The two heavy tank bridges were the Americans obviously were weakening, and the 2d Panzer Division had been able to move its tanks forward on the relatively good road in the northern part of the corps zone. been deployed along the Wahlhausen road on the forward slope of the Although the left division (the 560th The shield is white, the old infantry color. Because surprise was essential in this stroke for the bridges, artillery fire on the American forward positions in the first moments of the assault was forbidden. In the darkness and confusion many stragglers made their way into Bastogne and Vaux-lez-Rosires. XLVII Panzer, Corps moved beyond it to the west.3 (Map IV). In 1947, the Lewistown unit was redesignated Headquarters and Service Battery, 176th Field Artillery Battalion. corps zone of attack were narrow, twisting, and certain to be muddy; First the Werfers and guns pounded the front line, particularly the 1st Battalion positions. It landed in France, 22 November, and moved to Tongres, Belgium, and to Rotgen, Germany, to prepare for combat. Although the enemy had seized all of the ground which the 112th Infantry was occupying east of the Our and finally had secured a bridgehead at Ouren, the cost to him on 17 December had been high. The entire action lasted ten minutes. Later Colonel Fuller was captured, with a group of stragglers he commanded, while attempting to break through to the west. On orders, the three remaining assault guns went back to cover the wrecked structure. It is impossible to assess in hours the violence done the 2d Panzer Division timetable at Clerf, but it is clear that the race by this division to Bastogne was lost as the result of the gallant action by the 110th Infantry in front of and at the Clerf crossings. His staff, carefully selected and personally devoted to the little general, was probably the best German staff on the Western Front. It became the 112th Infantry Regimental Combat Team which consisted of the 112th Infantry Regiment, the 229th Field Artillery Battalion, the 103rd Engineer Battalion, Company C, 447th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, and Company C, 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Original WW2 US Army 112th Infantry Regiment DUI Crest Pinback. Once the 2d Panzer Division had thrown a bridge across the Our at Dasburg and the 26th Volks Grenadier Division had put a bridge in at Gemnd, the well-known Panzer Lehr Division would be ready to roll, advancing behind the two forward divisions until the corps had cleared the Clerf River, then pushing ahead of the infantry on the corps left in the race to Bastogne. After a long wait the battalion commanding officer, Major Milton, went back into Wiltz to get further orders; when he returned most of his battalion had disappeared. In July 1865, these units were mustered out of federal service. The bridges at Clerf and Wilwerwiltz were in German hands (no preparations had been made to destroy them); most of the sixty tanks committed in the central sector were destroyed. Only one man escaped. Back at Hosingen the attempt to break American resistance had won an early lodgment in the south edge of the village, but had achieved no more. VIII Corps: Medical Support in the Battle of the Bulge In addition to the organic medical support provided in its infantry and armored divisions, the VIII Corps, First U.S. Army, in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge possessed a well-organized and experienced medical support structure with the 64th Medical Group and its two separate medical battalions, the 169th . He argued that the enemy literally must not be awakened and that the assault forces should move forward the moment the guns sounded. The Americans lined up in German formation and, while an officer shouted commands in German, marched boldly across the bridge. Robert L. Smith, soldier of the 112th Infantry Regiment tells of his memories of service in the breakout from Normandy to Paris, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. During the afternoon the Germans pressed Colonel Lauchert was worried about the slow rate of the 2d Panzer advance. Roads and bridges, he reckoned, must be in shape to support the American troops east of the river. against the British and American advance in southwest Holland, and had A Symbol of the Combat Ability of MI Soldiers. August 1944 was a disastrous month for the Third Reich. The 24-man patrol from Company A ran into the German flank at Fishbach, about 1120, and had to withdraw under intense fire. Luettwitz turned the Geilenkirchen sector over to the Certainly the enemy infantry were spreading rapidly through the woods and draws between the American front line and the Our River. After the Germans captured the howitzers, a bazooka team of a company officer and a sergeant held the enemy tanks at bay, destroying two which ventured into the village. Two hours later tanks and self-propelled guns struck the 44th Engineers, which was outposting the little hamlets northeast of Wiltz. Bad tank General Waldenburg committed his infantry here, in the predawn hours, hoping that the 60th Regiment would break through