Elcherath

Southeast of St. Vith, the village of Elcherath was captured by the 190th Regiment of the 62nd Volksgenadier during the morning of the 18th. In the early afternoon, 2 companies of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion were ordered to retake …

1944-12-18

PD02

Southeast of St. Vith, the village of Elcherath was captured by the 190th Regiment of the 62nd Volksgenadier during the morning of the 18th. In the early afternoon, 2 companies of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion were ordered to retake the village and the high ground South of it. At first the Germans defended the ridge stoutly, killing more than 40 Americans. However, the appearance of a platoon of Shermans panicked some of the Wehrmacht troops and the Yanks used the confusion to capture the heights.

Elcherath, Belgium

The Battle of St. Vith was an engagement in Belgium fought during the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine in World War II. It was one of several battles on December 16, 1944 constituting the opening of Germany's Ardennes counteroffensive. The town of St. Vith, a vital road junction, was close to the boundary between the 5th and Sepp Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army, the two strongest units of the attack. St. Vith was also close to the western end of the Losheim Gap, a critical valley through the densely forested ridges of the Ardennes Forest and the axis of the entire German counteroffensive. Opposing this drive were units of the U.S. VIII Corps. These defenders were led by the U.S. 7th Armored Division and included the 424th Infantry (the remaining regiment of the 106th U.S. Infantry Division), elements of the 9th Armored Division's Combat Command B and the 112th Infantry of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division. These units, which operated under the command of Generals Robert W. Hasbrouck (7th Armored) and Alan W. Jones (106th Infantry), successfully resisted the German attacks, thereby significantly slowing the German advance.

Wikipedia: Battle of St. Vith

German

American