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. Just north, the wing of the 82d Airborne defense running west to the Baraque de Fraiture crossroads (and junction with the 3d Armored Division) rested on the Salm River. The American units flanking the road had been badly understrength. They come back to the more secure positions. The advance party sent by General Hasbrouck reached St. Vith about 0800 on 17 December, reporting to General Jones, who expected to find the armored columns right behind. The section of the main St. Vith-Vielsalm supply road west of Rodt was guarded by two American medium tank companies spread over a distance of three miles. But that the XVIII Airborne Corps lacked the strength to close the gap of thirteen road miles between the VIII Corps and itself (that is, the gap between the 7th Armored Division detachment at Chrain and the elements of the 101st Airborne at Foy) was rapidly becoming apparent to all. Control, as the 18th's commander later reported, was almost nonexistent. It was the first group in this northern column which CCR had unwittingly eluded and from which the tail of the 7th Armored artillery column had glanced at Stavelot. 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. Actually there were armored divisions in the First Army closer to the scene, but they had been alerted for use in the first phases of the attacks planned to seize the Roer River dams (a design not abandoned until 17 December) and as yet little sense of urgency attached to reinforcements in the VIII Corps area. 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. Our supplies must come in through a bottleneck over a bridge near Vielsalm. In fact, he had not reached the commanders of his two infantry divisions with orders until daylight. With the arrival of the assault guns some attempt was made to probe the American defenses east of St. Vith. 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. They put up a wonderful show." Politely he asked Hasbrouck what he thought should be done with the 7th Armored. howitzers to give Stone's men a hand. Although the 62d Volks Grenadier Division was quick to occupy the ground vacated by CCB, no attempt was made to follow into the new American position. About 1035 the blocking troops left by the 9th SS Panzer Division made an attack. Thus far events in the southern sector had gone well for the Americans. While en route, the engineers met troopers of the 32d Cavalry who had been involved in a running fight along the road west of Schnberg. He personally accompanied the 295th Regiment in the assault. 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 Telephone service to the VIII Corps headquarters at Bastogne ended on 18 December when that headquarters moved to Neufchteau. unknown to the 7th Armored Division headquarters. The draw extending from the south to the west edge of town served as a boundary between the two CCB's. The roads to be used were few and in poor state, The 190th Regiment advanced in close formation toward the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, almost as if in route march, and took a terrible beating from artillery, mortars, tank destroyers, antitank guns on ground mounts, and machine guns. In the midst of a snowstorm, sometime around midnight of the 21st, Remer's tank group and his armored infantry started along the narrow trails winding through the thick woods north of the Rodt-Vielsalm road. The armored infantry were now disposed in the center with the medium tank companies, which had circled through St. Vith, at either flank. When the Germans finally maneuvered into position to renew the attack, the Americans broke free and fell back toward Commanster. 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. Here, only two thousand yards from St. Vith, two troops of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and a few antiaircraft half-tracks offered the sole barrier to a thrust into the city. The 969th Field Artillery Battalion was an African American United States Army field artillery unit that saw combat during World War II. Corps and division military police, too few in number for a traffic problem of this magnitude, were brushed aside. 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. The command status was more or less of an assumption." Although the mounted military police platoon in St. Vith had orders to sidetrack the withdrawing corps artillery when the armor appeared, the traffic jam had reached the point where the efforts of a few MP's were futile. back to Vielsalm: the 112th had withdrawn to Huldange, thus coming closer to the 7th Armored and 106th. Of course many of them will show up, but they will be minus weapons, ammunition, blankets and rations as well as at a low physical level. In the early morning of 23 December Remer gathered a truck-mounted battalion of armored infantry, put some tanks at their head, and started them for Hinderhausen, with the intention of cutting south across the rear of the Americans. It was just turning dark when the assistant G-2 of the 7th Armored CCR maintained its cordon along the valley road. On the left the bulk of the 62d Volks Grenadier Division was still confronted with an unbroken defense. the troops and vehicles to be moved were so numerous that a thirty minute 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. South of Nieder-Emmels the St. Vith road crossed the ridge where, the day before, the American tank destroyers had broken the back of the German attack before it could get rolling. Summary of Content This is a photograph of 83 members of the 969th Field Artillery Battalion. Actually the perimeter held from St. Vith westward was so large and the defending units so thoroughly mixed that command functioned on an area basis, even after the receipt of the First Army order, with the 106th Division headquarters continuing to direct the defense south and southwest of St. Vith.1, To the surprise of the St. Vith forces this day (the 20th) passed rather quietly. 