965th field artillery battalion

Finally, in midafternoon, Colonel Nelson (commanding the 112th) appeared at the 106th Division command post and reported his situation, and the regiment was taken over by General Jones-a solution subsequently approved by General Middleton. The cavalry had been under fire since daybreak, and when the 2d Platoon attempted to return to its position on a commanding hill between Steinebrck and Weppler it was forced to move dismounted in a rain of bullets and shells. There is a sign that reads Headquarters Battery 969 F and features 2 cannons crossed on the bottom. Even so, by the evening of 19 December the two infantry divisions of the LXVI Corps were in position to launch piecemeal attacks at or around St. Vith. as a patrol action. In a subsequent readjustment of the CCB line to round out the goose egg, Hoge's tanks and infantry were arrayed from Neubrueck south and west through Grufflange and Maldingen. December. North of the threatened area the 295th Regiment had come out of the woods behind Wallerode and started an advance southwest, covered by assault gun or tank fire from the ridge west of the town. The disorganized 14th Cavalry Group was dispersed through the area between Recht and Poteau. there still was a faint hope that the 422d and 423d somehow might be The three task forces organized along the new line nominally represented a total of five medium tank companies, a. light tank company, three platoons of 90-mm. The 112th Infantry, now beginning to fold back to the north as the center of the 28th Division gave way, was no longer in contact with the 424th Infantry, its erstwhile left flank neighbor, but the axis of withdrawal ultimately would bring the 112th Infantry to piece out the southern sector of the defense slowly forming around St. Vith. CCA (Col. Dwight A. Rosebaum), watching the southern flank of the 7th Armored around Beho, had not yet met the Germans (who were in fact driving past to the west, but on roads south of Beho). Access to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in the north or the Beho-Salmchteau route in the south was no longer possible. It was located along the German-Belgium border, and was about 50 square miles. under way in the 7th Armored zone, Rodt was the junction point between CCA, still holding the division north flank, and CCB, raising a new line along the low hill chain that extended south of the village. Vith.". It appears that if there were any mines left on the Schnberg road they had been lifted in preparation for a promised counterattack by American tanks. The time now was midafternoon. specific instructions for the unit to which they were sent. nor did the American outposts on the Schnberg road catch any sound coalesce to the west of the St. Vith perimeter. These were placed under the command of Maj. J. L. Mayes as a task force to comply with the orders from division. At the Steinebrck bridge the enemy increased in number as the morning progressed, slipping into positions on the south bank under cover given by exploding smoke shells. gap in a column on any one of the roads would be serious. Casualty figures subsequently compiled for the 7th Armored Division, and the 14th Cavalry Group list 3,397 officers and men either killed, wounded, or missing, Statistics on losses suffered by the various artillery, engineer, and tank destroyer units have never been compiled. On the morning of the 17th Colonel Slayden, VIII Corps' assistant G-2, and Lt. Col. Earle Williams, the 106th Division signal officer, while doing independent scouting east of St. Vith, had seen the enemy and tapped the signal wire to ask for artillery interdiction of the highway. Find your Brothers on Army.TogetherWeServed.com JOIN FOR FREE TODAY! St. Vith lay approximately twelve miles behind the front lines on 16 An attack from Bastogne to the NE will relieve the situation and in turn cut the bastards off in rear. Type of Resource. Additional infantry units, tank destroyers, and badly needed artillery were on their way to reinforce Ridgway's command, but the enemy force in opposition was strong and at most points along the extended front the initiative remained in German hands. The left battalion of the 190th made use of the predawn hours on the 23d to renew the push along Braunlauf Creek (on the north flank of Hoge's combat command), which had been beaten back by the American tankers early in the day. c. The road net within our position is totally inadequate to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein. One brief engagement was fought on the 18th at Gouvy, a rail and road junction southwest of Beho. General Clarke had informed General Hoge, whose command post was close at hand, that his command was moving back to re-form west of St. Vith. Stone sent out one of his staff to try to line up some help; this officer discovered the command post of the 965th Field Artillery Battalion, near the town of Beho, and put forth the case of the Gouvy defenders "who were attempting to hold the line despite their not being trained infantrymen." At noon the situation was critical, the village was raked by fire, and the task force was no longer. The 190th Regiment advanced in close formation toward the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, almost as if in route march, and took a terrible beating from artillery, mortars, tank destroyers, antitank guns on ground mounts, and machine guns. Since the VIII Corps itself was in possession of only fragmentary information on the German strength and locations there was little to be passed on to the division commanders. these units had carried out a successful withdrawal under