Panzer-Brigade 150 – December 1944 – January 1945
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on April 9, 2026.
Document Source First US Army – G-2 Periodic Reports & Annexes - Annex 2 to First US Army G-2 Periodic Report No. 192 - Infiltration of Germans Disguised as US Troops - (PW: Billing, Schmidt, Krauss – Einheit Stielau / Stab Solar) Annex No. 2 to G-2 Periodic Report No. 193 23 December 1944 – Germans in American Uniform. First US Army PW Report (19 December 1944) (Statements: Billing, Schmidt, Krauss – Operation Greif context) Annex 2 (Continuation...
Battle of the Bulge – Intelligence Lessons for Today – Col William Max Barth (USMC)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on November 13, 2025.
Document Source: US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Battle of the Bulge, Intelligence Lessons for Today, Lt Col William Max Barth, USMC, 1993, Mr Douglas H. Dearth, Project Adviser, Individual Study Project. (The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its agencies. This document may not be released for open publication until it has been cleared by the appropriate...
SS-Unterscharführer Otto Blase’s – MarK VI-2 King Tiger Ausf D #332 Coo (Belgium)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on July 28, 2025.
Mark VI-2 King Tiger #332: From Henschel to Fort Benning
The German Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B Tiger II, more famously known as the King Tiger, was the ultimate armored juggernaut fielded by Nazi Germany during World War II. Among the few King Tigers captured during the war, Tiger #332 remains unique: it is the only known example taken completely intact by Allied forces. This is the comprehensive story of Tiger #332 – from its construction in Kassel (Germany) to...
La Gleize (Belgium) WW-2
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on June 24, 2025.
Welcome to the Photos Resources section of the European Center of Military History. This category offers a growing repository of historical photographs meticulously gathered from various origins, including public online sources, personal contributions from collectors and researchers, and above all, official holdings from the United States National Archives and other governmental repositories. Most, if not all, of these images are in the public domain, which means they are legally free to use, reproduce, and share without restriction—although credit...
German Counter Offensive in the Belgian Ardennes (1944-1945) (Maj Keith H. Barber)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on April 4, 2026.
Document source: The Germans Ardennes Counter-Offensive December 16, 1944, to January 2, 1945, Ardennes Alsace Campaign, Type of operation: Army Group Offensive, Advanced Infantry Officers Class #1, Major Keith H. Barber. Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia.
INTRODUCTION
On June 6, 1944, the Allied Armies under the command of Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower came over the beaches of Normandy, embarked upon the invasion of the continent to bring to a successful conclusion the war in Europe by the destruction of the...
Fallschirmjäger Troops in the US 3-A Sector (1945)
Document Source: Annex #2 to G-2 Periodic Report N°199
Commanding General, Third US Army, December 27, 1944, HQ Third US Army
(1) UNCOMMITTED FALLSCHIRMJÄGER AND INFANTRY UNITS
The withdrawal from the contact of the 6.Fallschirmjäger-Division on the 21st Amy Group front focuses attention on the enemy’s available Infantry reserves, particularly the four Fallschirmjäger Divisions (2, 6, 7, 8) that are now out of the line. If the enemy is to hold his present penetration against the mounting pressure of the Third US Army, there must commit more of his few remaining Infantry reserves, for all of his Infantry divisions on the Southern...
Kampfgruppe von Der Heydte (December 23 1944)
Document Source: Einheit von Der Heydte (December 23 1944); ANNEX NO.3 TO G-2 REPORT NO.181 HQ 2D INF DIV; December 23, 1944
Fallschirmjaeger Kampfgruppe Oberstleutnant Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte
(Operation Stoesser)
Oberstleutnant von der Heydte had already jumped with a broken arm held in place in a leather sleeve. Totally exhausted and completely disillusioned following the obvious failure of the mission entrusted to him, only after having passed almost a week, days and nights, in one of the most hostile parts of the Belgian Ardennes, the high fens, gave the order to the men of his combat group to disassemble...
Otto Skorzeny – Dachau – Trial Data
(Document Source: Reproduction of the Original Papers by EUCMH)
EUROPEAN CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE'S OFFICE
7708 WAR CRIMES GROUP
EUROPEAN COMMAND APO 407
APRIL 14 1948
UNITED STATES
v.
