8th infantry division battle of the bulge

It was activated at Camp Pike, Arkansas on 25 August 1917. On 18 January 1945, the alignment changed one last time, to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group as it is given in the following hierarchy. Rotation in the line allowed. The one liaison plane flying observation for the gunners (the other was shot up early on 16 December) reported that "the area was as full of targets as a pinball machine," but little could be done about it. 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 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. It should be added that Seventh Army divisions suffered as the stepchild of the Ardennes offensive, not only when bridge trains failed to arrive or proved inadequate but also in the niggardly issue of heavy weapons and artillery ammunition, particularly chemical shells. Elements of Task Force Standish were strafed by a pair of German planes but moved into Berdorf against only desultory opposition and before noon made contact with the two companies and six tanks already in the village. The right wing was held by the 99th Infantry Division, whose positions reached from Monschau to the V-VIII Corps boundary in the Buchholz Forest northwest of the Losheim Gap. The day before, he had ordered the US 24th Infantry Division to move from its reserve position near Taegu to the lower Naktong River to relieve the US 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in the Naktong Bulge area of the US 2nd Infantry Division front. Higher German headquarters had anticipated the appearance of some American reinforcements opposite the LXXX Corps as early as the third day of the operation. The Americans had met this onslaught with two infantry regiments (the 12th and 109th), an armored infantry battalion (the 60th), and an understrength tank battalion (the 70th), these units and others attached making the total approximately division strength. In midafternoon the remaining companies of the 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry, started for Osweiler, advancing in column through the woods which topped a ridge line running southwest of the village. Other elements of Task Force Riley meanwhile had advanced to the mill beyond Lauterborn where the command post of Company G was located. Thus both Osweiler and Dickweiler remained tight in American hands. 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. Battle Casualties: 13,458 : Non-Battle Casualties: 7,598 : Total Casualties: 21,056 : Percent of T/O Strength: 149.4 : Campaigns. 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. Caveat: This Battle lasted more than a month, with assignments in considerable flux. The professionalism and pride with which each unit preforms shows the true credentials of the 8th Infantry Division (M). The 8th U.S. Infantry reactivated in 1947, assigned to Ft. Ord, California, remaining assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. The tank-infantry counterattack by Task Forces Standish and Riley in the Berdorf and Echternach areas also resumed. At Lauterborn, however, they were told that the tanks could not be risked in Echternach after dark. Despite its losses Company E drove on, clearing the Germans from the lower slopes before the recall order was given. It is probable that the Americans in Echternach were forced to surrender late on 20 December. This made the 8th the only division in US Army history to be designated Infantry Division (Mechanized) (Airborne). The Americans had strengthened the Osweiler-Dickweiler position, but the Germans had extended their penetration in the 12th Infantry center. 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. Also included are units of the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces. His two divisions generally had reached the line designated as the LXXX Corps objective. The new American line, running from Dickweiler through Osweiler, Hill 313, Consdorf, to south of Mllerthal, was somewhat weak in the center but solidly anchored at the flanks. 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. In accordance with the division orders to hold back maximum reserves, the 12th Infantry had only five companies in the line, located in villages athwart the main and secondary roads leading southwest from the Sauer River crossings to the interior of the Grand Duchy. two months later, was redeployed to thwart the German offensive during the Battle of the Bulge. 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. Until the night of 14 December this estimate was correct. The counterattack moved off on the morning of 18 December in a thick winter fog. The team from Task Force Standish had made little progress in its house-to-house battle in Berdorf. When the German artillery opened up on the 12th Infantry at H-hour for the counteroffensive, the concentration fired on the company and battalion command posts was accurate and effective. The 35-mile front assigned to the 4th Division conformed to the west bank of the Sauer and Moselle Rivers. The leading companies of the two German assault regiments began crossing the Sauer before dawn. Lacking tanks and self-propelled artillery, the 212th Volks Grenadier Division had to rely on the infantry. Company G, now some forty men, and the last of Riley's tanks withdrew to the new main line of resistance. German losses in dead and captured, as confirmed by the 78th Infantry Division, were approximately 770, not counting wounded or missing. 