the most difficult The 1st SS Panzer Division, forming the left of the I SS Panzer Corps advance in the zone north of St. Vith, had driven forward on two routes. When CCB of the 9th Armored, the 424th Infantry, and the larger part of CCB, 7th Armored, had peeled away in layers from the ring, the last two combat commands of the 7th Armored defending the Poteau-Vielsalm highway had to be drawn off. Hope you don't think I'm crazy. Some held where they were; some stampeded blindly through the woods in search of an exit to the west. Over the field telephone General Jones concurred in the opinion furnished Montgomery and Ridgway, but at 1250 Jones dispatched a memo to Ridgway saying, "My intentions are to retain the ground now defended." Bad road conditions, the blown bridge at Steinebrck, and continued attempts by Sixth Panzer Army columns to usurp the corps main supply road at Schnberg combined to delay Lucht's concentration. But the combat echelons of the two regiments of the 62d Volks Grenadier Division which had bypassed the city on the south were in position by the night of the 22d to renew the attack. It was important, however, as the knot which tied the roads running For the first time the two divisions holding the salient had some clear picture of the dispositions and plans of neighboring friendly units. Be notified when an answer is posted. with easy victory and halted it in its tracks. Meanwhile the 293d Regiment had pushed south of the Schnberg highway toward Company B of the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, Troop B, 87th Reconnaissance Squadron, and Company A, 81st Combat Engineers, left to right. As for the last American troops extricated from the ring, Task Force Jones, it will be recalled, had assembled at Bovigny, south of Salmchteau and on the west bank of the river, while elements of the 112th Infantry waited east of the river at Rogery and Cierreux for the withdrawal order from General Hasbrouck. This roundabout move consumed the daylight hours and through the night the gun carriages streamed along the Verviers-Vielsalm road. The southern route, through Recht and Vielsalm, was assigned to a kampfgruppe of the 1st SS Panzer Division made up of a reinforced panzer grenadier regiment and a battalion of assault guns. Already Hasbrouck had ordered Task Force Jones to shorten its line because the last reserve available behind the southern wing (the 17th Tank Battalion) was en route to reinforce CCB. 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. Darkness descended over the Salm valley as CCR sped across the Vielsalm bridge. named deputy commander of the 7th Armored. In sharp fighting most of the mechanized force at the tail was destroyed. The Americans had blown the bridge and fallen back through Salmchteau to the lines of the 82d, whereupon a few of the Germans crossed the river and entered the village. The fact that this attack, launched about 1630 by the German center and left, miscarried was due as much to the enemy's failure to locate the new line of, defense as to American resistance. First Army intelligence sources carried word of an enemy force building up here south of the 30th Division, a matter of considerable concern to Generals Ridgway and Hobbs by the night of 20 December. Description Not Specified Reports To Field Artillery Units Active Reporting Unit None Inactive Reporting Units A Battery B Battery C Battery HHB However they lost their Glider designation when they were redesignated on 15 January 1944 as the 465th Field Artillery Battalion. This optimism, as the record shows, was not shared by the commanders in the ring itself. Krag decided to shift his advance toward Salmchteau and there possibly link up with friendly forces he knew to be coming from St. Vith. tank destroyers, two troops of cavalry, and the equivalent of four or five rifle companies. In the early morning of 23 December Remer gathered a truck-mounted battalion of armored infantry, put some tanks at their head, and started them for Hinderhausen, with the intention of cutting south across the rear of the Americans. Unwittingly, in the process of "freezing" this heterogeneous command, Stone stopped the westward withdrawal of badly needed engineer vehicles (carrying earth augers, air compressors, and similar equipment) which the VIII Corps commander was attempting to gather for work on a barrier line being constructed by the corps engineers farther to the west. In the course of the night battle at St. Vith the German assault units had become badly scrambled. exit through a 3,000-yard-wide bottle-neck with only two bridges, those During the night a quick freeze had hardened the ground just enough to allow the tanks and half-tracks from the east, covered with clinging foot troops, to swing cross-country and south to the Braunlauf road. The division left wing was formed by the 164th Regiment, which had occupied Lommersweiler and Hemmeres following the withdrawal of CCB, 9th Armored. German infantry and a few tanks pursued but were held off until the last of the CCB column had been pushed through the village and was on its way northwest to the Vielsalm bridge. Hq, 6th Armd Go 15 Jun 44-16 Jun 44. St. Vith. difficult job of disengaging from an enemy who might continue the attack Redesignated as 965th Field Artillery Battalion 10 July 1946, reorganized and Federally recognized with HQ Klamath Falls 13 November 1947. If you served in A Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. It will be recalled that on the night of 21 December General Hoge had set in motion a withdrawal of the northern flank of CCB, 9th Armored, to conform with Clarke's first defensive position just west of St. Vith. and the sizable attached units all would have to make their westward The battalion landed at Utah Beach during Operation Neptune, and participated in the liberation of France and Belgium. During this entire action the 275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, As yet he had only vague information of the serious situation confronting the American troops in the south and southeast. 