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. This action continued through the afternoon, while tanks and assault guns played a dangerous game of hide-and-seek from behind the houses and the American infantry tried to knock out the German machine guns enfilading the railroad cut. The closest of the northern armored routes, as these appeared on the German operations maps, ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. First, mortars went to work against houses and foxholes. 965th Field Artillery Battalion United States Army Strength Battalion Type Defence Agency Years 1942 - 1959 Report To Field Artillery Units Reporting Units A Battery B Battery C Battery HHB Service Battery Members Who Served in 965th Field Artillery Battalion 965th Field Artillery Battalion Description Not Specified There had been no contact whatever with the 424th Infantry to the south. Made cautious by the collision at Recht, the German column moved slowly, putting out feelers to the southeast before the main force resumed the march southwest along the Vielsalm road. Both American units were able to drive forward and the Shermans knocked out six light panzers or assault guns. As the evening wore on, the leading Americans bottled up in the defile hastily organized an attack to open the exit through Salmchteau, but there was little room to deploy, and this attempt failed. gap in a column on any one of the roads would be serious. As the size and direction of the first enemy effort began to assume some shadowy form on the situation maps in the corps and division headquarters, General Middleton advised the 106th Division commander that he could use the 168th Engineer Combat Battalion, which was engaged in routine duties around St. Vith and Vielsalm. This message reached Ridgway's headquarters ten minutes before noon. The cavalry had been under fire since daybreak, and when the 2d Platoon attempted to return to its position on a commanding hill between Steinebrck and Weppler it was forced to move dismounted in a rain of bullets and shells. During the morning the division commander had led a battalion of the 294th Regiment to Schnberg, but seems to have halted there (perhaps to secure the Schnberg bridge against recapture), sending only small detachments against Troop B at Heuem. The 164th Regiment, advancing opposite the southern flank of CCB, reported success while moving unopposed through Maspelt and across ground which had been abandoned the previous night, but at a crossroads in the Grufflange woods American shells suddenly poured in and the advance came to a dead stop. Carelessly dismounting, one tank crew was riddled by machine gun fire; a second tank received a direct and killing blast. 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. This was risky business at best. to the XVIII Airborne Corps commander setting forth the hard facts of the case already put to the British captain. 87th infantry division museum The loss here of the four armored infantry companies would be keenly felt by CCB, 7th Armored Division. Why did the LXVI Corps fail to make a determined push toward St. Vith on 17 December? Then Hoge's center was hit, at this point by the 164th Grenadier Regiment whose troops got into Grufflange in the darkness and overran a medium tank platoon. The occupation of St. Vith had considerably disorganized the attacking division, whose regiments jammed into the town from east, north, and south. Actually the pick-up force of quartermaster troops, light tanks, and ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 A company of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, however, was put in to cover the cavalry left flank. CCB, 9th AD, the 424th Inf Regt of the 106th Div and the 112th Inf Regt of the 28th Div are on my right and hold from St. Vith to Holdingen. conditions and would return again to the battle. It would be the enemy, however, and not a command decision that forced the abandonment of the proposed effort. difficult job of disengaging from an enemy who might continue the attack Some of the Germans made it to the houses and defended themselves. columns pushing past Houffalize. Gen. Bruce Clarke, in advance of CCB, agreed with Jones's recommendation that his combat command be organized upon arrival into two task forces and committed in an attack to clear the St. Vith-Schnberg road. But able to fight their way out through Schnberg as General Jones The movement plans prepared by the First Army staff assigned General Hasbrouck two routes of march: an east route, through Aachen, Eupen, Malmdy, and Recht, on which CCR would move; a west route, through Maastricht, Verviers, and Stavelot, which would be used by the main body of the division. By noon Task Force Lohse and most of the artillery had crossed the river at Vielsalm. The three 105mm battalions were assigned to one of the three infantry regiments to support, forming a combat team. 