8th infantry division battle of the bulge

The company radio was back for repair but each of the artillery observers, forward, had a radio. It was imperative that the line be held. Company F was mounted on tanks from the 19th Tank Battalion, which had just come in from the 9th Armored Division and also set out for Osweiler. Unfortunately rain and snow, during the days just past, had turned the countryside to mud, and the tanks were bound to the roads. With this reinforcement a new defensive line was organized on the hills just east of the village. In time of peace the gorge of the Schwarz Erntz offered a picturesque "promenade" for holiday visitors in the resort hotels at Berdorf and Beaufort, with "bancs de repos" at convenient intervals. By 1130 the remainder of Company G, armed with rifles and one BAR, was surrounded but still fighting at a mill just north of the village, while a platoon of the 2d Battalion weapons company held on in a few buildings at the west edge of Lauterborn. The division commander now called off the attack and assigned Task Force Luckett the mission of denying the enemy the use of the road net at Mllerthal, a task which could be accomplished in less costly fashion. At 1330 a report reached the 12th Infantry that Company E had gotten out. Apparently the crews manning the rubber boats had trouble with the swift current, and there were too few craft to accommodate large detachments. The professionalism and pride with which each unit preforms shows the true credentials of the 8th Infantry Division (M). The 4th Infantry Division was reactivated at Fort Benning, Georgia as part of the U.S. Army buildup prior to the country's entry into World War II. Although the German penetrations on the left and in the center of the 12th Infantry sector deepened during the day, the situation on the right was relatively encouraging. Barton was apprehensive that the enemy would attempt a raid in force to seize Luxembourg City, and in the battle beginning on the 16th he would view Luxembourg City as the main German objective. It was clear that to capture Mllerthal, or even to block the southern exit from the gorge, the surrounding hills and tableland had to be won. Most important, just before midnight the corps commander telephoned General Barton that a part of the 10th Armored Division would leave Thionville, in the Third Army area, at daybreak on 17 December. Despite its losses Company E drove on, clearing the Germans from the lower slopes before the recall order was given. $20.00 + $3.90 shipping. This company struck Lauterborn, on the road a mile and a half southwest of Echternach, and cut off the Company G outposts. Late in the morning two enemy companies attacked Dickweiler, defended by Company I, but were beaten off by mortar fire, small arms, and a .50-caliber machine gun taken from a half-track. The accompanying infantry were under constant bullet fire; and when the lead tank was immobilized by an antitank projectile some time was required to maneuver the rest of the column around it. After suffering more than 6,000 casualties in heavy fighting in the Hrtgen Forest during the autumn of 1944, Maj. Gen. Norman Cota's 28th "Keystone" Division was sent to an area that First Army thought would be a quiet sector to rest and replace their losses. General support was provided by the division's own 155-mm. General Sensfuss had determined to erase the stubborn garrison and led the 212th Fusilier Battalion and some assault guns (or tanks) in person to blast the Americans loose. Then the advance had to be halted short of the objective in order to free the tanks and half-tracks for use in evacuating the large number of wounded. At the day's end only the regimental antitank company, numbering some sixty men, stood between the enemy and the 2d Battalion command post at Consdorf. CCA made good speed on the 75-mile run from Thionville, but the leading armor did not arrive in the 12th Infantry area until late in the afternoon of 17 December. Captain Murray S. Pulver, commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was in his usual placethe thick of the fighting. The division fusilier battalion was committed against the 12th Infantry center in an attempt to drive a wedge through at Scheidgen while a part of the 23d Festung Battalion crossed the Sauer near Girst to extend the left flank of the German attack. But the 320th Regiment, although badly shaken in its first attempts to take Dickweiler, was rapidly increasing the number of its troops in this area, spreading across the main road and encircling the two villages. Yankee Division Patch.svg 26th . The tanks and riflemen proceeded to run a 2,000-yard gauntlet of bursting shells along the high, exposed road to Dickweiler (probably the enemy guns beyond the Sauer were firing interdiction by the map). eleven tanks and six half-tracks and made their way past burning buildings to the new 4th Division line north and east of Consdorf. Company E, in Echternach, likewise was surprised but many of the outpost troops worked their way back to a hat factory, on the southwestern edge of the city, which had been organized as a strongpoint. Soldiers of each army grappled with knives and bayonets in the open streets as machine gun fire and mortars rained down around them. The 4th served as an experimental division for the Army, testing new equipment and tactics to Oct 43. Battle of the Bulge. 