18th volksgrenadier division 18th volksgrenadier division

18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) - Unionpedia, the concept map A strong attack has just developed against Clarke again. events, and resources, The Battle of the Bulge & The Defense of St. Vith. It is possible (if unlikely) that this event was completely unrelated to the M8 Greyhound versus Tiger story. The U.S. 9th Armored Division contested the German advance around St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, and won precious time in the process. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. Thus, the Fifth Panzer Army commander ordered that St. Vith be taken no later than the second day of the offensive. It contained the 293., 294. and 295. grenadier regiments, Panzerjger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Fsilier-Bataillon 1818 and Artillerie-Regiment 1818.[1]. One, the Sixth Panzer Army, was commanded by SS Obergruppenfhrer (brigadier general) Josef Sepp Dietrich, and the other, the Fifth Panzer Army, was commanded by General Hasso von Manteuffel. Amazing discounts for bundles. They were sometimes misidentified as Tiger HIs. Could a Panther be a possibility? VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Fire from the 16th Field Artillery broke up other enemy formations trying to assemble on the high ground to the south. Since speed was the key to success of the German plan, two panzer armies would spearhead the offensive. The move would also have to be done under the cover of darkness in severe wintry conditions. English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. The commanders were at the center of the Foret Domaniale du Grand Bois. It was to cross the Meuse on both sides of Liege before advancing on to Antwerp. Ministry of Supply, 1945. The distance from Burg Reuland on the southeast to Poteau on the northwest was about 10 miles with only a single secondary road as a line of retreat for thousands of men defending the horseshoe against attack from three directions. It consisted of the 136th 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery Zaloga, Steven. When you get surprised like this, you become cautious.Undoubtedly much, if not most, of the armor encountered by Manteuffels probing actions during the early days of the German offensive belonged to CCB, 9th Armored Division. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was to attack along the two roads from Schoenberg, with the Fhrer Escort Brigade assaulting from the north. The guns from a platoon of Shermans, the antiaircraft company, and a mortar platoon supplied a covering barrage, which broke up the German assault and inflicted heavy casualties. This version of the story, which is paraphrased in the introduction, will be referred to as the original version of the story. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Periode: Eerste Wereldoorlog (1914-1918) . 194311 Lieutenant Olsons version of the story would be the most contradicting version yet. On the road to Winterspelt, General Hoge soon learned that the situation there was worse than General Jones had described. At the close of the first day of battle, General Lucht could look with some satisfaction at the days events, although his 62nd Volksgrenadier Division had yet to break through the American line. During his meeting with Hoge, General Ridgway became convinced that defending this area any further would be futile. . The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. Sometime later that Monday morning, General Hoge sent his liaison officer to St. Vith to learn the dispositions of CCB, 7th Armored Division. Companies A and B held a line from Grufflingen to Hohenbusch with Company A, 14th Tank Battalion to their north. The greatest danger existed in the 424ths position because the regiments flank lay vulnerable to attacks by the 116th Panzer Division to the south. Established in 1941, the unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, in the Army Group North Rear Area. Both American units were able to drive forward, and the Shermans knocked out six German armored vehicles. It saw action in France before taking part in the fighting in the Ardennes where it suffered heavy losses, it continued fighting on the western front until the end . The entry only states that a Tiger tank was knocked out. This story has gained a good deal of attention in recent years, especially on the internet thanks to videos such as The Tank Duel at St. Vith, Belgium by Lance Geiger The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Close. Anderson, Thomas. Little offtopic here but another misidentification might be the 1 destroyed 88mm assault gun (Ferdinand). The earliest known mention can be found in the December 18th, 1944 morning report and record of events entry of Troop E, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron which briefly states that an M-8 atchd [attached] to A Tr [Troop A] knocked out one Tiger tank. What Jones did not tell Hoge was that in one of those regiments his own son was serving at regimental headquarters. Anderson, Thomas. In the 27th AIBs move to take the high ground, B Company advanced along the center of the road. VGD. . The ultimate objective was to open an escape route for the soldiers of the 424th. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. The fact that there were Panzer IVs attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B) and the similarity in appearance between the Tiger I and Panzer IV would account for both Troop Es account and Troop Ds potential account of this event. Since St. Vith should have been taken on December 16 or the 17th at the latest, he decided to leave his command post at Waxweiler and spend the night with the 18th Volksgrenadier Division at Schoenberg. Zaloga, Steven, and Tony Bryan. Company B of the 9th Engineers and D Company of the 89th Recon joined the line to supplement the armored infantry. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. General Clarke again called on the 9th Armored for assistance to help stiffen his line, and Hoge responded by sending the 3rd Battalion, 424th Regimental Combat Team. Panzer Tracts No. A mobile battalion of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was already moving on Andler to seize the Schoenberg bridge and the road to St. Vith. One Day at Stavelot, a Tale of Two Archives The Tiger II vs US Tank Destroyers in the Ardennes. The Commands main body was led by the 27th AIB with B Company in front, followed by Headquarters and C Company. 223 223. As far as Im aware no Ferdinands (all upgraded to Elefants at the stage of Ardennes Offensive) were used in the Ardennes and better yet all Elefants were in Eastern Front with the 614.sPzJgK (formerly 2./653.sPzJgAbt) after August 1944. 1964. Gen. Robert Hasbroucks 7th Armored Division would be arriving at St. Vith at 0700 on the 17th. 13 relations. 1940. August 18th, 1989 Kalb, Herbert Kalbhenn, Heinrich * February 3rd, 1915 more Kaldeway, x Kalesse, Gerhard (Grenadier-Regiment 689) * July 15th, 1918 October 23rd, 2011 Kaletsch, Georg * October 16th, 1914 March 6th, 1944 Kaletsch, Wilhelm Kalinowski, Josef (Panzergrenadier-Regiment "GD") * January 23rd, 1916 April 5th, 1944 Grave: UNK Osprey Publishing, 2013. Together they broke up the attack. Schneider, Wolfgang. En route, the officer was approached by a member of General Clarkes staff who told him that German tanks were approaching St. Vith along the road from the north. 10 Apr. Bergstrm, Christer. Johnston, W. Wesley. The 7th Armored had taken a beating in defending St. Vith. The line companies were down to one officer apiece. Ridgways plan was premised on the assumption that that the American forces in this goose egg-shaped defense could be supplied by air; however, whoever drew up the plan was thinking in terms of supply requirements for the lighter airborne divisions, not for fuel-hungry and shell-reliant armored forces. By mid-afternoon, General Hoge ordered his infantry to halt and dig in. Im going to guess that they just created this all up in their head. Your email address will not be published. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two. Darlington Productions Inc., 2000. The brigade had 9,000 men, Mark IV tanks, assault guns, 104mm and 105mm artillery, 88mm antiaircraft guns, and a number of heavy automatic weapons batteries. Given the unreliability of the American accounts of this supposed event and the lack of any supporting documentation from the Germans, it is safe to say that neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was knocked out by an M8 Greyhound on 18th December 1944 in or around the town of St. Vith. Looking at German records The Fhrerbegleit Brigade with one Panzerabteilung of four companies of Pzkw IV and a Sturmgeschutzabteilung with four batteries of StuG III were in reserve assembled in the area around Daun on the 17th and not yet in action only beginning to move up at 1600H on the 18th. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18.Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. The American plan was that once the 2nd Infantry Division reduced the German defenses at the Wahlerscheid crossroads, CCB was to spearhead a drive to the reservoirs north of Gemund and Schleiden. The sector now defended by CCB, 9th Armored extended across five miles of rugged terrain that was primarily held by the three infantry companies making up the 27th AIB. It was a race between the Germans who were desperately trying to bring their 88 mm gun to bear and the Americans who were trying to get as close as possible to the Tiger Is rear. Unable to advance, it pulled back to the nearest high ground and dug in. During the early hours of December 17, the Germans laid heavy mortar and artillery fire on the front-line positions of his regiment. Airfix J6017 Volkswagen Camper Van (Quick Build) R 405.00. Volksgrenadier-Division. Moreover, at least a regiment from the 1st SS Panzer Division was in sporadic conflict with the American defenders in the Recht-Poteau area and, in the south, elements of the 560th Volksgrenadier Division, part of General Walter Kruegers 58th Panzer Corps, were also identified as pushing against American forces in the St. Vith salient. Armored Champion, The Top Tanks of World War II. On the morning of the December 20, three tank destroyers were placed in support of Company C, 27th AIB. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. General Lucht hurried to Winterspelt to get the 62nd Volksgrenadier moving to the Our. Andrews, Frank L. The Defense of St. Vith in the Battle of the Ardennes December, 1944. In light of these circumstances, General Hasbrouck felt compelled to write to Clarke that unless the withdrawal began soon the opportunity will be gone., During the night of December 22, a cold wind had begun to blow out of the east bringing what weathermen call a Russian high. Although both Clarke and Hoge noted it, they saw little hope that the ground might freeze in time to aid their withdrawal, but after receiving Hasbroucks message Clarke stepped out and tested the ground. Schneider, Wolfgang. Although the Germans were quick to build up beyond the Our River after the American withdrawal, they made no immediate moves against the new American line. Engeman set out with two task forces to meet the enemy. Attack on Panther PzKw V and Tiger PzKw VI. He was also told that all that stood in their way were two troops of the 87th Recon Squadron, 7th Armoreds 87th, and a few antiaircraft half-tracks. Panzer Tracts No. Pegov in March 1944 on a light tank T-70 destroyed two German Panthers aboard. Volksgrenadier Division 5. The M5 got within a yard of the Tiger and knocked it out with 5 rounds. There is no comparison to Tiger. The troop was to hold until relieved by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) and then reconnoiter farther down the road toward Winterspelt. While a single troop of the 14th Cavalry Group continued to resist the German spearheads, the 106th's engineers dug in to block the crucial Schoenberg road 2 miles east of St. Vith, a last ditch defense, hoping . However, once a closer look is taken at this story, cracks begin to appear, and soon enough one begins to wonder whether or not this story really is too good to be true. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. The troops request for armored support was denied by General Hoge because his tank companies sent north to help the 7th Armored had not yet returned and no reserve was on hand. Heeft u zelf meer informatie over deze persoon? Schneider, Wolfgang. That is correct, however, that was off the topic of this story. According to British penetration diagrams from 1944, the 37 mm M6 gun firing its standard round, the 37 mm APC M51, could, under ideal conditions, penetrate the 80 mm thick rear hull armor angled at 9 degrees when firing at an angle of 0 degrees, albeit just barely. Johnston, W. Wesley. War Department, 1944. It is certainly possible that the tank destroyed in this engagement was a Panzer IV or a StuG III but in the absence of new evidence coming to light it can only be concluded that either the Greyhound crew knocked out a completely different tank or were otherwise exaggerating some action. Hoge managed to stop the stragglers, and soon a provisional company of men from the 424th was formed to reinforce the 27th AIB on its march toward the Our. Excellent deductive research! Given that the rear hull armor of a Tiger II is 80 mm of RHA angled at 30 degrees, it is essentially impossible for the M8 Greyhounds 37 mm M6 gun to penetrate the rear hull armor of the Tiger II. Josef Theissen, the fifteen-year-old who had seen the Germans arrive on Sunday, December 17, watched the soldiers every move with the fascination for things military . The event simply was not that notable. Company A of the 14th Tank Battalion had some trouble disengaging. Since General Hoge was supposed to be under Joness command and did not understand the overall situation around St. Vith, he decided to find out exactly what was going on. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The heroic defense of St. Vith, though costly in men and materil, disrupted the German timetable extensively. Osprey Publishing, 2010. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. When Model released the Fhrer Escort Brigade to General Manteuffel, he thought that he would be able to gain quick access to the St. Vith road network. Staff officers were casualties. American Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Choose a Unit. Adding to the slowdown of operations against St. Vith, the 18th Volksgrenadier Division was still using two of its three regiments and all but one of its artillery battalions against the two trapped 106th Infantry Division regiments on the Schnee Eifel. Early on the 19th, the Germans made reconnaissance probes. Company C, 27th AIB withdrew under heavy artillery and sniper fire but managed to destroy a number of German vehicles. After Clarke and Hoge settled upon a mutually supportive command structure, Clarke noted that Hoges command was, for the most part, forward of a railroad track built on a high embankment. The division was formed in Denmark, in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division. History. First Edition, Presidio Press, 2002. Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. Out of this grand battle would come a too-good-to-be-true story symbolic of the stiff American resistance put up against the German offensive, that of how an M8 Greyhound armored car destroyed a Tiger I heavy tank. At 0400 hours on 16th December, 1944, men of the German 18th Volksgrenadier Division began to leave their positions and make their way towards the American lines. Infanterie-Division . The northern prong of the horseshoe was composed of CCB, 7th Armored Division from Poteau and Vielsalm. Six paved or macadam roads converged at St. Vith, but none of these was considered by the Germans to be a major military trunk line. Bergstrm, Christer. The ground was frozen solid. Division C E R T I F I C A T E 24 June 1945 I certify that I am S-3 German Division Nr. It was around 1200 hours and all was quiet when suddenly a German heavy tank was spotted slowly approaching the American line, a Tiger I. Germanys Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I: Design, Production & Modifications. There was little they could do other than vow to get the attack moving early on the 20th. Between these units, a place was found for the provisional company composed of the 424th Infantry stragglers. First-time contributor Charles Gutierrez is the son of a 9th Armored Division veteran. Not to mention that the M8s 37 mm M6 gun is more than capable of penetrating the rear hull armor of the Panzer IV, which was only 20 mm thick angled at 10 degrees. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. I am weighing toward a stray Panzer IV or maybe a SP gun like the one you described. of the Army, 1965. One task force was made up of A and B Companies of the 14th Tank Battalion, B Company of the 482nd Antiaircraft Artillery, and another platoon of the 14th. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. English PDF (33 MB) Jan B-700 Since 7th Armoreds withdrawal meant that 9th Armoreds left flank would be in danger, the two generals agreed that Hoge would have to readjust part of his line to maintain contact with Clarkes new rearward position. On this day, CCB of the 9th Armored Division was still in its assembly area in the vicinity of Faymonville. Jentz, Thomas, and Hilary Doyle. A platoon of tank destroyers had vanished. Boylan, Vincent L. After Action Report, Month of December, 1944. Because Ridgway was not in total agreement with the withdrawal and to get a feel for the real situation on the ground, he and Hasbrouck made their way to General Clarke at Commanster. This is puzzling, to say the least. Zaloga, Steven. Infanterie-Division Hamburg 19453 . Rodt was garrisoned by the service company of the 48th AIB and some drivers belonging to the battalion whose vehicles were parked there. The closest of the northern German armored thrust routes ran through Recht, about five miles northwest of St. Vith. The most startling difference however is the range at which this engagement occurred, with Lieutenant Olsons version having the engagement take place at 800 yards (732 meters), compared to the original storys 25 yards (23 meters)! VGD. It appeared now that the fate of his two northern regiments was sealed. St. Vith is built on a low hill surrounded on all sides by slightly higher rises. 1941622 . So its quite possible! The provisional company of 424th stragglers disappeared during the night. Task Force Jones and the 112th Infantry eventually found their way into 82nd Airborne Division lines during the night of the 24th, but not before the units suffered heavy losses. 3. The supply trains led the way north on N27 to St. Vith. Join historians and history buffs alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereigns military history magazines. Good Tank, Poor Deployment | T-34-76 and T-34-85 in Yugoslav Partisan Service. Although the 62nd Volksgrenadier captured Winterspelt, its losses were high and its left regiment had made little headway in the Heckhuschied sector. The bridge at Steinebruck was intentionally left intact by General Hoge on the outside chance that some of the American troops trapped in the vicinity of the Schnee Eifel might be able to maneuver their way there. 1945. No one knew what was happening. 