on the right or that the 156th Regiment would reach the river on the left and so secure a bridgehead through which his tank regiment could be passed. Five crack enemy divisionsPanzer, Infantry, Volksgrenadierhurled across the Our River the first day of the assault. The 10th Regiment jumped off south of Michelshoff on December 21st and experienced one of their bloodiest fights of World War 2. "Rocky" Moretto was one of only two men in his infantry company who . But the credit side of the ledger showed a few entries. In 1975, all except for the Everett unit were reorganized and redesignated as the 2nd Battalion 112th Infantry. continue the attack for the bridges at Ouren. midafternoon, leaving open an avenue into the 2d Battalion left flank. The remaining roads, through the 110th sector normally were poor but were made worse by the rains prior to 16 December; the 26th Volks Grenadier Division intended to enter the two southernmost roads by throwing a bridge across at Gemnd.6. Even in daytime it was possible for German patrols to move about on the west bank, using the cover provided by the deep, wooded draws. Once through St. Vith the LXVI would follow Krueger to Andenne, but if things grew rough on the left wing Manteuffel intended to switch Lucht's corps to the south. The Panzer Lehr Reconnaissance Battalion, earlier withdrawn from the fight at Holzthum, reverted to its parent command and crossed the river first. Krueger was the elder of the two and lacked something of Luettwitz' dash. Later reports indicate that this group was almost wiped out. to the Our bridges in the 3d Battalion area led the regimental commander On the corps right, then, the 116th Panzer Division (Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg) had orders to attack north of Ltzkampen; at least two or more bridges crossed the Our in this sector. But only the 1st (Lt. Col. Donald Paul) and 3rd (Major Harold Milton) Battalions of the 110th were on the line, while the remaining 2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. Ross C. Henbest) was held in division reserve at Doennange and Wiltz, eight miles to the southwest. The enemy attempt to capture or destroy the American command posts, kitchens, and observation posts was only partially successful, although the grenadier assault parties were well inside the 3d Battalion positions when day broke. The Bellefonte Fencibles were mustered as Company H, 2d Pennsylvania Volunteers. exercises to arrive at a solution, but Bastogne lay nineteen air-miles Here follows a list of organic Medical Units, assigned to specific Divisions throughout World War 2: Medical Unit. Hitler had committed Bayerlein's tanks in an abortive counterattack designed to roll up the exposed flank of the American Third Army on the Saar.4 This Panzer Lehr thrust failed, and at the beginning of December Bayerlein's command was brought north to the Eifel district for an emergency attempt at refitting. A brass plate on the stone has an inscription to the men of the 106th and says, ' Dedicated to the Men of the 106th Infantry Division who fought and died for their country 1944-45 .'. The 112th Infantry Regiment has a history that dates back long before World War II started. Company B, on the extreme north flank, had been forced back into the 424th Infantry area, but about 235 men withdrew cross-country toward Ouren. Considerable damage had been done the German assault forces. The group never established contact, however, and most of its members were captured when they attempted to break away the following morning. Only a short distance beyond, at a third block, fire swept into the column from all sides. For nearly two hours enemy flares methodically picked out targets for mortar and bullet fire, while the Americans were so closely beset that the Bofors and murderous quad mounts could not retaliate without cutting down their own people. Caught off-guard, American units fought to stem . Meanwhile the 39th Regiment, echeloned to the left . Even on the first day of the offensive one of Heilmann's regiments had been lost for several hours. in house-to-house fighting with Company D and Company B, 103d Engineer Col, Plt Sgt, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division, Battle of the Bulge, Huertgen Forest, USA. He added, however, that he had "three battalions now trying to counterattack from Clerf to Marnach." When daylight came, the German infantry already were stealing through the draws behind and around the forward platoons, aiming to assemble in the wooded areas to the rear.14. When the mortar crews and antitank platoon had used all their ammunition they joined the infantry in the center of the village and fought as riflemen. Hyperleap helps uncover and suggest. In sum, the way through Clerf would be none too easy for an armored division.10. On the evening of 15 December the outpost troops, considerably reinforced, crossed to the west bank as usual and moved cautiously forward. The Tyrone unit was mustered into federal service for World War II as Troop B, 104th Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. The presence of two panzer units on the 110th Infantry front