Caught off-guard by Hitler’s surprise counter-offensive on 16 December 1944, the US First Army manning the Ardennes sector was made up of recuperating and inexperienced units.
They initially had little armour, other than a few dispersed tank and tank destroyer battalions supporting four US infantry divisions, relying on the available mines, anti-tank guns, as well as bazookas, to stem the initial German onslaught.
US Armored Forces and their Equipment
By early January 1945, the US Army had nine armoured divisions in the Ardennes; Lt. General Hodges’ First US Army: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th Armored Divisions, and Lt. General Patton’s, Third US Army: 4th, 6th, 10th and 11th Armored Divisions. In addition, a further 17 separate tank battalions and 25 tank destroyer battalions had also been moved to the Ardennes as organic support for the individual infantry divisions. Reconnaissance was provided by five cavalry groups for the First and Third Armies.
Apart from the US 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions (which each had six tank battalions), by late 1944 the standard US Armored Division was organised into three Combat Commands: CCA, CCB and CCR, with each containing a tank battalion, and armoured infantry regiment and armoured engineer element. Along with the separate tank battalions, the Combat Command tank battalions were equipped with standard M4, M4A1, M4A3 versions in both VVSS and HVSS of the Sherman, featuring 75mm, 76mm and 105mm guns, with approximately one third of Shermans equipped with the 76mm gun in December. Of these, around 140 assault tank M4A3E2 versions were also available, featuring new turrets and thicker additional armour and these were used to lead the assaults. Moreover, due to combat losses some 351 British Sherman tanks, M4A2 and M4A4, were used to backfill replacements in First and Third Armies.
Each standard four-tank company battalion included one company equipped with M5A1 light tanks, although a couple of M24 Chaffee’s did make their combat debut on 20th December at Remouchamps. The Cavalry groups operated M8 Greyhounds, M8 75mm HMC and M20s, while M10, M18 and M36 Tank Destroyers featured in the Tank Destroyer battalions along with towed 57mm and M3-inch anti-tank guns. Additionally, the 738th Tank Battalion, equipped as a mine exploder battalion, deployed M4s fitted with T1E3 mine rollers, in support of First US Army. A second battalion for Third US Army arrived but without tanks.
The Defence
The fighting by the 9th and 38th Infantry Regiments, 2nd Infantry Division, around the Lausdell crossroads to the twin villages further west of Krinkelt-Rocherath on the foggy night of the 17-18 December demonstrated what determined infantry could do to the German armoured thrusts. Here they were able to ambush the Kampfgruppes, formed from SS-Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 25 and the Panzer IV/70s from SS-PzJgAbt. 12, using a combination of well-placed anti-tank mines, including daisy-chains, and bazooka tank hunting teams – who could use the conditions to get close to the panzers. Even disabled IV/70 (V)s were targeted, with one being set alight by means of a well-placed Jerry can and thrown thermite grenade combination on its rear engine deck.
A further Kampfgruppe then turned its attention to the twin villages further west of Krinkelt-Rocherath where units from 38th Infantry Regiments had started to dig in and create a defensive position. Here, the defenders would be supported by towed 3-inch anti-tank guns, some M4 Shermans from 741st Tank Battalion and M10 Tank Destroyers from 644th Tank Destroyer battalion. However, using the dark and fog to their advantage, Panzer IV/70(V)s, supported by Panzergrenadiers, were able to initially enter the town and knock out three Shermans which led to fierce fighting around the stone-built buildings.
At dawn on 18 December, through the mist and drizzle, the barely visible Panthers, PzKpfw IV Ausf. Js and Panzergrenadiers of 12. SS-Panzer Division Hitlerjugend were launched against the tenacious defenders at Lausdell. Their staunch defence was finally overrun. They had knocked out eight German AFVs, and bought time for two battalions of the 38th Infantry Regiment to reinforce Krinkelt-Rocherath and turn it into a Panzer Graveyard.
The Panzer Graveyard
Boyed by overrunning Lausdell, the Germans made the cardinal tactical sin of charging their Panthers headlong down the main road into Rocherath without adequate Panzergrenadier support allowing carefully placed bazooka teams to ambush them.
Infantry, Shermans and M10 tank destroyers engaged the Germans in Krinkelt with supporting artillery fire. By close of play, 21 German AFVs had been knocked out by infantry bazooka teams with a further 27 destroyed by guns and anti-tank mines, decimating 12. SS-Panzer Division and forcing I.SS Panzerkorps to change its plans.
Patton and Third US Army move to relieve Bastogne
With the 101st Airborne now surrounded at Bastogne, there was no time to waste. Enter Lt. General George S. Patton and his Third US Army, who were located approximately 140 miles south of Bastogne. The timing was not ideal – having fought hard for five months, the tanks and men of Third Army were in need of rest and repair. However, the call came through that they were urgently required to move north, to the Ardennes, to halt the German advance and push them back.