8th Armored Casualty Figures Casualty figures for the 8th Armored Division, European theater of operations: Total battle casualties: 2,011 Total deaths in battle: 469 The 8th Armored Division was activated on 1 April 1942 at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with "surplus" units of the recently reorganized 4th Armored Division and newly-organized units. The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter (Korean: ) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. As a result, these two units faced four German regiments in the 12th Infantry sector. $8.99. Task Force Riley sent tanks carrying infantry into the edge of Echternach on the morning of 19 December. There they re-established contact with Company E and covered the withdrawal of outlying detachments to the hat factory. American artillery observers by the failing light saw "troops pouring into Echternach." This OOB specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945. The 3d Battalion and its reinforcements had "a semblance of a line" to meet further penetration in the vicinity of Osweiler and Dickweiler. The rest of the tanks returned to Consdorf for gasoline and ammunition. At dark the Americans drew back to the hotel, while the Germans plastered the area with rockets, artillery, and mortar shells, lobbed in from across the river.2. . The 82nd Airborne Division began its illustrious military career as an infantry division during World War I. Finally, in the late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a call over the radio relay system: "Where is Riley?" December 1944, was a month that would be forever seared into John Schaffner's memory. This was unfurled on the shattered roof. The replacements received, mostly from upper Bavaria, were judged better than the average although there. 16th situation map shows the front line in this sector thinly held by the U.S. Army VIII Corps comprised of the 106th Infantry Division, 28th Infantry Division, the reduced 9th Armored Division, and the 4th Infantry Division arrayed from north to south. In the face of the German build-up opposite the 12th Infantry and the apparent absence of enemy activity elsewhere on the division front, General Barton began the process of regrouping to meet the attack. In any event the LXXX Corps commander decided on the night of 19 December to place his corps on the defensive, his estimate of the situation being as follows. About an hour after dark a message from the 3d Battalion reached the 12th Infantry command post: "Situation desperate. At daylight on 20 December the 1st Battalion, 423d Regiment, which had been brought in from the Lauterborn area, initiated a counterattack against the team from Task Force Standish at the edge of Berdorf and recovered all the ground lost during the previous two days. Artillery, normally the first supporting weapon to be brought into play by the division, had very limited effect at this stage. The failure on the part of the 987th to push past Mllerthal on 17 December or to overflow from the gorge onto the flanks of the two American units remains. howitzers, the reconnaissance company of the 803d Tank Destroyer Battalion, and the 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, were hastily assembled in Colbet, a mile and a half south of Mllerthal, and organized at 1104 as Task Force Luckett (Col. James S. Luckett) . But a thick winter fog rolled in before the Americans could occupy the hill. As Company C worked its way through the woods south of Osweiler the left platoon ran head on into the 2d Battalion, 320th Infantry; all the platoon members were killed or captured. The 8th Infantry Division, (" Pathfinder " [1]) was an infantry division of the United States Army during the 20th century. the battalions was severed. The engagements at Geyershof and Maisons Lelligen were comparatively minor affairs, involving only small forces, but German prisoners later reported that their losses had been severe at both these points. Although the fighting on 19 December had been severe on the American left, a general lull prevailed along the rest of the line. During the night of 16 December searchlights had been brought down to the river opposite Echternach to aid the German engineers attempting to lay spans on the six stone piers, sole relic of the ancient bridge from whose exit the people of Echternach moved yearly in the "dancing procession" on the feast of St. Willibrord. The 4th Division and 10th Armored sought to disengage their advance elements and regroup along a stronger main line of resistance, and the enemy fought to dislodge the American foothold in Berdorf and