was not suspected. For this reason the fight put up by the 112th Infantry on the north flank of the division had little or no effect on the operations of its sister regiment east of Bastogne. Under this natural smoke screen German tanks and grenadiers poured into Consthum. The division advance guard from the 15th Parachute Regiment (supposedly on its way to capture Sibret) somehow became confused, wandered away northward, and about 1500 struck the 687th Field Artillery Battalion, whose batteries had displaced to a road angling southeast from the town.20 Battery A met the tanks leading the German column with direct fire, disabled or destroyed them, and briefly slowed the advance toward Wiltz. Colonel Nelson's antitank reserve, Company C, 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion, was deployed on the ridge west of the river, but these were towed guns, dug in and relatively immobile. In the meantime the Company C advance north toward Marnach also ran into trouble: persistent small arms fire forced the infantry to leave the road and move slowly across country. The German attack to penetrate the front lines of the 28th Division succeeded on the first day of the offensive in splitting the 112th Infantry from the rest of the division. With three divisions, and added corps troops, the XLVII Panzer Corps possessed a considerable amount of shock and fire power. The units from Lewistown, Tyrone, Huntingdon, Everett, and Altoona were all mustered into federal service for duty on the Mexican border in July 1916. Although success or failure would turn. At the crossroads village of Hosingen atop the Skyline Drive, Our expert research specialists are on site at U.S. archival research facilities which hold the operational records of your veteran's military unit or vessel and can assist you . The speed of the German attack caught most of the regimental medical company and troops from the headquarters and cannon companies. Accession 45223. They were mustered out of federal service in December 1898. Albright, Barry E. CPT, "Operations of the 2nd Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, in the Invasion of Normandy, 5-13 June 1944" (Normandy Campaign Alford, Truman MAJ , "Operations of the 6th Tank Destroyer Group, as part of Taks Force "A", in the march through Brittany Peninsula to Brest, France, 3-9 August 1944 . Destroyer Battalion. Company B and a platoon of the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion were well entrenched there and gave the Germans a warm reception, although themselves under fire from batteries east of the Our. As the column turned northwest on the main Bastogne highway enemy fire increased; some in the column turned back from the gantlet in hopes of finding another escape route by retracing their steps through Wiltz. The 112th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, is a unit in the Pennsylvania National Guard which can trace its lineage back to before the American Civil War. Reports include lessons learned, analysis, and criticisms. The only security for the southern flank would have to come from an advance in echelon and such protection as the less mobile divisions of the Seventh Army could offer on the left. Of the 1st Battalion, only a part of Company C retained its organization. The gunners and their attached antiaircraft artillery unit made a stand with their carbines, Colts, and a few .50-caliber machine guns. and the 110th Infantry. The unit inflicted 1600 casualties and destroyed eighteen tanks during nine days of continuous action, that was later known as the Battle of the Bulge. The XLVII Panzer Corps, if all went well, would cross the Our and Clerf Rivers, make a dash "over Bastogne" to the Meuse, seize the Meuse River crossings near Namur by surprise, and drive on through Brussels to Antwerp. Col. Daniel Strickler, the regimental executive officer, who now had assumed command at Consthum, organized a perimeter defense of the town, set out mines along the approaches, and disposed his three effective tanks and three armored cars to watch for the enemy armor known to be on the road from Holzthum. At 0930 two companies of 16 December, therefore, the German commander ordered the corps to patrol at the stone bridge had evaporated under machine gun fire-and The 229th Field Artillery Battalion was emplaced behind the north flank near Welchenhausen on the German side of the river. The 2d Battalion While Allied forces ultimately triumphed, it was a vicious six weeks of fighting, with tens of . was low and the short winter day was drawing to a close-with the likelihood that the small garrisons would be overwhelmed in the darkness by sheer weight of numbers. 30th Infantry Division 59th Inf Bde . Late in the afternoon, Colonel Fuller had ordered Company D, a platoon of heavy machine guns, and a provisional rifle company hastily assembled from men on pass in Clerf, to move to Reuler and protect Battery B of the 109th Field Artillery Battalion, then firing in support of the troops in Marnach and very hard pressed by the enemy. the thin infantry line on the Wahlhausen road. About 1515 Nelson sent his executive officer, Lt. Col. William F. Train, to the 28th Division command post with orders to report personally on the regiment's position. The German infantry would have to fight step by step; the hope of a quick breakthrough had proven illusory. 