13th Flak Division 651 . English Edition, Casemate Publishers, 2014. The only known witness to the supposed event, Captain Walter Henry Anstey, died on 26th October 2003 at the age of 90, taking the truth of the events that day to his grave. The next move was up to General Lucht and his corps. The fight ended when he slammed the M8 (he called it a Greyhound) into the rear of Tiger and the gun crew fired three rapid fire rounds into the engine compartment. Clerks were running everywhere and junior staff officers were arguing among themselves; upstairs, however, Hoge found General Jones remarkably composed. At daybreak on December 21, the Germans launched their first assault of the day on CCB, 9th Armored. The armored infantrymen kept themselves well hidden until the column was directly in front of them and then opened fire. The division fought in the Ardennes, inflicting on the 106th US Infantry Division the worst defeat suffered by U.S. forces in the ETO, when over 8,000 US soldiers surrendered to the volksgrenadiers. At 0100 the 23rd, D Troop, 89th Recon lost an armored car and a jeep to antitank guns. School of Tank Technology, April 1944. At about 0930, the enemy attacked St. Vith from Hunningen to the north, apparently in an effort to envelop Clarkes left flank. This initial thrust carried the enemy approximately 400 yards into the battalions sector. Still quite a feat for a little Greyhound, though well probably never know conclusively. Therefore, he decided to use the 9th Armored at Winterspelt, since capture of that area by the Germans would open to the enemy a direct route to St. Vith, a route even shorter than that leading from the Schnee Eifel. The mud had made the roads and open areas impassable for armored vehicles. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, Combat Interviews of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division: The St. Vith Salient and Manhay, December 17-23, 1944. 2014. At least 900 soldiers who had stood in front of the town were either dead or captured. Protected by armor between 25 mm to 145 mm thick and armed with a fearsome 88mm KwK 36 L/56 main gun, the Tiger I was arguably the most feared tank of World War II by Allied soldiers. 18e volksgrenadier division English translation: 18th volksgrenadier division (wehrmacht).. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. Developed in the 1930s, the Panzer IV was one of the mainstay German armored fighting vehicles of the Second World War as well as Germanys most-produced tank of the war, with over 8,500 produced. Before the day ended, renewed fighting broke out along the entire front. Two of its tanks were mired in mud that had not frozen and had to be retrieved by a tank dozer. The Tiger II, also known as the King Tiger, Royal Tiger, Knigstiger, and Tiger Ausf.B, was an enormous, 69.8 tonne German heavy tank. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. Hoge and Clarke agreed that Hoges entire command should be withdrawn west of the railroad tracks. Volksgrenadier-Division; 18. Which specific Tiger II this was is unknown. However, just as the Americans began their pursuit, the Germans noticed them and began traversing their turret to face them. It was a new and inexperienced division made up of Luftwaffe personnel, former Kriegsmariners out of a The division, which was under the command of Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn, absorbed . Situated next to B Company were Company A, 27th AIB and Company D, 14th Tank Battalion. Manteuffels operation in the St. Vith area was already three days behind schedule. The village of St. Vith lay approximately 12 miles behind the front lines on December 16, 1944, the day the offensive code-named Operation Watch on the Rhine began. At approximately 0930 on December 17, B Company was the first 9th Armored Division unit to cross the Our River. Volksgrenadier-Division. Mastering all the usages of 'poor shape' from sentence examples published by news publications. Both B and C Companies pulled back to the vicinity of Neidingen, near the battalion command post, while the 14th Tank Battalion established a perimeter defense around its assembly area near Breitfeld about halfway between the Our and St. Vith. German 18th Volksgrenadier Div. 281st Security Division (281. This version is also attributed to Captain Anstey and is nearly the exact same as his original version of the story as well as being plagued by the exact same issues. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. Armament T-70 gun cal. Once St. Vith was taken, Model intended to drive the brigade swiftly for the Meuse River or cut behind the opposition on the Elsenborn Ridge that was bottling up the Sixth Panzer Army. Clarke, Bruce. Roadblocks were set up and manned. The German plan for the attack through the Ardennes, an offensive that would forever be known as the Battle of the Bulge, was to be accomplished in the conventional manner. 1945) English PDF (18 MB) Jan B-627 Volkssturm (Oct. 1944-Apr. On top of attacking the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (minus Troop B), a Panzer IV can be easily misidentified as a Tiger I. Not only does Troop Es version of the story involve a different unit than the original story, it also takes place in a different location, note the following map. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. Not long after Rodt fell to the Fhrer Escort Brigade, an attack came against the 7th Armored from the direction of Recht. Jentz, Thomas. Beevor, Antony. The leading vehicles of General Hoges command entered St. Vith on Sunday morning just as dawn was breaking and halted close to the 106th Divisions command post at the St. Joseph Kloster. By the end of the day, the 27th AIB had withdrawn through Steinebruck without casualties despite enemy shelling of the village. On 18 January 1945, the final alignment became (XVIII Corps, U. S. First Army, 12th Army Group) -- the alignment in the hierarchy given here. The Ardennes 1944-1945: Hitlers Winter Offensive. During the afternoon of December 19, Hoge visited Clarkes command post in St. Vith and expressed his frustration with the current chain of command. Such was not the case, however, and by the evening of the December 20, the Germans were feeling the growing negative effects of the St. Vith salient. }(document, 'script', 'exco-player')); The M8 Greyhound was a small, 7.9 tonne American armored car with 6.4 mm to 25.4 mm of armor, only enough to protect against rifle caliber bullets, and armed with a 37 mm M6 main gun, a peashooter at this point in the war. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. This break appeared to be only a dream, however, as it seemed every outfit wanted a piece of CCB, 9th Armored to help shore up its positions. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. That evening General Clarke also put his command into Commanster. This is before you take into account that the manufacturing process for German armor allowed for a tolerance in plates which often left plates 2 to 5 mm thicker than ordered. At about 1330, three German self-propelled guns and 19 or 20 horse-drawn artillery pieces went into position on the high ground 800 yards to the southeast of Steinebruck. Late on the 20th, patrols of the 82nd Airborne Division, on the other side of the Salm River, established contact with patrols of the 7th Armored Division. 8 Sturmgeschuetz s.Pak to Sturmmoerser. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=18th_Volksgrenadier_Division&oldid=1127007404, Military units and formations established in 1944, Military units and formations disestablished in 1945, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 December 2022, at 11:24. VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.. Jones wanted Clarke to counterattack immediately with his combat command and break that ring that these people have closed around the Schnee Eifel.. Armour Plate Porforation [sic: Perforation] of Tank and Anti Tank Guns. However, the monumental traffic jams in the Losheim Gap and at Schoenberg continued to delay both the 18th Volksgrenadier Division and the Fhrer Escort Brigade, and not until after daylight on the 20th would a bridge be ready at Steinebruck for the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division. The surviving Volksgrenadiers fled in disarray. If neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was killed on 18th December 1944 in or around the town of St. Vith by an M8 Greyhound, what was? However, after careful analysis, it can be said with certainty that neither a Tiger I nor a Tiger II was killed by an M8 Greyhound from any troop of the 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on 18th December 1944 near St. Vith. Boyer, Donald P. St. Vith The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge 17-23 December 1944 A Narrative After Action Report. Volksgrenadier-Division. Infanterie-Division 193510 [1] 22 22. The failure to capture St. Vith was preventing the linkup of the Fifth and the Sixth Panzer Armies. So many soldiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division converged on Wallerode for the final push against St. Vith that the villagers themselves threatened to be squeezed out. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of Generalmajor Gnther Hoffmann-Schnborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. After listening to the information provided by General Clarkes staff officer, General Hoge decided to go to St. Vith himself to assess the situation. The Pontiac, Michigan, resident also served 10 years in the U.S. Army. That cold snap that hit us has frozen the roads. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945. Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918) Period: First World War (1914-1918) Awarded on: . The men of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps had expected to be on the Meuse by December 19, but on the night of December 20 the Americans still denied them access to St. Vith. Within the Kloster, General Hoge found a division headquarters staff in a state of disarray and confusion. Confusion, darkness, and mud slowed the move, but by morning a medium tank company and a platoon of riflemen had reached the village.