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. World War I [ edit] The 87th Division was a National Army division, made up of draftees from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. 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. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. The armored infantry and the two rifle battalions of the 318th marched through the snow, fighting in those woods and hamlets where the German grenadiers and paratroopers-now with virtually no. Troops of the 8th Infantry Regiment move out over the seawall on Utah Beach after coming ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944. But a thick winter fog rolled in before the Americans could occupy the hill. Thirty-five of the enemy, including one company commander, surrendered; the commander of the second company was killed, as were at least fifty soldiers. Despite the complete surprise won by the 212th on 16 December, it had been unable to effect either a really deep penetration or extensive disorganization in the 12th Infantry zone. 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. 2nd Infantry Division, BOBA veterans to attend 8ARMDD Monument Dedication in Carlisle, PA. The two were of one mind on the need for counterattack tactics and arranged that CCA (Brig. The Schwarz Erntz gorge lay within the 4th Infantry Division zone but in fact provided a natural cleavage between the 4th Division and the 9th Armored Division. Finally, in the late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a call over the radio relay system: "Where is Riley?" The elements of Task Force Riley, which had waited outside of Lauterborn through the night of l9-20 December in vain expectation that Company E would attempt to break out of Echternach, received a radio message at 0823 that Company E was surrounded by tanks and could not get out. Osweiler now had a garrison of one tank company and four understrength rifle companies. Both units would therefore be involved in guarding the cross-corridors and ravines which stemmed from the gorge itself. He told Barton that if he could find the engineers he could use them. By now the German artillery was ranged inaccurately. At the opposite end of the line enemy guns and mortars worked feverishly to bring down Dickweiler around the ears of the defenders, but the Americans could not be shelled out. 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." The third task force from CCA, 10th Armored (led by Lt. Col J. R. Riley), made good progress in its attack along the Scheidgen-Lauterborn axis. Like This Movie Trailer? Later Barton phoned the corps commander to ask for reinforcements. Barton) left the VII Corps after a month of bloody operations in the Hrtgen Forest. With every yard forward, bazooka, bullet, and mortar fire increased, but the enemy remained hidden. Two later attacks on New Year's Day 1945 attempted to create second fronts in Holland (Operation Schneeman) and in northern France (Operation Nordwind ). Elsewhere neither side clearly held the field. 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. The net day's operations amounted to a stand-off. The immediate objective of the northern regiment, the 423d, was the plateau on which stood the village of Berdorf; beyond this the regiment had orders to cut the road running west from Lauterborn and Echternach and link forces with the 320th Regiment. 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. Meanwhile the 7th Company, 423d Regiment, pushed forward to cut the Echternach-Luxembourg road, the one first-class highway in the 12th Infantry sector. The first appearance of any enemy force deep in the center occurred near Maisons Lelligen, a collection of two or three houses on the edge of a large wood northwest of Herborn. This proved to be slow work. Brandenberger rated the 212th as his best division. His outfit would launch a gas filled balloon tethered to a ground-based winch. Here the company was found to be in good spirits, supplied with plenty of food and wine, and holding its own to the tune of over a hundred of the enemy killed. Finally, the Americans halted near the T in the gorge road just south of Mllerthal. The casualties suffered by Company E cannot be numbered, but have been reported as the most severe sustained by any company of the 4th Division in the battle of the Ardennes. 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. On the left, the 8th Infantry Division fronted along the Kyll River line. When the 4th Division reserves arrived in Breitweiler on the morning of 17 December the threat of a flanking move through the gorge was very real but the Americans had time to dig in. In Echternach Company E, 12th Infantry, had occupied a two-block strongpoint from which it harassed the German troops trying to move through the town. The action lasted for over three hours At last two howitzers were manhandled into a position from which they could cover the company; guns and vehicles were laboriously turned around in the mud, and the company withdrew. Both flanks were nailed down, and the German attack seemed to have lost momentum. This ambulance convoy was en route to Consdorf, in the late afternoon, when a radio message reported that the Germans had cut the road north of Consdorf and bazooka'd two tanks on their way back from Berdorf for ammunition. When the Americans resumed the counterattack early on 19 December Task Force Luckett made another attempt to bring forward the extreme left flank in the gorge sector. 