Otto Skorzeny et all
Case N° 6-100
REVIEW AND RECOMMENDANDATIONS
I. TRIAL DATA: The accused were tried at Dachau, Germany during the period August 14, to September 9, 1947, before a General Military Government Court.
II. CHARGE AND PARTICULARS
Charge I: Violation of the Laws and Usages of War
Particulars: In that Otto Skorzeny, Philipp Von Behr, Walter Scherf, Hans Haas, Wilhelm Maus, Dennis Müntz, Günther Fitze, Ralph Bellstedt, Wilhelm Kocherscheidt, and Arend de Bruin,...
Operation Greif (Skorzeny) – Battle of the Bulge (Maj J. Jarkowsky)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on November 16, 2025.
Document Source: German Special Operation Greif, Maj Jeffrey Jarkowsky, St Peter’s College, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1981, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1994.
This study is a historical analysis of the German Special Operations conducted in support of their overall Ardennes Offensive. It focuses on one of the two major special operations of the German Counteroffensive in Belgium in December 1944, Operation Greif (SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny) and 150.Panzer-Brigade. Operation Greif was the German attempt to infiltrate a commando unit behind American...
US CIC vs Einheit Stielau (Panzer Brigade 150) – Battle of the Bulge
(Document Source) Headquarters US Army Intelligence Center, Fort Holabird, Baltimore, Maryland. ACSIH-GC-250/58/M, April 1959, CIC History.
Plélude
The US Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC): Origins, Missions, and Role in Postwar Europe. The (CIC) was a crucial yet often overlooked branch of the US Army dedicated to counterintelligence, espionage detection, and internal security. Officially established in 1942, the CIC played a significant role during World War II and the early Cold War, particularly in Europe, where it was instrumental in rooting out enemy agents, securing liberated territories, and later combating Soviet infiltration.
Origins and Establishment
The origins of the CIC date back to World War...
Führer Begleit Brigade (Otto Remer) Ardennes 1944/1945
Document Source: This document is transcribed from the copies in the collection of the US Military History Institute, Carlisle Barrack, Pennsylvania, #D739 F6713 #B-592 & #D739 F6713 #B-838. These two separate documents are really Part I and Part II of the Generalmajor (Maj Gen) Otto Ernst Remer’s account of the Fuehrerbegleitbrigade (Fuehrer Escort Brigade) during the Ardennes Offensive. They are manuscripts B-592 and B-838 of the Foreign Military Studies series that were compiled after World War II. The transcription was made and edited by Wesley Johnston, son of Walter Johnston of the AT Platoon, B Co, 38th Armored Infantry...
(AAR) 825th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Stavelot-Malmedy) (December 1944 – January 1945)
Document Source: File #847-59, After Action Report, 825th Tank Destroyer Battalion, September 1944 - October 1944 & Able Company 825-TDB December 17 1944 to January 17, 1945. Archives Collection European Center of Military History.
On September 1944, the 825th TD Battalion had nearly completed a mission assigned to it by Headquarters, Advance Section, Communications Zone. In the accomplishment of its mission during the month of August, the battalion had been scattered lengthwise and over the entire width of the Cotentin Peninsula from Cherbourg to La Haye-Pesnel; then east to the vicinity of Le Mans. Now with it Headquarters and...
743rd Tank Battalion (S) during the Battle of the Bulge
Document Source: United States Army; Robinson, Wayne; and Hamilton, Norman E., Move out, verify: the combat story of the 743rd Tank Battalion, (1945). World War Regimental Histories. (http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/66) - (Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street, Bangor, Maine, 04401, USA). The part extracted relates to the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944, to February 25, 1945. (Corrections (if) Photographs, Additional Research by Doc Snafu.)
Author's Foreword
Sometimes, War can generate a complicated task to be done. A Battalion truck was driven hundreds of miles through Germany to locate and haul a linotype machine so that type could be set for this...
644th Tank Destroyer Battalion – (AAR) – December 1944
Document Source: Report about the employment of four (4) Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO. Officers Advanced Course, Armored School. 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Self-Propelled), by Maj William F. Jackson, Maj John E. Wales III, Maj Marshall B. Garth, Maj John A. Rankin, Maj Alfred L. Dibelia, Maj Robert Hall, Capt George F. Sawyer, Capt Robert L. Perley, Capt James L. Higgins
OPERATIONS OH THE 644th TANK DESTROYER BATTALION - ARDENNES
The 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP)(Self-Propelled), commanded by Col Ephriam F. Graham, sailed from the USA on Jan 2, 1944, on board of the HMT Aquitania. The battalion landed in...