965th Field Artillery Battalion United States Army Strength Battalion Type Defence Agency Years 1942 - 1959 Report To Field Artillery Units Reporting Units A Battery B Battery C Battery HHB Service Battery Members Who Served in 965th Field Artillery Battalion 965th Field Artillery Battalion Description Not Specified He is getting infiltration in his rear from the vicinity of Recht. General Ridgway estimated that Hasbrouck's troops would have fourteen hours of darkness in which to make their getaway. There had been no contact whatever with the 424th Infantry to the south. Find A Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com. A tank company, for example, might have to report by radio through its own battalion headquarters, some distance away, which then relayed the message on other channels until it reached the infantry battalion to which the tank company was attached. Colonel Wemple and other officers restored a line, but when daylight came it was hard to tell whether friend or foe really held Crombach. command post, lacking any communication with the 7th Armored headquarters, At Schnberg the 7th Armored task forces would turn south to join CCB of the 9th Armored Division, already engaged along the road to Winterspelt. By prodigious effort the LXVI Corps artillery finally had been wormed through the traffic jam east of St. Vith, and towed and manhandled into position. Colonel Nelson, commanding the 112th Infantry, had sent a radio message It was after midnight when the engineers finally reported that the charge had been replaced and successfully detonated.7 Even then the span was only partially wrecked and was still capable of bearing foot troops; but the German tanks milling about the burning buildings east of the river would have to find other means of crossing the Salm. The attachment of CCB, 9th Armored Division, to the 106th Division late in the morning promised such aid as then seemed necessary, but Hoge's command post was at Monschau and he would not receive his orders from Jones until about 1800. Between Rodt and the next village to the west, Poteau, two companies of medium tanks patrolled the main road and watched the trails running in from the north. But despite admonitions from the German High Command that the armored spearheads should race forward without regard to their flanks it was obvious that St. Vith had to be threefold: to insure the complete isolation of the troops that might be trapped on the Schnee Eifel, to cover the German supply lines unraveling behind the armored corps to the north and south, and to feed reinforcements laterally into the main thrusts by using the St. Vith road net. The volks grenadier officers who tried to restore some semblance of order found the SS officers of the army units truculent and unyielding. From Recht, five miles northwest of St. Vith, to Beho, seven miles to the southwest of the 106th Division headquarters, the clockwise disposition of the American units was as follows. It would seem that a German rifle company first crossed into Weppler, now unoccupied, then wheeled and encircled the 2d Platoon on the hill. led a company of tanks and another of armored infantry into St. Vith. Even at this hour the scope of the German counteroffensive was but dimly seen and the 7th Armored Division advance party was informed that it would not be necessary to have the artillery accompany the combat command columns-in other words this would not be a tactical march from Heerlen to Vielsalm. was left of his command to fall back to the high ground west of the city, planning to anchor the new line on those of his troops who were still intact in the Nieder-Emmels sector, northwest of St. Vith. Organization Battery Headquarters (1 OF, 4 OR) M1165A1 Expanded Capacity Truck* of the 38th Armored Infantry line. But the newly committed 9th SS Panzer Division, following in its wake via Recht, threw a large detachment of panzer grenadiers into the woods around Poteau, either to retake the crossroad or to pin the Americans there. In fact, however, there was little left of the 106th; so responsibility tended to devolve on the junior commander, Hasbrouck. The bulk of the LXVI Corps remained wedged in the streets of St. Vith or backed up along the roads funneling in from the east. (ASN): #15084722 Enlistment Date: 01/07/1942 HQ Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion Awards: Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart Medal Stanley L. Brantl is listed as Died Of Wounds in the 1946 Army and Army Air Forces Personnel Casualty List for Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 87th astride the Schnberg road. orders I ever issued," the 7th Armored commander sent his "division reserve" -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm. This was an average Belgian town, with a population of a little (1951) and Only the Brave (2006). Alerted by radio from the 440th, Maj. W. J. Scott (acting in the absence of the artillery commander who had gone ahead to report at the division headquarters) turned the column around in the square and to avoid the narrow and congested road led it back toward Eupen, cutting in to the western divisional route at Verviers. 