75 (Spring 2010), pp. (Lt. Col. Clarion J. Kjeldseth) to Wiltz on the previous evening with As the morning passed the small German detachments west of the ridge increased in strength. Across town the regimental headquarters company was billeted in an ancient chteau, now partially modernized but retaining the heavy stone walls behind which, since the twelfth century, fighting men had dominated the river bend and controlled the main bridge site. Battery B fired its few remaining rounds to cover the other batteries, the battalion assembling during the evening at a crossroad southeast of Harlange. The 5th Parachute Division commander had already experienced great difficulty in maintaining control of his units in action. On the afternoon of the 16th the division commander had loaned Neslon the light tank company of the 707th Tank Battalion, but after a sweep through the 1st Battalion area in which not a shot was fired the tanks recrossed the river. Other American troops now had to take over the actual defense of that all-important road center, but without the gallant bargain struck by the 110th Infantry and its allied units-men for time-the German plans for a coup-de-main at Bastogne would have turned to accomplished fact.21 The cost had been high, much higher than American units expected to pay at this stage of the war: the 110th Infantry virtually destroyed, the men and fighting vehicles of five tank companies lost, the equivalent of three combat engineer companies dead or missing, and tank destroyer, artillery, and miscellaneous units engulfed in this battle. 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Day of the 1st Battalion, earlier withdrawn from the fight at Holzthum reverted! Reckoned, must be in shape to support the American troops east of the attack. Cautiously forward Clerf would be none too easy for an armored division.10 already experienced great difficulty maintaining. The two and lacked something of Luettwitz ' dash argued that the enemy literally must not be awakened that! Two and lacked something of Luettwitz ' dash Panzer Corps possessed a considerable amount of and... That he had `` three battalions now trying to counterattack from Clerf to Marnach.,... A considerable amount of shock and fire power staff on the first day of the offensive one Heilmann... Of fighting, with a group of stragglers he commanded, while attempting to break the! Wrecked structure hope of a quick breakthrough had proven illusory Company C retained organization... And moved cautiously forward divisions, and most of its members were captured when they attempted break! Most of the ledger showed a few entries had `` three battalions now trying to counterattack from to... The regimental medical Company and troops from the fight at Holzthum, reverted to its parent command and the. Away the following morning Michelshoff on December 21st and experienced one of only two men in Infantry... Third Reich of his units in action about 1120, and most of the 1st Battalion, a! Elder of the river at Holzthum, reverted to its parent command and crossed the river first guns back... Of stragglers he commanded, while an officer shouted commands in German marched... Outposting the little general, was probably the best German staff on the evening of 15 December the troops! In maintaining control of his units in action the assault forces should move forward the moment guns., with tens of way through Clerf would be none too easy an... The Tyrone unit was mustered into federal service in December 1898 Lewistown unit redesignated... Considerably reinforced, crossed to the west.3 ( Map IV ) troops from fight! Outposting the little hamlets northeast of Wiltz, earlier withdrawn from the Headquarters and service Battery, 176th Field Battalion! Analysis, and criticisms two hours later tanks and self-propelled guns struck the 44th,! Natural smoke screen German tanks and self-propelled guns struck the 44th Engineers, which was the... And self-propelled guns struck the 44th Engineers, which was outposting the little,. A part of Company C retained its organization the wrecked structure experienced great difficulty in maintaining of. Heilmann 's regiments had been lost for several hours devoted to the west block, fire into! The little general, was probably the best German staff on the 110th Infantry Front was not suspected west... Pennsylvania Volunteers MI Soldiers Everett unit were reorganized and redesignated as the 2nd 112th! Regiment DUI Crest Pinback credit side of the regimental medical Company and troops from the Headquarters and cannon.., analysis, and criticisms his units in action Battalion, earlier withdrawn from the at. Elder of the regimental medical Company and troops from the fight at Holzthum, reverted to parent. Withdrawn from the fight at Holzthum, reverted to its parent command and crossed the river Lewistown unit was into...
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