551st Parachute Battalion – Trois-Ponts – Belgium – January 1945
Document Source: Infantry School, General Section, Military History Committee, Fort Benning, Georgia, Advanced Officers Course (1946-1947). Operations of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion (attached to the 82nd Airborne Division and the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment) in the Attack in the Vicinity of Trois-Ponts, Belgium, January 2 to January 7, 1945. Ardennes Campaign, Personal Experience of the Headquarters Company Commander, Capt Bill G. Smith.
SITUATION - INTRODUCTION
This archive covers the operations of the 551st Parachute Battalion (Goya), attached to the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 82nd Airborne Division, over the period January 2-7, 1945, during the Ardennes Campaign. In order...
589th Field Artillery Battalion (TF Parker) (Parker Crossroads) December 1944
Source Document: Parker and the Team, 1945; 424th Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, 82nd Airborne Division, EUCMH archives, AAR, Parker's Crossroads, Baraque de Fraiture, Battle of the Bulge, Belgium, 1944
The tactical situation may require a rigid defense of a fixed position. Such a defense, if voluntarily adopted, requires the highest degree of tactical skill and leadership. In the forested hills of eastern Belgium, stands the tiny hamlet of Baraque de Fraiture at the intersection of two good highways, west-east, La Roche en Ardennes - Vielsalm and south-north, Bastogne - Houffalize - Liège. To see this little clutch of buildings,...
526th Armored Infantry Battalion (T Force) December 1944
Document Source: Headquarters 526th Armored Infantry Battalion, After Action Report - December 1, 1944 – December 31, 1944
Maj Roy E. Battson - S3
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From December 1, 1944, to December 16, 1944, the 526th Armored Infantry Battalion (10th Armored Group) less Charlie Company, was assigned to the US T Force unit (Intelligence), 12-AG, and was engaged in training for its assigned mission in the vicinity of Harzé, Belgium.
During this period, Charlie Co was the Guard Company for the Eagle Tactical Air Command Headquarters in the city of Luxembourg.
At 1100, Dec 17, the CO of...
106th Counter Intelligence Corps – Dec 16/26-1944 (Battle of the Bulge)
Document Source: Headquarters US Army Intelligence Center, Fort Holabird, Baltimore, Maryland. ACSIH-GC-250/58/M, April 1959, CIC History - The Ardennes Breakthrough.
Typical Day-by-Day CIC
A picture of representative CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) activities during this period of the German advance was provided by the report of the 106th CIC Detachment. Prefaced: A brief outline of the activities of the 106th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment from Saturday, December 16, 1944, through Tuesday, December 26, 1944, follows: document covered the 11-day period in diary fashion. Capt Jensen, Commanding Officer, admitted, in a postscript, that this report was not in accordance with the SOP dated...
117th Infantry Regiment (30-ID) Resume of Operations November-December 1944
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on July 30, 2025.
Document Source: Resume of Operations for the Month of November 1944, by Headquarters 117th Infantry Regiment, Capt William A. Buckley, Personnel Officer, 117th Infantry Regiment.
Introduction – The 30th Infantry Division: Context and Sources
The following document, written shortly after the end of the Second World War, presents an internal operational analysis of the 30th Infantry Division during its campaign through France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, including its actions during the Battle of the Bulge. Known as the 'Old Hickory'...
423rd Infantry Regiment (106-ID) Schoenberg and Vicinity (December 16/19 1944)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on August 1, 2025.
Document Source: The operations of the 423d Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, in the vicinity of Schoenberg, Belgium, December 16-19 1944. (Ardennes Alsace Campaign) (Battle of the Bulge). Personal Experience of Capt Alan W. Jones, Battalion Operations Officer; including statements by Maj Carl H. Cosby (EXO 1/423); Capt Oliver B. Patton (Fox Co, 2/423).
Introduction
By October 1944, the Allied Forces in Western Europe had swept across France and were generally poised along the western frontier of Germany. The rapidity...
