2nd tank battalion, 9th armored division

8th Armored Division – WW-2. Clervaux was only a scant five miles from this junction and only about 13 road miles from Bastogne. The division was activated on 15 July 1942 at Fort Riley, KS.It reached the United Kingdom in September 1944. Each combat command usually consisted of one armored battalion and one armored infantry battalion. Colonel Gilbreth’s as yet untested command, within this framework of parceling, separation, and external control, was expected to stop the advance of a formidable Wehrmacht armored division. There have been countless thousands of published works devoted to all or of it. The reason for the reprieve was that the 2nd Panzer Division, in keeping with the XLVII Panzer Corps operational plan, turned off the main road, bypassing Bastogne to the north and heading for the Meuse River. Entire Division: 2nd Battalion and one platoon of Company A, 749th Tank Battalion and one platoon of Company A, 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion of the 44th Infantry Division (United States) U.S. Army: 1945: France: Defensive action starting on December 31, 1944, against the German offensive Operation Nordwind in Rimling, France. By midday on December 17, Luttwitz’s 2nd Panzer Division, after crushing American resistance in Marnach, was pushing west toward Clervaux and its bridges across the Clerf River. They came through the 101st defensive lines having had very little sleep or food for three days and in almost constant battle with an enemy that not only had the full advantage of surprise but was also far superior in numbers, the quantity and quality of its armor, and in its battle experience. This second roadblock was only about eight miles from Bastogne. In addition to the direct fire coming from the German panzers, the infantry and Shermans of Task Force Rose were also coming under indirect fire from 88mm antiaircraft guns estimated to be about 2,500 yards to the east. It was not until 7 pm on December 17 that Eisenhower, reluctant to part with his last reserve divisions, gave permission. Within minutes after the arrival of the its 2nd Battalion, 2nd Panzer artillery shelling started to pick up once again and another smoke screen was laid down in front of the Americans. Colonel Gilbreth would have very little independent command and control over his unit. Bastogne lay in the sector of advance that Manteuffel assigned to XLVII Panzer Corps and its commander, General Heinrich von Luttwitz. At about 9:40 am on the 17th, approximately 10 minutes after word came that the Germans had captured Clervaux and crossed the Clerf River, General Middleton ordered Colonel Gilbreth to establish two roadblocks between Clervaux and Bastogne in an effort to delay the Germans. Middleton therefore planned to hold his original VIII Corps positions as long as possible while building strong defenses in front of the road network hubs of St.Vith, Houffalize, and Bastogne. Die 9th Armored Division war eine von mehreren (tatsächlich existierenden) Divisionen der US Army, die an der Operation Fortitude teilnahmen. Citation: He was the leader of a combat patrol on 21 December 1944 near Grufflingen, Belgium, with the mission of driving German forces from dug-in positions in a heavily wooded area. Luttwitz’s 2nd Panzer Division was formed in 1935. The offensive was launched, 28 February 1945, and the 9th smashed across the Roer to Rheinbach, sending patrols into Remagen. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, was constituted on 29 August 1917 and organized as Headquarters, 3rd Brigade, 15th Cavalry Division in December. The Division was shifting south to Czechoslovakia when the war in Europe ended on 9 May 1945. The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen was found intact, and was seized by elements of the 9th Armored minutes before demolition charges were set to explode on 7 March 1945. The personnel of CCR, 9th Armored Division who managed to make it to Bastogne and regroup were able to assist the 101st Airborne Division by acting as either mobile emergency relief strike forces, armored support for the lightly armed paratroopers, or direct infantry augmentation to the defense line. In the annals of military history magazines, this is one of those moments. Cemeteries & Memorials; Burial Search; About Us; Education; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501. Combat Command "B", 9th Armored Division (CCB, 9AD) was in an assembly position in the vicinity of Faymonville – Ligneuville, Belgium. The 3rd Brigade demobilized on 15 July 1919 and reconstituted on 10 August 1921, within the newly-constituted 1st Cavalry Division. The area of the Ardennes designated for the XLVII Panzer Corps’ breakthrough was held by the 28th Infantry Division’s 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 110th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Hurley F. Fuller. The northernmost roadblock near Lullange, under the command of Captain L.K. Captain Rose placed a platoon of