The Battle of the Bulge by Patrick Delaforce

Author:Patrick Delaforce
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2014-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

Fig 22.1 Battleground of Manhay, 2nd SS Panzer division success, 24–25 December (KY 6092 F IWM)

Captain Charles La Chaussee led C Company 517 Parachute infantry regiment and from Lamormenil was ordered, together with Lt Eldon MacDonald’s troop of tanks from 3rd US Armoured, to try to capture Dochamps. But before they could move, the Germans from ‘Das Reich’, 2nd SS Panzer division, counter-attacked La Chaussee’s paratroopers. From eight machine-gun squads, ‘as the tracers locked in, we could see Germans dropping. It was a beautifully clear day. Soon after the shooting started, American planes appeared in strength. They strafed and bombed the area of the German attack. We were displaying orange panels on our vehicles but the pilots must have had difficulty telling friend from foe. There were at least thirty planes overhead and they did not lack for targets. Explosions and columns of smoke rose as the fighter-bombers scored upon enemy vehicles. The German effort petered out. We ceased fire and waited for new developments. German aircraft arrived. A truly epic dogfight took place. This was the only aerial dogfight I saw during the war and it was a dandy. German infantry was as engrossed in watching the air battle as we were. Planes from both sides were going down but the Americans seemed to be getting the better of it. While the dogfight swarmed above us a large formation of B-17s passed far to the north, bound eastward. Winnow-strips of metal foil to jam enemy radar dropped like snow. The bombers came under heavy AA fire and, as we watched, two went down in smoke.’

ULTRA encoded a message on Christmas Eve: ‘2 SS will still try with 9 SS [part of Willi Bittrich’s II SS Panzer Korps] to hook around Vielsalm NW using 3 Pz Gr Div and eventually possibly 10 and 12 SS.’ After the capture of Manhay, Das Reich, instead of driving north towards Liège, turned west towards Grandménil and Erezée. At the former Lammerding’s Panthers brushed aside Task Force Kane and, using a captured Sherman tank, sailed through the raw 289 Infantry of the newly arrived US 75th Division. Early on Christmas Day ‘Das Reich’ advance guard moved up Highway N-15 from Manhay to try to get across the Ourthe river and on to the Condroz plateau. On the 27th General Dietrich ordered Lammerding to link up with the weakened 560 VGD and 12 SS ‘Hitler Jugend’ (leaving the Elsenborn Ridge battle behind) in a futile new attack through Hotton and Soy on to the Condroz plateau. All four of the once proud SS Panzer divisions, sorely battered, had failed to cross the Ourthe river and would have little impact in the continuing battle.

The 9th SS Panzer ‘Hohenstaufen’ division under Oberführer Sylvester Stadler consisted of 9 SS Panzer regiment backed by 19 and 20 SS Pz Grs. They had fought in Poland on the Eastern Front, were almost destroyed in Normandy and with 10 SS Panzer division were reforming around Arnhem during the ill-fated Market Garden.

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