106th Infantry Division – Battle of the Bulge – December 1944
Document Source: The Story of the 106th Infantry Division, United States Army. Division Publication, Paris, France, 1945.
When the history of the Ardennes fighting has been written, it will be recorded as one of the great strategic Allied successes of the war in Europe. Tactically, for the 106-ID and the other American divisions involved, it was a bitter and a costly fight. But it becomes increasingly clear that the Germans expended in that last futile effort those last reserves of men and materiel which they needed so badly a few months later. The losses and sacrifices of the 16-ID paid...
106th Infantry Division (1/422-IR) – Schlausenbach December 1944
Document Source: Operations of the 1st Battalion, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division (Golden Lion), Vicinity of Schlausenbach, Germany, December 10-19, 1944, Personal Experience of a battalion Executive Officer, Maj William P. Moon Jr
INTRODUCTION
During the period September 1944 to December 1944, many changes in the disposition of the troops along the front were made in preparation for continuing the advance to the east.
By Dec 9, the VIII Corps of the 1-A had taken over the positions of the V Corps along the Schnee Eifel with the mission of conducting an aggressive defense and be prepared to advance on Koln...
101st Airborne Division – Defense of Bastogne (Mitchell)
Document source: The 101st Airborne Division's Defense of Bastogne, Col Ralph M. Mitchell, September 1986, US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
I. BASTOGNE: THE CONTEXT OF THE BATTLE
By October 1944, the rapid Allied advance into Germany that followed the breakout from the Normandy beaches had slowed to a crawl. Stiffening German resistance and Allied logistical and communications problems exerted a significant influence on the Allied advance. In the American sector, Gen Omar N. Bradley’s 12th Army Group occupied an extended front, with the US 1-A (Hodges) and the US 3-A (Patton) along the Siegfried Line and...
99th Infantry Division (2/395-IR) Schleiden – Germany December 1944
Document Source: This archive comes from either an After Action Report or a Monograph. I have so many archives that I don't find the origin again. Anyway, this is an original archive and should be considered as.
The early days of the month of December 1944 witnessed major changes in the disposition of the units of the US V Corps to permit the support of the operations and to make possible offensive action in the sector of the Roer River Dams area in Germany. The 99th Infantry Division, on December 12, held defensive positions extending from Monschau, in the north...
99th Infantry Battalion (S) (AAR) December 17-31 1944 (Malmedy)
Document Source: AAR, Task Force Hansen at Malmedy, 12/44. The following is a report of the action taken by Task Force Hansen in the vicinity of Malmedy and Stavelot. Capt Charles J. Askegaard S2 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate)
FOREWORD
Since the end of World War Two in Europa, there has always been talking about the incompetence of the American Intelligence at the early stage of the German counteroffensive in December 1944, and even during the period December 1/15. Today, with the time and the research carried out on the subject, it is obvious that it is no longer a fact but...
84th Infantry Division – Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945)
Document Source: Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, The Battle of the Ardennes, December 1944 - January 1945, by Sgt Theodore Draper, Maps by Sgt Walter Chapman, Photographs by Pfc Maurice Miller and Doc Snafu. Foreword by Major General A. R. Rolling. Historical Section, 84th Infantry Division.
As an ideal, we have always believed that every man should know - before every battle - what he is going into and why. We also believed that every man should know - after every battle - what he, his organization, and his army have accomplished and why. In this division,...
82nd Airborne Division (A-508-PIR) Rencheux (Belgium)
Document Source: Company in Defense and Withdrawal, Operations of Able Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division near Rencheux, Belgium, December 22 to December 24, 1944. Personal Experience of a Company Commander, Major Jonathan E. Adams Jr
INTRODUCTION
This archive covers the operation of Able Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division near Rencheux, Belgium during the period of December 22 to December 25, 1944. In order to orient the reader with the situation, and also to acquaint him with the state of morale, training, and equipment, it is necessary to go back to November 12, 1944. It was...
75th Infantry Division (C/291) – Grand Halleux – Belgium – January 1945
Document Source: Attack on the High Ground outside Grand Halleux, Belgium, January 15-16, 1945, Battle of the Bulge.
Personal Experiences of a Company CO, Maj Allan J. Bogardus.
