It has two squadrons that provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition for Stryker brigade combat teams. [95] They had little time to establish any unit cohesion or train together. Panther number 225, commanded by SS Rottenfuhrer Franz Prahm, was the first tank in the column. What crewmen survived poured out of the burning tank and ran for cover. 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. KAMPFGRUPPE HOHENSTAUFEN. Too small and too weak to counter the Allies, they abandoned plans to take the crossroads and instead converted the mission to reconnaissance. Ninth Army had two corps and three divisions; First Army had three corps and fifteen divisions. Considerable fighting went on for another 3 weeks, with Third Army and First Army linking up on 16 January with the capture of Houffalize. Because Skorzeny's men were captured in American uniforms, they were executed as spies. Ambush at Poteau : . The German invasion began on the 10 th of May 1940. From 24 May 1941-22 June 1941, the 11. Its newest and most powerful tank, the Tiger II heavy tank, consumed 2 US gallons of fuel per mile (470 litres per 100 km), and the Germans only had enough fuel for an estimated 90 to 100 miles (140 to 160km) of travel, not nearly enough to reach Antwerp.[66]. The author states they are a part of 2. SS-Panzerjaeger Abt 1 "LSSAH". By November, it was clear that Soviet forces were preparing for a winter offensive.[34]. [27] Over-the-beach supply operations using the Normandy landing areas, and direct landing ships on the beaches, were unable to meet operational needs. 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. 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. [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. [77], Peiper advanced north-west towards Bllingen, keeping to the plan to move west, unaware that if he had turned north he had an opportunity to flank and trap the entire 2nd and 99th Divisions. 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 men of the Kampfgruppe were forced to abandon their vehicles and heavy equipment, although most of the 800 remaining troops were able to escape. by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 13:42, Post Conditions inside the perimeter were toughmost of the medical supplies and medical personnel had been captured. by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 13:30, Post On 24 December, German forces made their furthest penetration west. The SS troopers suddenly opened fire on the prisoners. [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". [32] The 6th Panzer Army included the elite of the Waffen-SS, including four Panzer divisions and five infantry divisions in three corps. Heavy snowstorms engulfed parts of the Ardennes area. A hastily assembled British blocking force on the east side of the river prevented the German Battlegroup Bhm from approaching the Dinant bridge. 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. Patton and Eisenhower both felt this was a misrepresentation of the relative share of the fighting played by the British and Americans in the Ardennes (for every British soldier there were thirty to forty Americans in the fight), and that it belittled the part played by Bradley, Patton and other American commanders. "[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. [86], German efforts to reinforce Peiper were unsuccessful. by Timo 22 Aug 2004, 13:33, Post Kampfgruppe Knaust. The panzer columns swung past on either side, cutting off Bastogne on 20 December but failing to secure the vital crossroads. The Allies were slowly pushing towards Germany, but no decisive breakthrough was achieved. [38], Hitler's plan called for a Blitzkrieg attack through the weakly defended Ardennes, mirroring the successful German offensive there during the Battle of France in 1940aimed at splitting the armies along the U.S.British lines and capturing Antwerp. I had nothing to do with it. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Kampfgruppe Hansen was still struggling against bad road conditions and stiff American resistance on the southern route. BBC correspondent Chester Wilmot explained that "my dispatch to the BBC about it was intercepted by the German wireless, re-written to give it an anti-American bias, and then broadcast by Arnhem Radio, which was then in Goebbels' hands. As the first Panther rounded the bend in the road and took Stoumont station into view, a round from a camouflaged 90mm gun screamed down the road and slammed into the Panther, penetrating the armor and exploding. According to Winston Churchill, the attack from the south under Patton was steady but slow and involved heavy losses, and Montgomery was trying to avoid this situation. [31], Adolf Hitler first outlined his planned counter-offensive to his generals on 16 September 1944. [132] Other than making futile objections to Hitler in private, Dietrich generally stayed out of planning the offensive. Shots were traded back and forth but astonishingly no tanks were knocked out by either side. 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. Post To the north, the 277th Volksgrenadier Division attempted to break through the defending line of the U.S. 99th and the 2nd Infantry Divisions. Annoyed but unhurt, Prahm forced his massive tank forward. 6 Battle Describing (2) 6 Bearded (12) 6 Before the War (17) 6 Birthday (2) 6 Bunker (1) 6 Camera (4) The Germans had outrun their supply lines, and shortages of fuel and ammunition were becoming critical. . He maintained his lines west of Stoumont for a while, until the evening of 19 December when he withdrew them to the village edge. by Lasse 22 Aug 2004, 13:11, Post Date is 17.12.1944. 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. To solve the problem of the 90mm in the middle of town, the Germans decided to go cross-country. [91] Dietrich's decision unknowingly played into American hands, as Robertson had already decided to abandon the villages. [30], The Allies' efforts to destroy the French railway system prior to D-Day were successful. Only about 100 of his weary men finally reached the German rear. 29.03.1943 Vapaudenristin Ritarikunta (Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty), 1st Class with Star and Swords . The damaged Panther retrieved the wounded crewmen from the first tank and reversed course. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations and related topics hosted by the Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Christian Ankerstjernes Panzerworld and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day. 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. in large blank spaces on the G-2 maps in the American headquarters. Fierce American resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. [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 lowest German estimates include 10,749 dead, 34,225 wounded, and 22,487 captured or missing. The pressure on the defenders reached its high-water mark when German halftracks rattled into town and disgorged their cargo, that cargo being fresh Panzergrenadiers who went house to house and mopped up what was left of the American defenders in Stoumont. Kampfgruppe Peiper. Peiper Obersturmbannfhrer Kdr Kampfgruppe Peiper / SS-Panzer Regiment 1 "LSSAH". [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. It overlapped with the Alsace Offensive, subsequently the Colmar Pocket, another series of battles launched by the Germans in support of the Ardennes thrust. Armee conquered the Crimea and captured . The ground was relatively firm, with soft rolling hills and broad clear pastures. Since the German plan called for the capture of St. Vith by 18:00 on 17 December, the prolonged action in and around it dealt a major setback to their timetable. When they reached it at 11:30 on 18 December, retreating U.S. engineers blew it up. 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. The Allies captured the port of Antwerp intact in the first days of September, but it was not operational until 28 November. Most were shot where they stood, though some managed to flee. The speed of the advance of the Allies caused several military logistics issues: By December 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (the Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front) and his staff decided to hold the Ardennes region primarily as a rest area for the U.S. First Army, with limited Allied operational objectives in the area. Allied air forces also helped the defenders of Bastogne, dropping much-needed suppliesmedicine, food, blankets, and ammunition. Battle is a mixture of confusion and disorder. 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. [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. At 16:50 on 26 December, the lead element, Company D, 37th Tank Battalion of the 4th Armored Division, reached Bastogne, ending the siege. 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. Model and von Rundstedt both believed aiming for Antwerp was too ambitious, given Germany's scarce resources in late 1944. By this time, it was palpable to virtually the entire German leadership including Hitler himself that they had no realistic hope of repelling the imminent Soviet invasion of Germany unless the Wehrmacht was able to concentrate the entirety of its remaining forces on the Eastern Front, which in turn required that hostilities on the Western and Italian Fronts be terminated. 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. There were 96 Allied divisions at or near the front, with an estimated ten more divisions on the way from the United Kingdom. 2 is held by the UK National Archives as file HW 13/45. Having given orders to Dempsey and Crerar, who arrived for a conference at 11am, I left at noon for the H.Q. [64][65] SS-Obersturmbannfhrer Joachim Peiper led Kampfgruppe Peiper, consisting of 4,800 men and 600 vehicles, which was charged with leading the main effort. The previous night, the infantrymen of the 119th had been reinforced with towed tank destroyers as well as three 57mm anti-tank guns and two 90mm anti-aircraft weapons that were deployed as anti-tank weapons. reconfigured as SS-Kampfgruppe 'Hohenstauffen' and SS-Kampfgruppe 'Frundsberg' respectively (a 'Kampfgruppe' or 'battle group' being an improvised formation smaller than a division). this is a pre-order & is not in-stock. Involved units are tanks from 7./SS-Pz.Rgt. The foggy autumn weather also prevented Allied reconnaissance aircraft from correctly assessing the ground situation. While the majority of the Kampfgruppe became embroiled in a bitter battle north of Caen, one KG Hansen at Poteau Set #2 Sculpture by Taesung Harmms / Boxart by Toshihiro Sano . Two separate westbound German columns that were to have bypassed the town to the south and north, the 2nd Panzer Division and Panzer-Lehr-Division of XLVII Panzer Corps, as well as the Corps' infantry (26th Volksgrenadier Division), coming due west had been engaged and much slowed and frustrated in outlying battles at defensive positions up to 16 kilometers (10mi) from the town proper, but these defensive positions were gradually being forced back onto and into the hasty defenses built within the municipality. The town of St. Vith, a vital road junction, was close to the boundary between the 5th and Sepp . The headlong drive on Elsenborn Ridge lacked needed support from German units that had already bypassed the ridge. Taking Peipers orders to heart, Poetschke dismounted his vehicle, grabbed a panzerfaust and personally threatened to shoot any man who did not move forward immediately. By December 24, 1944, the commander of the Sixth Panzer Army's strongest battlegroup, SS Obersturmbannfhrer (Lieutenant Colonel) Jochen Peiper, was facing the ultimate military nightmare. These weapons were used in the attemptto stop the oncoming German armor, to no effect. The first round hit near the left sprocket, the second sheared the 75mm barrel off of the Panther, and the third penetrated the armor where it exploded, wounding most of the crew and forcingthe tankers to bail out of the now burning vehicle. [159], However, American historian Stephen Ambrose, writing in 1997, maintained that "Putting Monty in command of the northern flank had no effect on the battle". 