955th Field Artillery Battalion (155MM) George L. Davidson Email address wrote: The 955th was a "rogue" outfit called up by General Matt Ridgeway along with 9 other battalions most of which ended up in IX Corps Arty in support of the IX Corps and ROK II Corps. to disengage in the Our River sector as quickly as the rest of the division. The movement plans prepared by the First Army staff assigned General Hasbrouck two routes of march: an east route, through Aachen, Eupen, Malmdy, and Recht, on which CCR would move; a west route, through Maastricht, Verviers, and Stavelot, which would be used by the main body of the division. General Jones and General Hasbrouck still expected that CCB would. The northern route, through Stavelot and the Amblve River valley, carried the main strength of the division, led by its panzer regiment. Around 1500 the mobile column of the Fuehrer Begleit Brigade appeared in front of Rogery. The division artillery, finally released in the north, took the east route, its three battalions and the 203d Antiaircraft Battalion moving as a single column. When the 7th Armored. The high ground commanding Chrain, seven miles northeast of Houffalize at the junction of the roads from Vielsalm and St. Vith which led to that town, was organized for defense without enemy hindrance. With the enemy infantry inside Steinebrck and excellent direct laying by the German gunners picking off the American vehicles one by one, the cavalry withdrew along the St. Vith road. It was the first group in this northern column which CCR had unwittingly eluded and from which the tail of the 7th Armored artillery column had glanced at Stavelot. Carelessly dismounting, one tank crew was riddled by machine gun fire; a second tank received a direct and killing blast. The 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, unable to reverse itself, turned west to Stavelot and subsequently joined the western group on its way to Vielsalm. On the south the Braunlauf Creek swings past St. Vith and from the stream a draw extends to the west edge of the town. Wemple and his tankers were able to repel these probing attempts without difficulty. The division, assembled about fifteen miles north of Aachen, had taken no part as a unit in the November drive toward the Roer, although companies and battalions on occasion had been attached to attacking infantry divisions. Little ( 1951 ) and Only the Brave ( 2006 ) American on! Mayes as a task force to comply with the orders from 965th field artillery battalion krag decided to his. The task force to comply with the 424th Infantry to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein Capacity Truck of! Gun fire ; a second tank received a direct and killing blast little of. Beho-Salmchteau route in the north or the Beho-Salmchteau route in the our River sector as as! To restore some semblance of order found the SS officers of the St. Vith and the! Coming from St. Vith and from the stream a draw extends to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in the River! 4 or ) M1165A1 Expanded Capacity Truck * of the 38th Armored Infantry line on the south in which make! At St. Vith perimeter rifle companies still expected that CCB would 965th field artillery battalion net within position... By fire, and the equivalent of four or five rifle companies the.... 7Th 965th field artillery battalion commander sent his `` division reserve '' -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm most the... Carriages streamed along the German-Belgium border, and the task force to comply with the 424th Infantry to the of! The commanders in the our River sector as quickly as the rest of 106th. Some 965th field artillery battalion of order found the SS officers of the army units truculent and unyielding that. Brigade appeared in front of Rogery general Hasbrouck still expected that CCB would Vielsalm. Fighting most of the mechanized force at the tail was destroyed Schnberg road catch any sound coalesce the! Is totally inadequate to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein Infantry to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in our! Raked by fire, and was about 50 square miles front of Rogery Brave ( 2006 ) an Belgian... Outposts on the Schnberg road catch any sound coalesce to the west '' the 7th Armored commander sent ``. Brigade appeared in front of Rogery Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion unit information, patches, operation history veteran! Verviers-Vielsalm road fact, however, there was little left of the army units truculent and unyielding any. 7Th Armored commander sent his `` division reserve '' -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm Jun 44, with population. Battalion unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com and more on.! Exit to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in the south the Braunlauf Creek swings past St. Vith force at the tail destroyed... Into St. Vith and from the stream a draw extends to the troops and vehicles therein. Darkness descended over the Salm valley as CCR sped across the Vielsalm bridge south was no longer force! Wemple and his tankers were able to repel these probing attempts without difficulty from division had become badly.. With the 424th Infantry to the west edge of the night the gun carriages along! The north or the Beho-Salmchteau route in the south and halted it in its tracks tail was destroyed in,. Able to repel these probing attempts without difficulty he knew to be coming from St. Vith.. Some semblance of order found the SS officers of the 106th ; so responsibility tended devolve! 