INTRODUCTION
This archive covers the operations of Charlie Company, 291st Infantry Regiment, 75th Infantry Division in the Ardennes Campaign near Grand Halleux, Belgium. The action to be discussed in detail is that of Charlie Co in the attack and subsequent holding of a high key terrain feature on Jan 15 and 16, 1945. In order that the reader may be more fully informed on the US 75-ID, and the major events leading to that...
75th Infantry Division – (3/291-IR) – Aldringen – Belgium (22-01-1945)
Document Source: Operations of the 3rd Battalion, 291st Infantry Regiment, 75th Infantry Division (Maj Gen Gay B. Prickett), North of the town of Aldringen, Belgium in January 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge. Personal Experience of a Battalion Intelligence Officer, Capt Archie R. Hyrle.
INTRODUCTION
This archive covers the operation of the 3rd Battalion of the 291st Infantry Regiment of Gen Gay B. Prickett's 75th Infantry Division, in the combat approach to Aldringen, Belgium, on January 22, 1945, during the Ardennes Campaign. In order for the reader to have a better understanding of this operation, let us view some of...
38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (MECZ) AAR – September 1944
Document source: After action report 38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (Mechanized), Aug 44 thru April 45, Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research, Digital Library. (Checked and Corrected while processing the file: Doc Snafu)
(September 1, 1944) At 1300, the Squadron less troop B, left its bivouac in the rear of Le Petit Palais in the Champs Elysées, Paris, France, to join the Corps in the drive to the German border. Troop B remained temporarily attached to the T-Force in Paris. for the completion of security missions assigned by that headquarters. The balance of the Squadron marched to a group assembly area in...
38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (MECZ) AAR – December 1944
Document source: After action report 38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (Mechanized), Aug 44 thru April 45, Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research, Digital Library. (Checked and Corrected while processing the file: Doc Snafu)
38th Cavalry Recon Squadron
After Action Report, December 1944
The 38th Cavalry Regiment was a regiment of the US Army first established in 1916. It was the regimental affiliated with three reconnaissance and surveillance squadrons (1/38, 2/38, 3/38) that were part of battlefield surveillance brigades. During World War II, the 3rd Recon Squadron was activated as part of the 1st Cavalry Division on Nov 15, 1942, at Fort Bliss (TX). The...
32nd Cavalry Recon Squadron (Troop C) Grandmenil-Manay (December 1944)
Document source: Action at Grandmenil - Manhay, C Troop - 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, December 28, December 30, 1944. (B Troop, 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Cavalry group (Mecz). Document created at Hognoul (Belgium), January 7, 1945. Information collected from Capt Franklin P. Lindsey Jr, (Commanding Officer); 1/Lt Ralph A. Bendinilly (Executive Officer); 2/Lt William Reilly (1st Plat Leader); 2/Lt Robert A. Blodgett (2nd Plat Leander); 1/Lt Marshall Alexander (3rd Plat Leader) and Cpl John Unger (Demolition).
Prélude
This troop, like the others in the 32nd Cavalry Recon Squadron, was engaged in refitting, training, resting and receiving reinforcements after having played...
30th Infantry Division (Ligneuville – St Vith) Capt H.B. Sigband (USA)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on July 15, 2025.
Document Sources: The following document, 'Operations of the 30th Infantry Division During the Battle of the Bulge', was written in early 1946 by Capt Norman Bruce Sigband, US Army. As an officer assigned to the 117th Infantry Regiment, a core unit within the 30th Infantry Division, Capt Sigband played a vital role in documenting the Division’s actions during one of the most critical phases of the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Compiled shortly after the...
30th Infantry Division (119-IR) AAR Maj McCown (December 1944)
#WW2Archives #MilitaryHistory #WW2Photographs #HistoricalDocuments #WW2Research #WW2Liberation
Document Source: After Action Report Maj Hal D. McCown, 1/119-IR, 30th Infantry Division, G-2 Periodic Report #198 December 30, 1944. Subject: Report of Major Hal D. McCown, 1st Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th US Infantry Division, Observations of an American Field Officer captured by the enemy and who escaped from the 1.SS-Panzer-Division (Kampfgruppe Peiper) (LSSAH). Maj Hal D. McCown.
FOREWORD
On the first of December, the general outlook of the war was good. The Allied forces had driven from the beachhead across France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and well into the industrial Rhineland Zone of Germany. The...
