", Checkpoints were set up all over the Allied rear, greatly slowing the movement of soldiers and equipment. Hitler had even written on the plan in his own handwriting 'not to be altered'". by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 13:11, Post In the book Steel Rain it show the OOB of this Kampfgruppe as. As a result, by the end of October, the supply situation had eased somewhat. [134] The Soviet Union would have also benefited from a rapid German collapse, and its participation in the war against Japan was greatly desired. Brief Axis Order of Battle for Operation Barbarossa. ** a ff/ Die Computer-Software-Facfc . Klaus Von Allworden Made up of three infantry companies, two MK IV self-propelled guns and one towed PAK 40 A/Tank gun, this unit was on the Dreyenseweg on the afternoon of the 17th and blocked the advance of 1st and 3rd Para Battalions. At 4:30 a.m. on 17 December 1944, the 1st SS Panzer Division was approximately 16 hours behind schedule when the convoys departed the village of Lanzerath enroute west to the town of Honsfeld. [51] The major crackdown in the Wehrmacht after the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler resulted in much tighter security and fewer leaks. Too small and too weak to counter the Allies, they abandoned plans to take the crossroads and instead converted the mission to reconnaissance. Another Panther overtook the burning vehicle, and it too was hit by the 90mm weapon, the rounds this time striking and jamming the turret. As they did so, they were immediately engaged by four Sherman tanks from the 743rd Tank Battalion. Kampfgruppe Hansen was still struggling against bad road conditions and stiff American resistance on the southern route. . It took many months to rebuild its cargo-handling capability. Date is 17.12.1944. In the bitter, desperate fighting of Operation Nordwind, VI Corps, which had borne the brunt of the fighting, suffered a total of 14,716 casualties. by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 17:22, Post What little intelligence they had led the Allies to believe precisely what the Germans wanted them to believe-that preparations were being carried out only for defensive, not offensive, operations. [78] Instead, intent on driving west, Peiper turned south to detour around Hnningen, choosing a route designated Rollbahn D as he had been given latitude to choose the best route west.[59]. The treaty that Hitler hated even more than the Treaty of Versailles and one of the most important treaties you have probably never heard of. [85], At dawn on 19 December, Peiper surprised the American defenders of Stoumont by sending infantry from the 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment in an attack and a company of Fallschirmjger to infiltrate their lines. Delayed by roads not suitable for tanks and the stout defense of locations such as Lanzerath, Ligneuville, and Stavelot, Peiper and his Kampfgruppe nevertheless achieved many of their objectives by December 18, 1944. The close terrain of the Ardennes would make rapid movement difficult, though open ground beyond the Meuse offered the prospect of a successful dash to the coast. They destroyed a number of American armored units and vehicles, and took several dozen prisoners who were subsequently murdered. [99] The official U.S. Army history states: "At least seven thousand [men] were lost here and the figure probably is closer to eight or nine thousand. [71] The terrain and poor quality of the roads made the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper difficult; at the exit to the village of Thirimont, the armored spearhead was unable to travel the road directly to Ligneuville, and Peiper deviated from the planned route, and rather than turn to the left, the armored spearhead turned to the right, and advanced towards the crossroads of Baugnez, which is equidistant from the city of Malmedy and Ligneuville and Waimes. No longer were American units fleeing the field of battle in front of their enemy. Men of the 807th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 90th Infantry Division, rain shells down on German positions near St. Barbara, Germany on December 16, 1944. Sunday, April 02, 2017 - 12:29 PM UTC. SS). Although it retained most of its armor, there were not enough infantry units because of the defensive needs in the East. After their defeat, Germany would retreat for the remainder of the war. [83][84] Peiper detoured north towards the villages of La Gleize and Cheneux. The German staff planning and organization of the attack was well done. Best Sellers Rank: #55,171 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV) #1,632 in Documentary (Movies & TV) The more experienced U.S. 28th Infantry Division put up a much more dogged defense than the inexperienced soldiers of the 106th Infantry Division. Nevertheless, some 4050 messages per day were decrypted by Ultra. So great were the feelings against me on the part of the American generals that whatever I said was bound to be wrong. About fifteen minutes after Peiper's advance guard passed through, the main body under the command of SS-Sturmbannfhrer Werner Ptschke arrived. by Timo 22 Aug 2004, 13:33, Post Of the two bridges remaining between Kampfgruppe Peiper and the Meuse, the bridge over the Lienne was blown by the Americans as the Germans approached. As soon as the firing began, the prisoners panicked. Montgomery wrote about the situation he found on 20 December: The First Army was fighting desperately. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group. The Panthers began to move forward, albeit cautiously. Much has been made in the historical record of the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany in early March of 1945. Kampfgruppe Walther. Food was scarce, and by 22 December artillery ammunition was restricted to 10 rounds per gun per day. Around 0730 hours the lead Panthers throttled forward and attempted to force the issue. The primary military objectives were to deny further use of the Belgian Port of Antwerp to the Allies and to split the Allied lines, which potentially could have allowed the Germans to encircle and destroy the four Allied forces. 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They stood, though some managed to flee fields east of town out: Tolga, thanks the.