infantry facing north of the junction and another platoon facing east on the road coming from Clervaux. After a rest period in January 1945, the Division made preparations for a drive across the Roer River. Three infantry divisions, the 28th, 4th, and 106th, comprised VIII Corps. Prior to its commitment to the Ardennes offensive, 2nd Panzer was supplied with the newer model Panther medium tanks equipped for night fighting with the new infrared sighting apparatus and high-velocity 75mm cannon. In the 9th Armored Division’s CCR sector, the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion seemed to be the primary target of the shelling. In April it continued east, encircling Leipzig and securing a line along the Mulde River. CCR, under the command of Colonel Joseph H. Gilbreth, was stationed at Trois Vierges, roughly 20 miles northeast of the crossroads town of Bastogne, Belgium, in support of VIII Corps’ left and center. The corps commander informed his division commander that the order came down from the highest level of command. It advanced to within 15 miles of Moscow and later participated in the epic armored battle of Kursk. Cemeteries & Memorials; Burial Search; About Us; Education; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 571-842-0020. However, prior to Middleton’s roadblock order, desperate fighting on the morning of the 16th by elements of the 28th Infantry Division had already drawn off portions of Colonel Gilbreth’s command. The 9th Armored Division (the "Phantom Division") was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. This was based on an earlier effort but was predicated on a new Cavalry Regiment TO&E (Table of Organization and Equipment) which was … The 116th Panzer Division logs for this date report a number of skirmishes with American armor. As much as Harper wanted to assist Task Force Rose, Middleton was not allowing him independent control of Task Force Harper, and Middleton would not allow any part of Task Force Harper to assist Task Force Rose. We operated in this organization until … In the ensuing battle, Harper was killed and his scratch force of armor and infantry cut to pieces. After about 15 minutes the smoke cleared with no immediate action on the part of the Germans. 14th Tank Battalion, CCA, 9th Armored Division, after Remagen, Ludendorf Bridge and the breakout at Erpel "On the 23rd of March during the breakout from the bridgehead area, the 14th Tank Battalion was attached to Combat Command "A" Headquarters. Supported by the outstandingly responsive and accurate fire of its artillery battalion, this widely dispersed force stopped every attack for six days until its surrounded infantry were ordered to fight their way back to them. 2.) On the morning of December 19, Booth decided to move what was left of his team plus about 100 stragglers, even a few from the 106th Infantry Division, to Bastogne. The tank battles of North Africa and Russia in early 1942 caused the US Army to recognized the need to drastically increase the number of its armored units. The resupply and reinforcement of the units commenced immediately. At approximately 8:30 am on December 18, the infantrymen of Task Force Rose facing Clervaux reported that three enemy tanks accompanied by infantry were approaching. CCA was placed just south of the confluence of the Our and Sure Rivers wedged between the 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division to its north and the 12th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division to its south. Based upon all available information, Booth estimated that his team was up against at least one armored division. Unknown to the Americans, the Germans were planning a major offensive code-named Operation Watch on the Rhine. The Clerf crossings lay only about 17 road miles from Bastogne. It changed the world more than any other single event in history. The officer and enlisted cadres were drawn from other armored divisions. Unit Roster - This is an excerpt from the Unit History and includes both a list of men as they arrived in France and a list with addresses … The 112th Infantry Regiment drew off a platoon of tank destroyers, and the 110th Infantry Regiment was sent a platoon of tank destroyers as well as a company of tanks. The Division exploited the bridgehead, moving south and east across the Lahn River toward Limburg, where thousands of Allied prisoners were liberated. At about 11 am, the first Mark IVs of the 2nd Battalion, 3d Panzer Regiment appeared. Outnumbered five to one, with its infantry rifles companies surrounded for most of the time, clerks, cooks, mechanics, drivers and others manned the 10.000 yard final defensive line. The 9th Armored Division landed in Normandy late in September 1944, and first went into line, 23 October 1944, on patrol duty in a quiet sector along the Luxembourg-German frontier. So let’s take a closer look. According to the German plan, the offensive would cut across the Ardennes front, capturing Bastogne, one of three critical communication/road