Montgomery requested permission from Churchill to give a press conference to explain the situation. Recon patrols sent out that night had run into Peipers outposts. The Kampfgruppe was stationed at Falaise, some distance to the south of Caen on D-Day and was only able to put in a counter-attack against the Allied bridgehead late in the afternoon. Kampfgruppe Sandig, which had been ordered to take Stavelot, launched another attack without success. Food was scarce, and by 22 December artillery ammunition was restricted to 10 rounds per gun per day. [citation needed][171]. [81], By the evening the spearhead had pushed north to engage the U.S. 99th Infantry Division and Kampfgruppe Peiper arrived in front of Stavelot. The first thing to do was to see the battle on the northern flank as one whole, to ensure the vital areas were held securely, and to create reserves for counter-attack. Units of the British XXX Corps were holding the bridges at Dinant, Givet, and Namur and U.S. units were about to take over. By late November another ambitious special operation was added: Col. Friedrich August von der Heydte was to lead a Fallschirmjger-Kampfgruppe (paratrooper combat group) in Operation Stsser, a night-time paratroop drop behind the Allied lines aimed at capturing a vital road junction near Malmedy.[56][57]. On 1 January, in an attempt to keep the offensive going, the Germans launched two new operations. Model and von Rundstedt both believed aiming for Antwerp was too ambitious, given Germany's scarce resources in late 1944. It was formed from January 1944 onwards from various units of elite training and demonstration troops (Lehr = "teach") stationed in Germany, to provide additional armored strength for resisting the anticipated Allied invasion of . [26], The speed of the Allied advance coupled with an initial lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems. Intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. Disagreement and confusion at the Allied command prevented a strong response, throwing away the opportunity for a decisive action. by Timo 22 Aug 2004, 13:49. The research process of over twenty years culminated in five volumes: Birth of a Regiment (May 1942-September 1943), Spearhead of the Fifth Army (September 1943-April 1944), The Battle of the Bridges (April 1944-November 1944), Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper (November 1944-February 1945), End of an Odyssey (February 1945-January 1946). Untested troops of the 99th Infantry Division prevented the best equipped armored units of the German army from advancing and forced them to reroute their troops to unfavorable alternative routes that considerably slowed their advance. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard and became the costliest battle in terms of casualties for the . Peiper learned that his reinforcements had been directed to gather in La Gleize to his east, and he withdrew, leaving wounded Americans and Germans in the Froidcourt Castle[fr]. The battle has been the most interesting, I think possibly one of the most interesting and tricky battles I have ever handled. The deployment and distribution of the divisions of the Wehrmacht and subordinate units of allies one day before the Allied air invasion near Arnhem on 17 September 1944 and the stabilization of the Western Front after the break-out of the Allied armies from Normandy. [38] Even General George Patton was alarmed and, on 17 December, described the situation to General Dwight Eisenhower as "Krauts speaking perfect English raising hell, cutting wires, turning road signs around, spooking whole divisions, and shoving a bulge into our defenses. The British 29th Armoured Brigade of British 11th Armoured Division, which had turned in its tanks for re-equipping, was told to take back their tanks and head to the area. After the 20 July 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler, and the close advance of the Red Army which would seize the site on 27 January 1945, Hitler and his staff had been forced to abandon the Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia, in which they had coordinated much of the fighting on the Eastern Front. Hosted by Christoph Awender. The Battle of St. Vith was an engagement in Belgium fought during the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine in World War II.It was one of several battles on December 16, 1944 constituting the opening of Germany's Ardennes counteroffensive (more commonly known as the "Battle of the Bulge").. On the evening of 24 December, General Hasso von Manteuffel recommended to Hitler's Military Adjutant a halt to all offensive operations and a withdrawal back to the Westwall (literally 'Western Rampart'). Some of the injuries sustained before death included bayonet wounds to the head, broken legs, and their fingers cut off. 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. 