His name/rank was Master Sgt. The engineers put chains on their single 4-ton truck and drove it back and forth through the village to create the impression that there were tanks in Trois Ponts. It is evident that the Infantry could not have succeeded without the support of the courageous and hardworking Combat Engineers. The combat engineers in Scheidgen returned to Hill 313 and occupied it without a fight. The citation reads as Peiper’s column pushed through the village, and its lead tanks turned westward toward Trois Ponts.Shortly before the Germans broke though the roadblock at Stavelot, Captain Sam Scheuber’s Company C of the 51st Engineer Combat Battalion had taken up position in Trois Ponts. This is the order of battle of German and Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge.. Caveat: This Battle lasted more than a month, with assignments in considerable flux.Any hierarchy of unit within Corps within Army within Army Group is inherently a snapshot of a single moment in that flux. Among the heavy American casualties was the equivalent of three engineer companies dead or missing, but the defenders of Wiltz had slowed the German advance and given other American troops time to rush to the defense of the critically important crossroads some 10 miles to the west-the town of Bastogne.With the American defenses collapsing west of Bastogne, the corps commander ordered the last of his reserves, the 35th Engineer Combat Battalion-a corps unit-and the 158th Engineer Combat Battalion-an army unit which happened to be working in the area-to defend Bastogne until reinforcements could arrive. equipped German army was overwhelmed. effort, are worthy of high praise. An American tank destroyer, which had slipped off the road and into the river a few days earlier, provided the artillery. Headquarters First United States Howard C. Speck ( d. 2011 ). After the breakout, Allied armies raced across France, liberated Paris, and headed toward the German frontier. Huertgen Forest, 1944: The Worst Place of Any General Related Links All images, stories and logos are copyrighted to their respective owners. It was their first news of him since St. Vith.Other divisional and nondivisional engineer units found themselves in situations similar to the 81st during the first few days of the German offensive. While another detachment of the 291st wired one bridge south of the village, Company C, reinforced by an antitank gun and a squad of armored infantry, prepared its defenses. Unfortunately, my father passed in 2011, and I have always been disappointed in myself for not taking some time to sit down with him to hear his experiences. At approximately midnight, 16 December, 1944, a message was received from the 1121st Engineer Combat Group that the Battalion was on a two-hour alert as infantry. Central Europe/Rhineland/Germany - (Battle of Bulge links below) Operation Northwind The Rhine River Crossings - mentions the 540th Combat Engineers Ardennes/Alsace - The US Army Campaigns of WWII The Rhineland Central Europe. By the evening of 18 December, the small American force at Trois Ponts had come under the command of Major Robert B. Yates, executive officer of the 51st Combat Battalion, who had come to the village expecting to attend a daily staff meeting. Disclaimer: This site is purely for hobby-research purposes only. Equipped with some mines and a bazooka, the detachment delayed the column for a few hours. containing a powerful enemy force along a route of vital importance to the Allied By noon, the engineers and tank destroyers forced the enemy to withdraw. Engineer officers, like Riggs, Pergrin, Fraser, and Yates, insisted on staying in their positions, even when other Americans fled to the rear: Relying on their training in defensive operations, engineer troops established roadblocks with whatever troops and weapons were at hand, blew up bridges, planted minefields, and succeeded, often at the cost of heavy casualties, in delaying the powerful German armored columns. The officer was Captain Maxey Tex (from 1943-04-12 to 1945-09-18 Germany), Back to Normandy™ building the story of d-day. A detachment of German tanks headed down the river looking for another bridge, while other tanks and infantry remained behind, across the river from the village. : Situation 2400 hrs. I have been looking for information concerning my father`s time in WW2 ETO. Holding the Line: The 51st Engineer Combat Battalion and the Battle of the Bulge Dec, 1944 to Jan, 1945 [Ken Hechler, Barry W. Fowle] on Amazon.com. round wedged between the turret and the hull, and as the smoke cleared, the 51st saw the German crew abandoning the tank. Minutes later, Captain Hodges heard an explosion that sounded like a bazooka round, and the German tank slipped into View between two buildings. This was before they went to France: https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/engineers/engineer-combat/support8772.html, They left at 23 March 1944, Arrived in England on 4 April 1944, entered France ETO 1 August 1944. manning roadblocks south and east of Malmedy, and with the defense of the duty in action against the enemy from 17 to 26 December 1944, in Belgium. Peiper did not attack Malmedy, but headed instead toward Stavelot where Colonel Pergrin had sent another detachment of the 291st. On the morning of 17 December, as German troops were cutting off and surrounding the regiments of the 106th, the division commander ordered Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J.Riggs, Jr., the commander of the 81st, to establish defensive positions east of the important crossroads at St. Vith. As a Tiger tank approached the bridge, Private Ishmael engaged it with his .37-mm. [2] These spanned such diverse activities as construction, demolition, sanitation, map production, minefield clearing, and unit intelligence. The Battle of the Bulge demonstrated that engineer initiative and training in defensive operations could make a major contribution to the outcome of an important campaign. 24f, April 6, 1945, 549th Engineer Light Ponton Company History, https://www.amazon.com/Damned-Engineers-Janice-Giles, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=291st_Engineer_Combat_Battalion_(United_States)&oldid=912183432, Engineer battalions of the United States Army, Military units and formations established in 1943, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Bridge (mobile, floating, fixed), rail, & road construction and maintenance, Conducting river crossings by ponton/raft, motor-powered assault boats, Placing/de-arming munitions, including mines. KVK: 78264294, Goudplevierstraat 34 8043JH Zwolle, NETHERLANDS, You are now being logged in using your Facebook credentials, Engineers (Builders and Fighters) in the Battle of the Bulge, This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site, https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/engineers/engineer-combat/support8772.html. Shortly thereafter, four terrified American soldiers staggered up to the roadblock. Theater of Operations, is confirmed under the provisions of section IV, Circular 22, WD, 1943), J J J From D-day on, the Allies had swept quickly across Europe—sometimes getting too far The name Battle of the Bulge was appropriated from Winston Churchill’s optimistic description in May 1940 of the resistance that he … After Company C had been ordered to Trois Ponts, the rest of the battalion under the command ofLieutenant Colonel Harvey Fraser established barrier lines in the area of Rochefort, Marche, Hotton, and from there a few miles f&her north. 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