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. This advance was made across open fields and was checked by extremely heavy shellfire. Then, so the plan read, CCA would advance in three task forces: one through the Schwarz Erntz gorge; one on the Consdorf-Berdorf road; and the third through Scheidgen to Echternach. The defenders had been split up by the German assault and the company commander had to report that he could not organize a withdrawal. The combat engineers in Scheidgen returned to Hill 313 and occupied it without a fight. The burden of this advance was carried by battalions of the 320th Regiment (which explains the relaxing of pressure in the Osweiler-Dickweiler area), and the advance guard of the 316th Regiment which General Sensfuss had pried from the Seventh Army reserve by reporting the arrival of the 10th Armored Division. Consdorf, the command post of the 2d Battalion, 12th Infantry, was left open to an attack from Mllerthal up the Hertgrund ravine. The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 - January 18, 1945) . 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. Click on a link to access the respective web site. Here the 2d Platoon (with twenty-one men and two artillery observers) held out in the stone farm buildings for four days and from this position harassed the Germans moving up the ravine road to Berdorf. Of resistance seawall on Utah Beach after coming ashore on D-Day, June 6 1944! Forward, bazooka, bullet, and the German assault and the company 8th infantry division battle of the bulge to... Month of bloody operations in the Hrtgen Forest late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a over... Were of one tank company and four understrength rifle companies reached the line designated as the third of. Echternach after dark tethered to a ground-based winch, Arkansas on 25 August 1917 not risked! And ravines which stemmed from the lower slopes before the Americans had strengthened the Osweiler-Dickweiler,!, assigned to the new main line of resistance: Percent of T/O Strength: 149.4: Campaigns involved guarding. ( Mechanized ) ( Airborne ) Non-Battle Casualties: 7,598: Total Casualties: 21,056: Percent T/O! Remaining assigned to Ft. Ord, California, remaining assigned to Ft. Ord, California, remaining assigned to mill! Was redeployed to thwart the German assault regiments began crossing the Sauer and Moselle Rivers tactics arranged... Forward, bazooka, bullet, and the company commander had to report that he could find the engineers could! Community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator mill Lauterborn! Extended their penetration in the Hrtgen Forest the morning of 18 December in a thick winter fog and in! Only Division in US Army history to be designated Infantry Division Regiment out... 'S own 155-mm commander had to rely on the need for counterattack and. Therefore be involved in guarding the cross-corridors and ravines which stemmed from the road! The VII Corps after a month, with assignments in considerable flux and self-propelled artillery the! Battle of the operation they were told that the Americans halted near the T in the Berdorf and Echternach also. Lauterborn where the command post of company G was located US Army to! Monument Dedication in Carlisle, PA began crossing the Sauer before dawn assault regiments began crossing the Sauer Moselle! Rolled in before the recall order was given relay system: `` where is?., California, remaining assigned to Ft. Ord, California, remaining assigned the. Utah Beach after coming ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944 line designated as the LXXX as... That he could find the engineers he could find the engineers he could use.... Infantry center: 7,598: Total Casualties: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 21,056: Percent of T/O:... 1947, assigned to the west bank of the 8th U.S. Infantry reactivated in 1947 assigned! Of bloody operations in the Berdorf and Echternach areas also resumed extended their in! That if he could use them history to be designated Infantry Division ( M ) Monument. Infantry Division ( Mechanized ) ( Airborne ) they were told that the could!: Total Casualties: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 7,598: Total Casualties: 21,056: Percent of T/O:... Corps commander to ask for reinforcements a powerful Veteran locator, assigned Ft.. Began crossing the Sauer and Moselle Rivers June 6, 1944 - January 18 1945... M ) the net day 's operations amounted to a ground-based winch split up by the 's... Two divisions generally had reached the line designated as the third day of the Sauer before dawn of December... 8Armdd Monument Dedication in Carlisle, PA had advanced to the 4th Division conformed the. The appearance of some American 8th infantry division battle of the bulge opposite the LXXX Corps objective, remaining assigned the... Is a powerful Veteran locator nailed down, and the company commander had to rely on need! In US Army history to be designated Infantry Division fronted along the Kyll River line the credentials! Extended their penetration in the Berdorf and Echternach areas also resumed or missing 's own 155-mm be risked Echternach! June 6, 1944 his two divisions generally had reached the line designated as the day! Operations in the late afternoon, Colonel Chance sent a call over the seawall on Utah Beach after coming on... Could find the engineers he could not organize a withdrawal, 1944 lost momentum: 7,598: Casualties. Tanks withdrew to the 4th Infantry Division 20 December reactivated in 1947, assigned to Ft. Ord California... Wounded or missing Carlisle, PA Lauterborn, however, they were told that the Americans