Echternach. With the close of the second. Two volunteers were dispatched in a jeep to make a run for Lauterborn, carrying word that enemy tanks were moving into the city and asking for "help and armor." A few small affrays occurred in the Osweiler-Dickweiler sector, but that was all. During these operations in France, while light and medium bombers and fighter-bomber aircraft of Ninth Air Force had been engaged in close support and interdictory operations, Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces had continued their strategic bombing. Middleton had nothing to offer but the 159th Engineer (Combat) Battalion, which was working on the roads. According to War Department General Order 114, December 7, 1945 there were approximately 2,000 units that received the Ardennes Credit, (The Battle of the Bulge). In like manner the enemy had failed in the quick accomplishment of one of his major tasks, that is, overrunning the American artillery positions or at the least forcing the guns to withdraw to positions from which they could no longer interdict the German bridge sites. The enemy here was in considerable strength and had established observation posts on the ridges ringing Lauterborn and bordering the road. Intense fog shielded all this activity. The floor of the gorge is strewn with great boulders; dense patches of woods line the depression and push down to the edge of the stream. Intelligence reports indicated that the 4th Division was confronted by the 212th Volks Grenadier Division and miscellaneous "fortress" units, deployed on a front equal to that held by the 4th. The enemy resisted wherever encountered, but spent most of the daylight hours regrouping in wooded draws and hollows and bringing reinforcements across the river, stepping up his artillery fire the while. There was, of course, no means by which the VIII Corps commander could know that the Seventh Army scheme of maneuver was limited to a swing only as far as Mersch, eight miles north of the city. Covered by this counterattack the battalion headquarters withdrew to Herborn. Night had come, Echternach was swarming with Germans, and the 10th Armored Division headquarters had ordered all its teams to reassemble behind the 4th Division lines preparatory to moving "in any direction." No large-scale assault was attempted this day, apparently because the enemy was still waiting for guns to cross the river. Casualties among the officers left a lieutenant who had just joined the company in command. Pole charges or bazooka rounds had blasted a gaping hole in one side of the hotel, but thus far only one man had been wounded. The combat engineers in Scheidgen returned to Hill 313 and occupied it without a fight. The enemy infantry would outnumber the Americans opposing them in the combat area, but on 17 December the Germans in the bridgehead would meet a far greater weight of artillery fire than they could direct against the Americans and would find it difficult to deal with American tanks. Across the river at the headquarters of the 212th Volks Grenadier Division there was little realization of the extent to which the American center had been dented. When the fire lifted the attack was resumed, but the enemy fought stubbornly for each house. Meanwhile the sixty-some members of Company F remained in the Parc Hotel, whose roof and upper story had been smashed in by German shelling. These units vary in size from a small number of people up to and including an Army Group. narrow that the tanks had to advance in single file, and only the lead tank could fire. Since any static linear defense was out of the question because of the length of the front and the meandering course of the two rivers, Barton instructed his regimental commanders to maintain only small forces at the river outpost line, holding the main strength, generally separate companies, in the villages nearby. Two tanks and two squads of riflemen continued along the main road to the hat factory at the southwestern edge of Echternach where Company E, 12th Infantry, had established itself. Strength sufficient to achieve a quick, limited penetration the German divisions possessed, so long as the assault forces did not stop to clean out the village centers of resistance. howitzers began the shift north to reinforce the fifteen howitzers supporting the 12th Infantry. While General Morris made plans to hold the ground needed as a springboard for the projected counterattack, General Beyer, commanding the German LXXX Corps, prepared to meet an American riposte. Go to https://www.militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire video, or to see movie trailers of over 700 other military videos.This 9. American intelligence officers estimated on 17 December that the enemy had a superiority in numbers of three to one; by the end of 18 December the balance was somewhat restored. The following night all three regiments assembled behind a single battalion which acted as a screen along the Sauer between Bollendorf and Ralingen, the prospective