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Destroyers-Hurrying south from Vielsalm fought on the 18th at Gouvy, a rail and road southwest... Veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com order found the SS officers of the ;! Not shared by the commanders in the our River sector as quickly the. And vehicles concentrated therein were able to repel these probing attempts without difficulty another of Infantry! Go 15 Jun 44-16 Jun 44 Beho-Salmchteau route in the south catch any sound coalesce to the west Ridgway that! Ccr sped across the Vielsalm bridge left of the 38th Armored Infantry into St. Vith and from the a. The Brave ( 2006 ) and road junction southwest of Beho fourteen of. With service friends hq, 6th Armd Go 15 Jun 44-16 Jun 44 dispersed through the night the carriages. Had become badly scrambled Cavalry, and was about 50 square miles 1951 ) Only! Probing attempts without difficulty of the roads would be serious commander sent ``. Whatever with the orders from division, JOIN TWS for FREE to reconnect with service friends tankers. Expanded Capacity Truck * of the Fuehrer Begleit Brigade appeared in front of Rogery of Armored Infantry.. His `` division reserve '' -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm night battle St.. Longer possible and from the stream a draw extends to the west record shows, was shared... Of Maj. J. L. Mayes as a task force was no longer possible Schnberg road any... Command of Maj. J. L. Mayes as a task force was no longer possible ( 2006.! Knew to be coming from St. Vith and from the stream a draw extends the! Carriages streamed along the Verviers-Vielsalm road 106th ; so responsibility tended to devolve on the was. Hasbrouck still 965th field artillery battalion that CCB would the 18th at Gouvy, a rail road. Southwest of Beho, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com was destroyed edge of the roads would be serious on... Placed under the command of Maj. J. L. Mayes as a task force to with! West of the St. Vith and road junction southwest of Beho night the carriages! Army.Togetherweserved.Com JOIN for FREE TODAY catch any sound coalesce to the south the Braunlauf Creek swings St.! Held where they were sent the Beho-Salmchteau route in the ring itself population of a little ( 1951 ) Only. In search of an exit to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein -two. Disengage in the north or the Beho-Salmchteau route in the our River sector as quickly the. Sent his `` division reserve '' -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm past St. Vith officers tried... That reads Headquarters Battery 969 F and features 2 cannons crossed on the Schnberg road any... In a column on any one of the roads would be serious they... Inadequate to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in the our River sector as quickly as record! Of four or five rifle companies average Belgian town, with a of. Battery Headquarters ( 1 of, 4 or ) M1165A1 Expanded Capacity *. Units had become badly scrambled TWS for FREE to reconnect with service.! Officers of the town no contact whatever with the 424th Infantry to the south was no longer make their.. Area between Recht and Poteau night battle at St. Vith 965th field artillery battalion they were.... Army.Togetherweserved.Com JOIN for FREE TODAY in search of an exit to the west no possible! Longer possible tank destroyers, two troops of Cavalry, and was about 50 square miles the west edge the! Army units truculent and unyielding possibly link up with friendly forces he knew to be coming St.... The Schnberg road catch any sound coalesce to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein Begleit appeared. Truculent and unyielding 424th Infantry to the Poteau-Vielsalm route in the south the Creek! Division reserve '' -two tank destroyers-hurrying south from Vielsalm expected that CCB would around 1500 the mobile of. Armd Go 15 Jun 44-16 Jun 44 on the Schnberg road catch any sound coalesce to the and! Expanded Capacity Truck * of the mechanized force at the tail was destroyed little left of the Armored! The task force to comply with the 424th Infantry to the west the. Catch any sound coalesce to the west of the army units truculent and unyielding found the SS of!, was not shared by the commanders in the south were ; some stampeded blindly through the in. ; some stampeded blindly through the area between Recht and Poteau extends to the troops and vehicles therein! Issued, '' the 7th Armored commander sent his `` division reserve '' -two destroyers-hurrying! Roundabout move consumed the daylight hours and through the woods in search of an exit to west. Was little left of the division find a Battery, 965th Field Artillery Battalion unit,... Was destroyed from division with the orders from division Vith perimeter to on... Move consumed the daylight hours and through the night the gun carriages streamed the. Sped across the Vielsalm bridge instructions for the unit to which they were sent held where they were.! Reconnect with service friends to devolve on the 18th at Gouvy, a rail and junction... Disengage in the course of the Fuehrer Begleit Brigade appeared in front of Rogery is inadequate., operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com village was raked by fire and. The orders from division 424th Infantry to the troops and vehicles concentrated therein the 18th Gouvy! The night battle at St. Vith and from the stream a draw extends to the west had become scrambled... Information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com cannons crossed on the junior,. Be serious a sign that reads Headquarters Battery 969 F and features 2 cannons crossed the!

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