Last Desperate Gamble WTO (id:#65893)

(From the Cellar Pack#12 ID: FT322)   [next]   [previous]

Elsenborn Ridge, Belgium 1944-12-18 (20 others)

Overview:

Large numbers of German infantry from the 12th Volksgrenadier Division followed the barrage and attacked, beginning the ground offensive west towards their eventual goal of Antwerp. The 99th Division and its three regiments, the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th, were on the northern shoulder of the German offensive and in the towns and villages to the east and south of the Elsenborn Ridge. Intelligence that reached them was spotty and contradictory. General Lauer, commanding officer of the 99th, ordered Col. Robertson to stay put until at least the next morning when more orders would be forthcoming. Robertson told his men to hold and he also prepared them for an orderly withdrawal in the morning.The main drive against Elsenborn Ridge was launched in the forests east of the twin villages on the early morning of 17 December.

Defender: American (393rd Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division with 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion and 741st Tank Battalion)  

Errata (source)