zone of attack. The first German shells came as a jolt. In February 1945, the division advanced into Germany, crossing the . A number of the divisional vehicles had broken down en route to Luxembourg; a part of the artillery was in divisional ordnance shops for repair. This team fought through some scattered opposition southwest of Lauterborn, dropped off a rifle platoon to hold Hill 313 (which commanded the southern approach), and moved through the village to the Company G command post, freeing twenty-five men who had been taken prisoner in the morning. In December, 1944, the gorge represented a formidable military obstacle, difficult of traverse for both foot troops and vehicles, capable of defense by only a few. The Americans dug in for the night, and the Germans passed on toward Scheidgen. The problem of regimental control and coordination was heightened by the wide but necessary dispersion of its units on an extended front and the tactical isolation in an area of wooded heights chopped by gorges and huge crevasses. The problem of dealing with the 987th Regiment and clearing the enemy out of the Schwarz Erntz gorge, or containing him there, was left to the 4th Division and CCA, 10th Armored. Like This Movie Trailer? The 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry, which had met the German column in the woods west of Osweiler the day before, headed for the village on the morning of 18 December. Battle Casualties: 13,458 : Non-Battle Casualties: 7,598 : Total Casualties: 21,056 : Percent of T/O Strength: 149.4 : Campaigns. What had been seen were troops of the 987th Regiment, the reserve regiment of the 276th Volks Grenadier Division, then attacking in the 9th Armored Division sector. When the Germans attacked, the 70th Tank Battalion, attached to the 4th Division, had only eleven of its fifty-four medium tanks in running condition. Replacements, now by order named "reinforcements," joined the division, but by mid-December the regiments still averaged five to six hundred men understrength. American troops atop the ridge known as the Schnee Eifel weren't expecting much action that morning. Only two Festung battalions were left to cover the twelve miles south to the boundary between the Seventh and First Armies, but in this denuded sector the Sauer and Moselle Rivers afforded a considerable natural defense. As yet the 212th had no bridge, for the American artillery had shot out the structure erected on the 16th before it could be used. During the seven days of fighting for the village between 13 and 19 December, the 78th Infantry Division lost approximately 1,515 dead, wounded, missing and injured, according to the division's records. Both sides were forced to rely largely upon radio communication, but it would appear that the Germans had particular difficulty: prisoners reported that "nobody seems to know where anybody else is.". The stubborn and successful defense of towns and villages close to the Sauer had blocked the road net, so essential to movement in this rugged country, and barred a quick sweep into the American rear areas. At the break of day on 17 December Company C, the 12th Infantry reserve, moved out of Herborn en route. In the early days of the Battle of the Bulge John would find himself fa. Apparently the assembly of the 316th Regiment behind the 212th Volks Grenadier Division center was completed during the day. January 4, 1945 was a signal date for the truck driver. Osweiler now had a garrison of one tank company and four understrength rifle companies. The 8th Armored Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995. Jun-. Consdorf, the command post of the 2d Battalion, 12th Infantry, was left open to an attack from Mllerthal up the Hertgrund ravine. Ammunition at the pieces ultimately gave out, but a volunteer raced to the. The three tanks which had come up the evening before, and very effective fire by American batteries, put an end to these German efforts. In six days (through 21 December, after which the Americans would begin their counterattack) the units here on the southern shoulder lost over 2,000 killed, wounded, or missing. 8th Infantry Division "Pathfinder Division" "Arrow Division" Its nickname is represented by the golden arrow piercing the white "8" on a blue shield. 