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. With casualties mounting, and running short on replacements, tanks, ammunition, and supplies, Seventh Army was forced to withdraw to defensive positions on the south bank of the Moder River on 21 January. Instead, he was provided with a Kampfgruppe of 800 men. T.N. [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. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. A battle-hardened unit, the Leibstandarte was filled with both young, green troops, and combat veterans in almost equal number. To the disbelief of the other generals present, Patton replied that he could attack with two divisions within 48 hours. The Americans in Stoumont sat and waited. [187] The report concluded that "the costly reverse might have been avoided if Ultra had been more carefully considered". Named after its commanding officer, Jochen Peiper, Kampfgruppe Peiper was the most powerful force in the entire German offensive in the north. 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. The firefight was short and fierce with the Shermans fire delaying the Panthers progress. )[6] T.N. To the Americans of I and K Companies of the 119th, it became painfully clear that the town could not be held. Believing the route open, only to be repulsed with heavier fire than he had experienced in Stoumont, Peiper instructed his men to hold firm and wait for orders. Units of the British XXX Corps were holding the bridges at Dinant, Givet, and Namur and U.S. units were about to take over. The LSSAH provided the honour guard at many of the Nuremberg Rallies, and in 1935 took part in the reoccupation of the Saarland. Armee was also known as the Oberkommando der Truppen des deutschen Heeres in Rumnien. [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. 560 was assigned to Kampfgruppe Kuhlmann (12. With only enough ammunition for a single fight, they withdrew towards Germany and attacked the rear of the American lines. . Moreover, the sole corridor that was open (to the southeast) was threatened and it had been sporadically closed as the front shifted, and there was expectation that it would be completely closed sooner than later, given the strong likelihood that the town would soon be surrounded. No longer were American units fleeing the field of battle in front of their enemy. The Germans lacked the overwhelming strength that had been deployed in the north, but still possessed a marked numerical and material superiority over the very thinly spread 28th and 106th divisions. Founded in 1999. A Waffen SS soldier with Kampfgruppe Hansen seen after elements of the 14th Cavalry Group were ambushed and destroyed outside of Poteau, Belgium on December 18, 1944. The Americans' initial impression was that this was the anticipated, localized counterattack resulting from the Allies' recent attack in the Wahlerscheid sector to the north, where the 2nd Division had knocked a sizable dent in the Siegfried Line. After the war ended, this assessment was generally viewed as unrealistic, given Allied air superiority throughout Europe and their ability to continually disrupt German offensive operations. Hargimont was captured the same day, but Marche-en-Famenne was strongly defended by the American 84th Division. The powerful Waffen SS Panzer Divisions, Leibstandarte and Hitler Jugend were expected to burst through the American lines along what would be called the Northern Shoulder and blast their way to the port of Antwerp. 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. In Germany such orders were typically transmitted using telephone and teleprinter, and a special radio silence order was imposed on all matters concerning the upcoming offensive. The battle lasted for five weeks from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in Europe. Peiper and his men had run into blown bridge after blown bridge, and roadblock after roadblock, all of which were beginning to show on the ammunition, and more importantly, fuel supplies of the Kampfgruppe. Best 1/35 figures ive seen in a while . Up to this point the German losses had been light, notably in armor, with the exception of Peiper's losses. I really appriciate it! The only deep-water port the Allies had captured was Cherbourg on the northern shore of the Cotentin peninsula and west of the original invasion beaches,[27] but the Germans had thoroughly wrecked and mined the harbor before it could be taken. For the strength of the opposing sides at any one time, see table above. [82] Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine. [55][pageneeded]. [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. As the Ardennes crisis developed, the U.S. First Army (Hodges) and U.S. Ninth Army (Simpson) on the northern shoulder of the German penetration lost communications with adjacent armies, as well as with Bradley's headquarters in Luxembourg City to the south of the "bulge". Although he realized nothing significant could be accomplished in the Eastern Front, he still believed an offensive against the Western Allies, whom he considered militarily inferior to the Red Army, would have some chances of success. But the VI Corps AAR for January 1945 puts its total losses at 14,716 (773 killed, 4,838 wounded, 3,657 missing, and 5,448 nonbattle casualties); and Albert E. Cowdrey and Graham A. Cosmas, "Infantrymen fire at German troops in the advance to relieve the surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne. After the town was cleared of resistance, Peipers men paused, took stock of the situation, looted American gear,and then resumed their advance, this time out of towntowards Stoumonts small train station only a few kilometers down the road. The main forces were to advance westward to the Meuse River, then turn northwest for Antwerp and Brussels. . [69], At 12:30 p.m. on 17 December, Kampfgruppe Peiper was near the hamlet of Baugnez, on the height halfway between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville, when they encountered elements of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, U.S. 7th Armored Division. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany du At Cheneux, the advance guard was attacked by American fighter-bombers, destroying two tanks and five halftracks, blocking the narrow road. 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