network centers in Field Marshal Hasso von Manteuffel’s Fifth Army sector. - … South of St. Vith, even as Lt. Col. Engeman’s task forces were responding to the 7th Armored’s cry for help, Germans of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division were trying to get across the Our River at Steinebruck and hit St. Vith from that direction. Troy H. Middleton’s U.S. Army VIII Corps was such a unit. The 73rd AFA batteries were immediately pulled back to Longvilly. WWII Quarterly, the hardcover journal of the Second World War that is not available in bookstores or on newsstands, and can only be obtained and collected through a personal subscription through the mail. The 9th Armored Division landed in Normandy late in September 1944, and first went into line, 23 October, on patrol duty in a quiet sector along the Luxembourg-German frontier. History of the 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion - Pages 1 to 41. Subscribe to 2nd Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division Footer menu. Since the primary mission of the Fifth Panzer Army was to reach and cross the Meuse River by day three of the offensive in flank support of Sixth SS Panzer Army’s drive to capture Antwerp, the 2nd Panzer and the Panzer Lehr Divisions were to rapidly move beyond Bastogne regardless of who held it. Although never officially reorganized, the Brigade was inactive until its 15 October 1940 activation and redesignation and conversion to HHC, 9th Armored Division Trains, and deployed to Europe, receiving campaign-participation credit for operations in the Rhineland, the Ardennes-Alsace, and the Central Europe theatres of war, and awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations, with embroidered streamers reading: Europe 1944 and Europe 1945. In the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, all along the Ardennes front from Monchau in the north to Echternach in the south, American forces awoke to the sound of German artillery. On December 16, however, the forces available to Middleton to implement this plan were not nearly enough. In addition, smaller units of tank destroyers, engineers, and mechanized cavalry were assigned as needed to accomplish any given mission. Harper, finding his way to Longvilly blocked, headed cross country with an assault gun platoon in the direction of Houffalize where, along the way, he met up with a retreating body of Task Force Rose tanks and soldiers directed by a Lieutenant DeRoche. Men and armor retreating into Bastogne from the battles that preceded the arrival of the 101st Airborne Division continued to stream in throughout the day with valuable information concerning German deployment and strengths. One Sherman became bogged down in the mud and had to be evacuated. Its two tank battalions were about at full strength with 27 Mark IVs, 58 Panthers, and 48 armored assault guns. 9th Armored Division – WW-2. In the 9th Armored Division’s CCR sector, the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion seemed to be the primary target of the shelling. CCB found itself near the village of Faymonville and recently attached to V Corps to support the U.S. Army’s effort to capture or destroy the Roer River dams. 9th A.D. halftracks advancing through Engers, Germany, 27 March 1945. According to Lauchert’s timetable, his reconnaissance battalion should have been in Bastogne well over an hour earlier. This left only one tank platoon to defend to the north. The two Shermans sent by Task Force Rose to lead the relief force had to return alone to the battle. The division, under the command of Major General Geoffrey Keyes, was activated on 15 July 1942 at Fort Riley, Kansas, by reorganizing and redesignating the white elements of the 2nd Cavalry Division. 2021 - 2020 Its stand at Bastogne held off the Germans long enough to enable the 101st Airborne to dig in for a defense of the city. This was only seven months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which was followed just four days later by the German declaration of war on the United States, thus bringing the United States into World War II. Control of Bastogne would not only ensure an easier and swifter advance toward the River Meuse but would also ensure firmer control of the entire southern Ardennes region. The great majority of these men had given it their all. In the opening onslaught, the Germans swept the first line of defense with machine-gun fire to clear out any infantry that might be protecting the tanks. Assault he could not even use the entire Division in World War service. May 1945 a brief shelling of Task Force Rose positions, the first German Division to take up …. Was launched, 28 February 1945, the executive officer of the 2nd tank Battalion wolf head on a white! 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For the time being enemy forces were the lead elements of the woods just 2nd tank battalion, 9th armored division of the shelling two Force!

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