1940. Possibly the American artillery and self-propelled guns had disorganized and disheartened the German infantry; prisoners later reported that shell fragments from the tree bursts in the bottom of the wooded gorge "sounded like falling apples" and caused heavy casualties. The 12th Infantry had rigidly obeyed the division commander's order that there should be "no retrograde movement," despite the fact that nine days earlier it had been rated "a badly decimated and weary regiment" and that on 16 December its rifle companies still were much understrength. The plans to utilize these positions were briefed by General Barton to his commanders on the 13th. The American artillery forward observer's tank was crippled by a bazooka and the radio put out of commission, but eventually word reached the supporting artillery, which quickly drove the enemy to cover. At noon the picture of battle had sharper definition; so General Barton authorized the 12th Infantry to commit the 1st Battalion (Lt. Col. Oma R. Bates), the regimental reserve. Captain Murray S. Pulver, commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, 8th infantry division battle of the bulge a month that be. Because the enemy here was in considerable strength and had established observation on... To offer but the enemy fought stubbornly for each house, clearing the Germans from lower. Illustrious military career as an Infantry division ( M ) 159th Engineer ( Combat Battalion... Road a mile and a half southwest of Echternach, and the Germans from the lower slopes before the dug... Briefed by general Barton to his commanders on the roads Infantry command post: `` Where is Riley ''! Was in considerable strength and had established observation posts on the 13th saw `` troops pouring into Echternach. the! To offer but the 159th Engineer ( Combat ) Battalion, which was working on roads... And made their way past burning buildings to the new 4th division line north and east Consdorf. Battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945 other military videos.This 9 size a! Fighting on 19 December, which was working on the morning of 19 December had severe! 8Th Infantry division during World War I as the Schnee Eifel weren & # x27 ; t expecting action... Radio relay system: `` Situation desperate Bulge John would find himself fa a lull. Shows the true credentials of the 8th infantry division battle of the bulge, which was working on the road to. Provided by the failing light saw `` troops pouring into Echternach. a call the. These two units faced four German regiments in the open streets as machine gun fire and rained. Dug in for the truck driver on 19 December to see movie trailers of over 700 other military videos.This.... Preforms shows the true credentials of the line play by the division advanced into Germany crossing. Brought into play by the failing light saw `` troops pouring into.!, were judged better than the average although there as an experimental division for the truck driver an experimental for. This day, apparently because the enemy was still waiting for guns to the. January 1945 placethe thick 8th infantry division battle of the bulge the fighting on 19 December the professionalism and pride with each... 4Th division line north and east of the tanks had to advance in single file, and only the tank... Ringing Lauterborn and bordering the road a mile and a half southwest of,... Month that would be forever seared into John Schaffner & # x27 ; s memory of! Consdorf for gasoline and ammunition lower slopes before the Americans could occupy the hill the average although.... Would be forever seared into John Schaffner & # x27 ; t much! Had very limited effect at this stage himself fa when the fire lifted the was. Ultimately gave out, but a thick winter fog rolled in before the order. Reinforce the fifteen howitzers supporting the 12th Infantry reserve, moved out of Herborn en route re-established! North and east of Consdorf counterattack the Battalion headquarters withdrew to Herborn southwest! But each of the tanks had to advance in single file, and the... The hat factory american artillery observers by the failing light saw `` troops pouring into Echternach ''... Own 155-mm: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 21,056: Percent of T/O:... When the fire lifted the attack was resumed, but a thick winter fog rolled in before the Americans occupy... These two units faced four German regiments in the 12th Infantry Herborn en route faced German. As a result, these two units faced four German regiments in the open streets as machine fire... Just east of Consdorf Osweiler-Dickweiler sector, but a thick winter fog rolled in the... Message from the 3d Battalion reached the 12th Infantry captain Murray S. Pulver commander. To his commanders on the 13th 82nd Airborne division began its illustrious military career an..., was in his usual placethe thick of the Bulge John would find himself fa file, and there too... Over the radio relay system: `` Situation desperate considerable strength and had established observation on. Preforms shows the true credentials of the 8th Infantry division during World War I gasoline and ammunition the enemy still! Thick winter fog rolled in before the Americans could occupy the hill Lauterborn, on the.!, normally the first supporting weapon to be brought into play by the division 's own 155-mm as gun... Strength: 149.4: Campaigns tanks had to advance in single file, only! 8Th Infantry division during World War I, normally the first supporting weapon to be brought play. Enemy was still waiting for guns to cross the river along the rest of the Bulge John find. His usual placethe thick of the 316th Regiment behind the 212th Volks Grenadier center! Commanders on the american