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. tank destroyers knocked out two of the lead tanks, temporarily halting the attack and giving Lohse's column time to reach Commanster. drive by this time were twenty-five airline miles to the southwest of the VIII Corps headquarters and the St. Vith command post was almost 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. on the main road, was launched late in the day but was repulsed by the American artillery. We may become subjected to enemy artillery fire from practically any direction. the line east of St. Vith, and by dark all lost ground had been retaken. By this time both Hoge's and Clarke's combat commands were under attack. west from Rodt. detachment arrived to set up the Gouvy roadblock, it found the Germans inside the village. The battery swung its quadruple machine guns around for ground laying and moved into the fight, firing at the enemy assembling along the banks of the Amblve River, which here ran through the south edge of the town. Battery C had been assigned to support the 112th Infantry and with the consent of the latter shifted its 155-mm. One of the tank destroyers arrived just as a German tank platoon hove into sight at Cierreux, hit the two leaders, and drove off the five remaining tanks. made but was checked by fire from the American tank guns and mortars. 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. Wemple and his tankers were able to repel these probing attempts without difficulty. 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. By this time it was obvious to Jones and Clarke that the main forces of the 7th Armored could not reach St. Vith in time to make a daylight attack. One tank company was left as rear guard north of Maldingen, there blocking the approach from the German concentration area at Galhausen, but the enemy reacted slowly and the rear guard got away with the loss of only two tanks. General Manteuffel was anxious to free the LXVI Corps and hurry it forward to the Salm River sector as right wing cover for the two panzer corps. 303rd Battalion. . Fortunately the stock of artillery shells was replenished (for the first time in three days) from the Samre dump before it was overrun by the enemy. When ordered back into the village the cavalrymen found it jammed with German infantry. Back to Unit. howitzer, to fire only on the most urgent and well-defined targets. The traffic jam thus created was made worse by the horde of officers and men driving American vehicles captured in the Schnee Eifel who were grimly determined to hang onto their loot. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. The VIII Corps passed to General Patton's Third Army during the 20th. On the 19th most of Ridgway's troops had engaged in patrolling with no enemy contact; on the 20th the XVIII Airborne Corps faced the westernmost elements of the I SS Panzer Corps, the entire LXVI Corps, and the LVIII Panzer Corps. 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. To achieve This fire was quite ineffectual and there was little comprehension in. The defense of the St. Vith-Vielsalm area had taken form by the night of 19 December. The orders given the 7th Armored Division still held-to assist the 106th Division. Unit Casualty List By Last Name Unit Casualty List By Date Army BBS was left of his command to fall back to the high ground west of the city, planning to anchor the new line on those of his troops who were still intact in the Nieder-Emmels sector, northwest of St. Vith. Stone), and a light tank platoon had been sent to set up an outpost at the village. the tight control needed in this type of operation General Ridgway ordered Lt. Col. Thomas J. Riggs, Jr., commander of the 81st Engineer Combat Battalion, who had tried to organize a counterattack to wipe out the earlier penetrations was lost trying to organize a last-ditch defense in the hamlet of Prmerberg on the main road. Infantry Battalion (Lt. Col. William H. G. Fuller) and B Troop of the force on the 18th, was at the tail end of the LVIII Panzer Corps Again the 168th Engineers gave a spanning the Salm River at Vielsalm and Salmchteau. East of the village American infantry and engineers were aided by friendly gunners, for the 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion had received some ammunition when the trains came in and its forward observers were well posted. Redesignated as 965th Field Artillery Battalion 10 July 1946, reorganized and Federally recognized with HQ Klamath Falls 13 November 1947. to disengage in the Our River sector as quickly as the rest of the division. Striking northwest and fighting off the small blocking forces left behind by Kampfgruppe Krag, the bulk of this part of the column succeeded in reaching the 82d Airborne. General Clark later phrased the problem thus: Fortunately for the forces in the salient the withdrawal to the "goose egg" defense, a move made with extreme difficulty on muddy and congested roads and trails, was unhampered in its first phases by any German reaction. Corps toward Bastogne and Houffalize, had the troops and the maneuver 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. of Gouvy. 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