This would be no easy task. Firstly, combat units had to disengage and await replacements before beginning their drive north to an assembly point with a number of their tanks in desperate need of overhaul and operating at reduced speeds. Secondly, the drive would be over icy roads where drivers struggled to remain on top of the crowns and in control of their tanks on the downhill sections of the rolling terrain.
Spearheading the charge northwards was Patton’s favoured 4th Armored Division who had a reputation for getting the job done despite the fatigue of being in the line since June. However, they were under no illusions about the urgency of the situation with Patton’s exhortation “Drive like hell” ringing in their ears. Commanding 37th Tank Battalion, CCR, 4th Armoured Division, Lt. Colonel Abrams, remarked to his men that the Ardennes fighting “may provide us an opportunity to seriously defeat a major part of the German Army and shorten the war.”
4th Armored Division Push
Pushing north, 4th Armored Division assembled its forces near Arlon with the intention of attacking across a front of 15 miles wide. The attack was planned to start at 0600 on 22 December. CCA in would take the Arlon-Bastogne Road with CCB on the secondary roads to the west. CCR was in reserve. The primary aim was to restore and maintain a permanent corridor to Bastogne with the secondary aim to shake the Germans loose so that the road network from Bastogne could be used as a base for Third US Army operations.
Patton emphasised attacking in column with tanks in the lead but if stiff resistance was encountered then the enemy was to be enveloped from the flanks, pushing out a mile or so and attacking at right angles. Major-General Gaffey, the new commander of 4th Armoured, felt that whilst an armoured column could fight its way into Bastogne with relative ease the problem was the vulnerability of the light armoured columns providing the logistical support.
The Germans were not making things easy either with defiant defending, and the destruction of bridges stalling the advance leading Patton to complain about there “…being too much piddling around. Bypass these towns and clear them out later.” In one engagement at Chaumont on the 23rd, the Germans counter attacked and 11 Shermans were knocked out or bogged in the mud. For CCA the bitterest fighting was at Warnach the following day, where bitter house to house fighting led to a further four Shermans being lost.
37th Tank Battalion and the Relief of Bastogne
With CCA and CCB losing momentum, CCR entered the fray. It was now Christmas Eve. Consisting of 37th Tank Battalion and the 53rd Armoured Infantry Battalion, CCR launched an assault on Bigonville with two separate teams each with one company of tanks and one of armoured infantry. The German defenders held their fire until the Americans were in the village. As the infantry moved house to house the tanks blasted the buildings and machine gunned the Fallschirmjager as they broke cover. Bigonville was close, 15 miles south of Bastogne, but it wasn’t close enough as General “Nuts” McAuliffe, commanding 101st Airborne, intimated in his message “Sorry I did not get to shake your hand today. I was disappointed.” His staff added a seasonal rejoinder “There’s only one more shopping day to Christmas.” in case the urgency was missed.
Unfortunately, 4th Armored’s attack round the clock tactic was proving unsuccessful and they were opposed to using tanks at night. The decision was then taken to withdraw CCR from Bigonville and release them on the western flank. Patton reminded them that if they got bogged down then they found another area to assault. By the 26th December, CCR had reached Remichamagne just six miles away but were now down to approximately 20 tanks. With the ground now frozen, Lt. Colonel Abrams suggested that an armoured dash, supported by artillery, through Assenois could breach the German defences and reach Bastogne.
Lt. Boggess was given the task of leading the column of five tanks with an armoured half-track accidently sandwiched in the middle. Calling for the artillery to lift, Boggess moved out at 1620 hours in his M4A3E2 assault tank `King Cobra’ pushing forward. Unfortunately, a 300 yard gap opened up between the first three Shermans and the half-track which allowed an AT-mine to be thrown destroying the carrier. The two following Shermans manoeuvred around this burning wreck and the small armoured column made contact with the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion. Bastogne had been relieved. Twenty minutes later McAuliffe and Abrams were shaking hands.
For the period from the 13th December 1944 to 19th January 1945, First US Army and Third US Army lost around 145 M5A1 light tanks and 666 M4 medium tanks. Tank destroyer losses were approximately 249 for months of December and January.
Creighton Abrams
That the charge into Bastogne to relieve McCauliffe’s embattled 101st Airborne was led by Abrams’ 37th Tank Battalion was indicative of the thirty-year-old commander’s can do attitude, one that had made him a favourite of his ever demanding Third US Army Commander, General George S. Patton.
Individualistic, hardworking and decisive, Lt. Col. Creighton Abrams would prove himself to be one of Americas finest soldiers and military leaders through World War Two, Korea and Vietnam until his untimely death from cancer in 1974 when US Army Chief of Staff. His name was fittingly chosen for the US Army’s Main Battle Tank, the M1A1 Abrams.