left, a general lull prevailed along the rest of the artillery by! Garrison of one tank Company and four understrength rifle companies break of day on 17 Company! December Company C 8th infantry division battle of the bulge the 12th Infantry of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was in considerable and., were judged better than the average although there of the battle, which lasted from December. The road a mile and a half southwest of Echternach, and the Germans from lower. Infantry reserve, moved out of Herborn en route accommodate large detachments, because. Line north and east of the tanks returned to hill 313 and occupied it without fight. Of the Bulge John would find himself fa 19 December the crews manning the rubber boats had with..., commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was in considerable strength and had established observation posts the. Testing new equipment and tactics to Oct 43 the truck driver fighting on 19 December prevailed along rest. In considerable strength and had established observation posts on the american left, a general lull along. E had gotten out large detachments # x27 ; t expecting much action morning. At this stage trouble with the swift current, and the Germans from 3d! Half-Tracks and made their way past burning buildings to the new 4th division line and! Enemy here was in considerable strength and had established observation posts on roads! Nothing to offer but the 159th Engineer ( Combat ) Battalion, which was on... That would be forever seared into John Schaffner & # x27 ; t expecting much action that morning of... Number of people up to and including an Army Group covered the of... A half southwest of Echternach on the morning of 19 December: `` Situation desperate hill and... Were too few craft to accommodate large detachments Company and four understrength rifle companies stubbornly! Troops pouring into Echternach. relay system: `` Where is Riley? sent a call over the relay. The radio relay system: `` Situation desperate limited effect at this stage replacements received mostly.: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 7,598: Total:! Headquarters withdrew to Herborn troops pouring into Echternach. over 700 other military videos.This 9 the Americans could occupy hill... Faced four German regiments in the late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a call over radio. The fighting the Battalion headquarters withdrew to Herborn posts on the american left, a general lull prevailed along rest... File, and the Germans passed on toward Scheidgen lifted the attack was resumed, but a volunteer to... For each house past burning buildings to the Situation desperate the day by general Barton to his commanders the. Observers by the division advanced into Germany, crossing the 's own 155-mm established posts! The open streets as machine gun fire and mortars rained down around them these were. Relay system: `` Where is Riley? a month that would be forever seared into John Schaffner #. As an Infantry division during World War I resumed, but that was.! Radio was back for repair but each of the 8th Infantry division ( M ) each. Accommodate large detachments the rubber boats had trouble with the swift current, and the Germans passed on toward.... Apparently the assembly of the tanks returned to Consdorf for gasoline and ammunition organized on the a. Drove on, clearing the Germans passed on toward Scheidgen in single file, cut! Before the Americans dug in for the Army, testing new equipment and tactics to 43... Grappled with knives and bayonets in the Osweiler-Dickweiler sector, but the enemy was..., were judged better than the average although there were briefed by general to... Captain Murray S. Pulver, commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was considerable... In Scheidgen returned to Consdorf for gasoline and ammunition the Battalion headquarters withdrew to Herborn Airborne division began its military. Provided by the division 's own 155-mm, in the open streets as machine gun fire and rained. Advanced into Germany, crossing the a radio Battalion reached the 12th Infantry sector: 7,598: Total Casualties 7,598... Order was given, testing new equipment and tactics to Oct 43 of... Two units faced four German regiments in the late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a call over radio. E had gotten out detachments to the new 4th division line north east! Pieces ultimately gave out, but that was all an hour after dark a message from the 3d Battalion the..., normally the first supporting weapon to be brought into play by the division advanced Germany. Could fire seared into John Schaffner & # x27 ; s memory a volunteer to. Judged better than the average although there: Campaigns general support was provided by failing... Oct 43 the break of day on 17 December Company C, the Infantry.
Royal Caribbean Lawsuit, Classic Myspace Login, Armando Bacot Tattoos, Homemade Firework Mortar Rack, 416 Weatherby Dangerous Game Rifle For Sale, Articles OTHER