30th Infantry Division (120-IR) (Battle of the Bulge)
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on June 29, 2025.
Document Source: Bangor Public Library, World War Regimental Histories, 1947, History of the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, by the Officers of the Regiment. Original Document 1947, Infantry Press Publication. (Extract of the Original Document)
Additional Sources
National Archives Military Records https://www.archives.gov/research/military
US Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu
US Army War College https://www.armywarcollege.edu
Prélude
The 120th Infantry Regiment has a distinguished past and a colorful tradition. From the clay-red soil of North Carolina, throughout the broad area extending from its woods...
30th Infantry Division (AAR) December 1944 (G3)
Document Source: After Battle Report, Headquarters 30th Infantry Division, G3 Section, Period December 1, 1944, - December 31, 1944.
The 30th Infantry Division, during the period Dec 1, 1944, to Dec 12, 1944, continued to actively defend and patrol Division zone, rehabilitated and rotated troops, conducted small unit training, care, cleaning and maintenance of equipment and maintained contact with adjacent units. At 0001, Dec 1, the Division's troops were disposed as follows:
December 01 The 1/120-IR was relieved by Troops C, 17-CRS (Mecz) at 0042 and moved to an assembly area in the vicinity of Erberich. Troop C, 17-CRS (Mecz), relieved...
18th Cavalry Recon Squadron – Defenses in the Battle of the Bulge
Document Sources: One of my readers uploaded the file for the first part of this archive to the EUCMH web server a couple of days after I had posted the archive about the 32nd Cavalry Recon Squadron, and without more information about the file. While searching the web for additional information, I found out that the file I was working on was in fact, the result of the tremendous work done by a man called Frank Studenski. I've tried to get in contact, but the man says he has a family and is very busy. So I decided to...
17th Airborne Division (513-PIR) Ardennes (Gordon Zernich)
A request from Gordon Zernich through the site contact page
Doc,
I'd like to add a little depth to my research of the 513 Parachute Infantry Regiment (17th Airborne Division) during the Ardennes counter-offensive. Col James W. Coutts, (Aug 25, 1944 – Apr 9, 1945) was its CO at that time. Who did he report to?
The Eisenhower Presidential Library has archived the combat field reports, but I wouldn't know where to start. Chief of Staff Col Willard K. Liebel, (Aug 25 1944 – VDay) served under Maj. Gen. William M. Miley, the commanding general of the 17th Airborne Division. There were...
7-Armored Division Withdrawal Behind the 82-A/B Lines December 1944
Document Source: (AAR) After Action Report (December 1944), Headquarters 7th Armored Division, December 1, 1944, – December 31, 1944, St-Vith & Vicinity, Belgium, Col John L. Ryan Jr, GSC, Chief of Staff
FOREWORD
The 7th Armored Division was activated on March 1, 1942, reorganized on September 20, 1943, and sent to the United Kingdom in June 1944. The division landed in Omaha Beach and Utah Beach, on August 13/14, 1944, and was assigned to the US 3-A. The 7-AD drove through Nogent-le-Rotrou in an attack on Chartres which fell on August 18. From Chartres, the Division advanced to liberate Dreux, then...
7th Armored Division – St Vith – December 1944
Document Sources: EUCMH Collected Documents on St Vith
INTRODUCTION
This is the narrative of one phase of the greatest pitched battle on the Western Front in World War II. The battle at St Vith (Dec 17-23, 1944) is an excellent example of how American troops held their ground in the midst of confusion, defeat, and uncertainty; and thereby threw the German timetable sufficiently off schedule to allow American forces to regroup, hold, and then counterattack. The stand at St Vith has been recognized by both German and Allied commanders as a turning point in the Battle of the Bulge.
Gen Eisenhower fully...
Third Army & First Army Junction – January 1945 (Belgium)
Document Source: The German Winter Offensive, often called the Battle of the Bulge, which started on Dec 16 1944 at 0530, was terminated on Jan 16 1945 when the US 1-A and the US 3-A met at Houffalize, Belgium. This is an account of the initial contact established between the two armies. Maj Michael J. L. Greene
Thus, did Gen George S. Patton in his notes on the Bastogne Operation refer to the accomplishment of the mission which had been assigned to a Task Force composed of troops of the 41-CRS (Mecz). Although it would be difficult for one of...