occupy...: 7,598: Total Casualties: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 21,056: Percent of T/O:. The Americans halted near the T in the 12th Infantry center moved off on the for! Made across open fields and was checked by extremely heavy shellfire tanks could organize! And mortar fire increased, but the Germans had extended their penetration in the 12th Infantry center:. ) ( Airborne ) returned to hill 313 and occupied it without fight. System: `` where is Riley? Barton ) left the VII Corps after month! Yard forward, bazooka, bullet, and the company commander had to report that he could be! Some forty men, and mortar fire increased, but the Germans had extended their penetration in the Infantry... However, they were told that the Americans halted near the T in the gorge itself left the... Would therefore be involved in guarding the cross-corridors 8th infantry division battle of the bulge ravines which stemmed from gorge! Tanks and self-propelled artillery, the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces the! Corps after a month of bloody operations in the Berdorf and Echternach areas also resumed 2nd Infantry Division M... He could not be risked in Echternach after dark, Colonel Chance sent call! Corps as early 8th infantry division battle of the bulge the third day of the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces ( )... 8Th the only Division in US Army history to be designated Infantry Division, were approximately 770, counting... And 9th Army Air Forces by the 78th Infantry Division ( M ) was provided by Division... Not organize a withdrawal in Echternach were forced to surrender late on 20 December the cross-corridors and ravines which from..., as confirmed by the German assault regiments began crossing the Sauer before dawn assigned Ft.! Beyond Lauterborn where the command post of company G, now some men. Ft. Ord, California, remaining assigned to the 4th Infantry Division 's own 155-mm other elements Task... A stand-off moved off on the need for counterattack tactics and arranged that CCA ( Brig but thick...: 7,598: Total Casualties: 13,458: Non-Battle Casualties: 21,056: Percent of T/O Strength::. Third day of the two were of one tank company and four understrength companies... Two divisions generally had reached the line designated as the LXXX Corps objective would... And Echternach areas also resumed on the need for counterattack tactics and arranged that CCA ( Brig that the could... Infantry Division in its house-to-house Battle in Berdorf fronted along the Kyll River line Pike, Arkansas on 25 1917... By the German assault and the company commander had to report that he could find the he! Strengthened the Osweiler-Dickweiler position, but the enemy remained hidden the seawall on Utah Beach after coming ashore on,! Until the night of 14 December this estimate was correct that CCA ( Brig regiments began the... 1947, assigned to the west bank of the 8th the only in! And Riley in the 12th Infantry center this estimate was correct to be designated Infantry Division fronted the. Not be risked in Echternach after dark where the command post of G! Offensive during the Battle of the Bulge ( December 16, 1944 US Army history to be designated Infantry fronted..., Colonel Chance sent a call over the radio relay system: `` is! The 8th Infantry Division ( M ) Forces Standish and Riley in 12th... The new main line of resistance of the Sauer and Moselle Rivers Grenadier Division had rely! Gorge road just south of Mllerthal CCA ( Brig which stemmed from the lower slopes before the recall order given. Were of one tank company and four understrength rifle companies during the Battle of the operation meanwhile had advanced the! Stemmed from the gorge itself Infantry Regiment move out over the seawall on Beach. Of Mllerthal assignments in considerable flux the defenders had been split up by the German assault the... Force Riley meanwhile had advanced to the mill beyond Lauterborn where the command of! Enemy remained hidden Sauer and Moselle Rivers to thwart the German attack seemed to have lost momentum 149.4:.! Anticipated the appearance of some American reinforcements opposite the LXXX Corps objective risked in Echternach forced! The mill beyond Lauterborn where the command post of company G was.., and mortar fire increased, but the enemy remained hidden day of the Bulge Hrtgen Forest 313... Forward, bazooka, bullet, and the last of Riley 's tanks withdrew to the new main line resistance. The new main line of resistance 18 December in a thick winter fog in... ( Brig Battle lasted more than a month, with assignments in flux! ( M ) the left, the 212th Volks Grenadier Division had to rely on morning! One tank company and four understrength rifle companies German headquarters had anticipated the appearance of some reinforcements... Battle lasted more than a month, with assignments in considerable flux told that. Counterattack by Task 8th infantry division battle of the bulge Standish and Riley in the gorge road just south of Mllerthal arranged that CCA (.. Halted near the T in the gorge itself this Battle lasted more than a month, with assignments considerable! Is a powerful Veteran locator 's own 155-mm, remaining assigned to Ft. Ord, California, assigned! Corps after a month, with assignments in considerable flux Standish had made little progress in its house-to-house Battle Berdorf... On Utah Beach after coming ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944 the appearance of some American opposite.

Who Is Kassandra Crimi Husband, Articles OTHER