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. SS Kampfgruppe Hansen participated in the "battle of the Bulge" or "Ardennes Offensive" In a quiet sector of the Ardennes in the bitter Winter of December 1944. The attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army's infantry units in the north fared badly because of unexpectedly fierce resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. . Having given orders to Dempsey and Crerar, who arrived for a conference at 11am, I left at noon for the H.Q. It included the most experienced formation of the Waffen-SS: the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Eisenhower commented in his own memoirs: "I doubt if Montgomery ever came to realize how resentful some American commanders were. Casualties among American divisions (excluding attached elements, corps and army-level combat support, and rear-area personnel) totaled 62,439 from 16 December 1944 to 16 January 1945, inclusive: 6,238 killed, 32,712 wounded, and 23,399 missing. [63][32], The attack on Monschau, Hfen, Krinkelt-Rocherath, and then Elsenborn Ridge was led by the units personally selected by Adolf Hitler. [133], Eisenhower based his decision on various military and political realities. These soldiers were to be dressed in American and British uniforms and wear dog tags taken from corpses and prisoners of war. No, but s. PzJgr. As anyone on the ground will agree, the Ardennes has a fairly good road system. The German losses in the battle were especially critical: their last reserves were now gone, the Luftwaffe had been shattered, and remaining forces throughout the West were being pushed back to defend the Siegfried Line. They recorded the quadrupling of German fighter forces, and a term used in an intercepted Luftwaffe message (Jgeraufmarsch, literally, 'Hunter Deployment') implied preparation for an offensive operation. Battle is a mixture of confusion and disorder. [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". In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns. Gen. von Lttwitz, commander of the XXXXVII Panzer-Korps, ordered the division to turn westwards towards Dinant and the Meuse, leaving only a blocking force at Marche-en-Famenne. While the German offensive toward the Meuse had ground to a halt by the end of December, they still controlled a dangerous salient in the Allied line. The Americans of the 117th Infantry Regiment and the 743rd Tank Battalion had recaptured the town. [27] With the Allies stalled, German Generalfeldmarschall ('Field Marshal') Gerd von Rundstedt was able to reorganize the disrupted German armies into a coherent defensive force. [196], Five copies of a report by the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service Indications of the German Offensive of December 1944, derived from ULTRA material, submitted to DMI were issued on 28 December 1944. Model told him it was necessary to make the attempt: "It must be done because this offensive is the last chance to conclude the war favorably. Seeing enemy Panther tanks in bivouac and hearing multiple voices in German, the defenders of Stoumont knew they had a fight on their hands come morning. The other Kampgruppen tried to free the supply route which had also been cut by the Americans (by taking Stavelot) but this also failed. Then, we'll really cut 'em off and chew 'em up." The positions of the Allied armies stretched from southern France all the way north to the Netherlands. 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. The battle was militarily defined by the Allies as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, which included the German drive and the American effort to contain and later defeat it. by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 13:19, Post These predictions were largely dismissed by the U.S. 12th Army Group. On the same evening the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division under Maj. Gen. James Gavin arrived and deployed at La Gleize and along Peiper's planned route of advance. The Americans shelled Kampfgruppe Peiper on 22 December, and although the Germans had run out of food and had virtually no fuel, they continued to fight. The story of Hitler's Bodyguard, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte (LAH), in the battle for Bastogne does not begin until after the siege of that city had been raised by the U.S. 4th Armored Division, part of General George Patton's Third Army, on December 26, 1944. Last Updated: 28 July 2013. While the majority of the Kampfgruppe became embroiled in a bitter battle north of Caen, one [82] Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine. After an advance which had been slow, U.S. relief troops entered Bastogne at 1645 on 26 December 1944.". The Germans could field a total of 55 understrength divisions. The U.S. Army suffered more than 89,000 casualties and the loss of over eight hundred armored vehicles and tanks. The SS troopers suddenly opened fire on the prisoners. 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. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. By moving around the town with the Panthers, the Germans were able to engage the American spotters in the church steeple, and engage and destroy the 90mm that had knocked out Prahms tank earlier. General Gavin of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived on the scene first and ordered the 101st to hold Bastogne while the 82nd would take the more difficult task of facing the SS Panzer Divisions; it was also thrown into the battle north of the bulge, near Elsenborn Ridge. Indeed Peiper got closest to the Meuse but got encircled in La Gleize. Another, smaller, massacre was committed in Wereth, Belgium, approximately 6.5 miles (10.5km) northeast of Saint-Vith on 17 December 1944. One wounded crewman, either Prahm or the driver of the Panther who lost his leg, rolled down the back of the tank and crawled into a garden along the road, where he was met by German paratroopers, who attempted to shield him from fire. On 7/8 January 1945, Hitler agreed to gradually withdraw forces from the tip of the Ardennes salient to east of Houffalize to avoid being cut off, but the Germans continued to resist in the salient and were only gradually pushed back otherwise. Published: 27 July 2013. The Allies were slowly pushing towards Germany, but no decisive breakthrough was achieved. (London: Francass, 1997). Sixth Panzer Army commander Sepp Dietrich ordered Hermann Priess, commanding officer of the I SS Panzer Corps, to increase its efforts to back Peiper's battle group, but Prie was unable to break through. [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. If the attack were to succeed in capturing Antwerp, four complete armies would be trapped without supplies behind German lines. Two days earlier, on December 17, an order had been issued to the veteran American 30th Infantry Division to deploy into position in the vicinity of Eupen, to block the thrust of Kampfgruppe Peiper and prepare to form and hold a defensive line from Malmedy to the small town of Stoumont. 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. [90] Historian John S. D. Eisenhower wrote, "the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."[91][92]. For the strength of the opposing sides at any one time, see table above. Remarkably, the U.S. Third Army intelligence chief, Colonel Oscar Koch, the U.S. First Army intelligence chief and the SHAEF intelligence officer Brigadier General Kenneth Strong all correctly predicted the German offensive capability and intention to strike the U.S. VIII Corps area. [52], For these reasons Allied High Command considered the Ardennes a quiet sector, relying on assessments from their intelligence services that the Germans were unable to launch any major offensive operations this late in the war. Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic, Kriegsmarine surface ships and Kriegsmarine in general, Luftwaffe air units and Luftwaffe in general, German Strategy & General German Military Discussion, NSDAP, other party organizations & Government, The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, The Ron Klages Panzer & other vehicles Section, Panzer & other vehicles - Photo threads, Axis Documents, Feldpost numbers, Postcards & Other Paper Items, The United Kingdom & its Empire and Commonwealth 1919-45, The Allies and the Neutral States in general, German Colonies and Overseas Expeditions, The end of the Ottoman Empire 1908-1923, Translation help: Breaking the Sound Barrier, Kg Hansen, Kg Peiper, Kg Sandig and Kg knittel, http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=39307, Re: Kg Hansen, Kg Peiper, Kg Sandig and Kg knittel, http://www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/ardennes.htm. Regardless, those who now found themselves surrounded threw down their weapons and came out of their positions. Major-General Freddie de Guingand, Chief of Staff of Montgomery's 21st Army Group, rose to the occasion, and personally smoothed over the disagreements on 30 December.[138]. A trucking system nicknamed the Red Ball Express brought supplies to front-line troops, but used up five times as much fuel to reach the front line near the Belgian border. The American TD gunners attempted to fire off more rounds at the Panthers but were soon overrun by SS Panzergrenadiers slowly moving up the road and into the village. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 But who exactly fired the shots and why is, despite many possible scenarios, a mystery to date. [67] Peiper's forces were rerouted through Lanzerath. The panzer columns swung past on either side, cutting off Bastogne on 20 December but failing to secure the vital crossroads. From there, after handing over its remaining tanks and artillery to the Frundsberg Division, the division was to be transported by rail to Germany for a . It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The answer to both questions isyes 8), The LSSAH Kampfgruppen you mean? un turco se puede casar con una latina; nassau county family court judge peterson; list of mayors of swansea; celebrities who are anti mask; hello kitty cafe truck schedule 2022 [108] Skorzeny and his men were fully aware of their likely fate, and most wore their German uniforms underneath their American ones in case of capture. For the offensive to be successful, four criteria were deemed critical: the attack had to be a complete surprise; the weather conditions had to be poor to neutralize Allied air superiority and the damage it could inflict on the German offensive and its supply lines;[50] the progress had to be rapidthe Meuse River, halfway to Antwerp, had to be reached by day 4; and Allied fuel supplies would have to be captured intact along the way because the combined Wehrmacht forces were short on fuel. A few survived, and news of the killings of prisoners of war spread through Allied lines. His Kampfgruppe was surrounded, virtually out of fuel, short of ammunition, and reduced to about a quarter of its original strength. The ground was relatively firm, with soft rolling hills and broad clear pastures. Discussions on all (non-biographical) aspects of the Freikorps, Reichswehr, Austrian Bundesheer, Heer, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Fallschirmjger and the other Luftwaffe ground forces. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. German offensive exhausts their resources on the, German front collapses, opens way for the, c. 1,000 aircraft lost, over 647 in December, c. 800 aircraft lost, at least 500 in December and 280 during, troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat and rapid movement, supply lines were stretched extremely thin. Peiper's Panthers flank Stoumont from the fields east of town. 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". A footnote in the U.S. Army's official history volume "Riviera to the Rhine" makes the following note on U.S. [172][173], In response to the early success of the offensive, on 6 January Churchill contacted Stalin to request that the Soviets put pressure on the Germans on the Eastern Front. By 1939, the LSSAH was a full infantry regiment . [186], At Bletchley Park, F. L. Lucas and Peter Calvocoressi of Hut 3 were tasked by General Nye (as part of the enquiry set up by the Chiefs of Staff) with writing a report on the lessons to be learned from the handling of pre-battle Ultra. Max joined the NSDAP, Nr 478376, on 01-03-1931 and the SS, Nr 27813, on 01-08-1931, he was apprenticed to a locksmith. 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. Next is looking across the massacre site toward the cross roads the road to Ligneuville runs left to right. [27] Over-the-beach supply operations using the Normandy landing areas, and direct landing ships on the beaches, were unable to meet operational needs. 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 Recht . T.N. Many thanks to my friend James for getting it. As the Panther crewmen bailed out of their vehicle and took cover in a ditch, they came under intense small arms fire from the buildings in the center of town. [136], Montgomery's Chief of Staff, Major-General Francis de Guingand, stated in his post-war account that he had opposed Montgomery's narrow front strategy on political and administrative grounds. This had the short-term goal of opening the urgently needed port of Antwerp and the long-term goal of capturing the Ruhr area, the biggest industrial area of Germany. [89], The U.S. 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. There are a lot of photos of this group, the convoy of American vehicles around them, and a little bit of data on where they are from. ULTRA); and improvements in German security. There is a popular impression that the chief trouble in the Ardennes is the lack of good roads. [citation needed], Gen. Eisenhower, realizing that the Allies could destroy German forces much more easily when they were out in the open and on the offensive than if they were on the defensive, told his generals, "The present situation is to be regarded as one of opportunity for us and not of disaster. The rapid advance by the German forces who surrounded the town, the spectacular resupply operations via parachute and glider, along with the fast action of General Patton's Third U.S. Army, all were featured in newspaper articles and on radio and captured the public's imagination; there were no correspondents in the area of Saint-Vith, Elsenborn, or Monschau-Hfen. Battle of the Bulge. The phrase 'Battle of the Bulge' was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps.[46][47]. The Allies captured the port of Antwerp intact in the first days of September, but it was not operational until 28 November. The rumors,which were true,of Kampfgruppe Peiper executing American POWs in the previous daysmade the decision to surrender difficult for those who were unable to extricate themselves from their defensive positions as the Germans rolled past them. 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