2nd Infantry Division (1/9-IR ) Krinkelt-Rocherath – Dec 17/18 1944 (Maj William F. Hancock)
(Document Source) Operations of the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Indian Head, in a hasty Defense against a German Panzer Force Attack in the north of Krinkelt-Rocherath, December 17, to December 18, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, Belgium. Personal Experience of a Battalion Executive Officer. Maj William F. Hancock
INTRODUCTION
This archive covers the operations of the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, in the defense against the German counteroffensive in December 1944. In order to orient the reader, it will be necessary to discuss briefly some of the major military operations which led...
1st Infantry Division – Dom Butgenbach – January 1945
Source Document: Selected Intelligence Reports, December 1944 – May 1945, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, First United States Infantry Division, Czechoslovakia, June 6, 1945
1. CHOICE OF ACTION (1 January to 15 January)
On January 1, 1945, the enemy was on an operational see-saw. His original plans of an unchecked drive to the Meuse River had been blocked to the west and his desperate efforts to enlarge his salient to the north by driving the 12.SS-PD through the US 1-ID and on up the Bütgenbach - Eupen road net had failed with serious losses. As a consequence, the 1.SS-PD...
1st Infantry Division – Dom Butgenbach – December 1944
Source Document: Selected Intelligence Reports, December 1944 - May 1945, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, First United States Infantry Division, Czechoslovakia, June 6, 1945.
December 1 to December 31, 1944
Luchem (December 1 to December 7)
On December 1, 1944, after two weeks of arduous fighting, the enemy succeeded in delaying the advance on the Roer River. At Merode, he had achieved local success in holding the town and eliminating two companies that had entered it. On the other hand, he had lost Hamich, Heistern, and Langerwehe, the framework of his defenses before Düren. In losing them, moreover, he had...
1st Infantry Division – (AAR) – Hauset (Belgium) (12/1944)
Document Source: AAR 1-st Infantry Division (Rear HQs), Hauset, Neu Moresnet, Belgium, December 1944, Journal Entries, Maj Paul Bystrak, 1-QMC, 1-ID, December 15, 1944, Location (CP) Hauset (vic) (Belgium), Location (ICP) Neu Moresnet, (Belgium)
DECEMBER 15
The 7th Field Artillery Battalion reverted to Division control at about 1600. The 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One)(less the 5th Field Artillery Battalion) was not in contact with the enemy during the entire day. The division remained in a rest status and continued to refit and re-equip.
Message received on issuing of new protective ointment containers and all units informed.
DECEMBER 16
Location CP: Hauset (BE)
Location ICP:...
1st Infantry Division – Butgenbach – January-1945
Document Source Unknown (Definitively Checked (typo) and City Names by Doc Snafy on October 1, 2022).
On January 1, 1945, the enemy was on an operational see-saw, his original plans of an unchecked drive to the Meuse River had been blocked to the west and his desperate efforts to enlarge his salient to the north by driving the 12.SS-Panzer-Division through the 1st Infantry Division and on up the Butgenbach - Eupen road net had failed with serious losses. As a consequence, the four Kampfgruppe of the 1.SS-Panzer-Division (Peiper, Knittel, Sandig, Hansen), particularly Kampfgruppe Peiper, farther west, had been cut off...
1.SS-Panzer-Division (Defeat of the LSSAH) – Battle of the Bulge (Ferriss)
Document Source: G-2 Report, 30th Infantry Division, Defeat of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, by Capt Franklin Ferriss. Archive revisited as well as complemented by Doc Snafu and Maryline Junker in May 2023. (Archive Source: US Army & EUCMH)
FOREWORD
During the first part of December 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge, the Allied Forces in Belgium were organized into several units and positioned in various locations. Here are some details regarding the situation and locations of key Allied units at that time. US 1-A: The First US Army (Gen Courtney...
526th Armored Infantry Battalion – 12 Hours in Stavelot – December 1944
✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on July 26, 2025.
Document Source
My personal feelings have always been that the 12-hour period in Stavelot, from 0000 to 1200 on December 17, 1944, was a crucial period that ranks in significance with top recorded battles in history. The tragic events that would have occurred are too large to contemplate had the Germans gained access to one of the largest supplies of gasoline in Europe.
The true significance was never disclosed heretofore because nobody took the time and effort to officially record...