THE BATTLE OF ST VITH

The surviving regiment of the 106th joined units from the 9th Armored Division and 28th US Infantry Division in defending St Vith, a junction of vital strategic value where six important roads met. It was a prime target for Manteuffel and was very close to the ‘boundary line’ marking the area covered by Dietrich’s 6th Panzer Army.

While the 28th was an experienced, battle-hardened division, it had lost almost half its 14,000 men fighting on the Siegfried Line in November and was in the Ardennes area to rest and induct its replacement recruits.

Manteuffel sent several parties of advance troops over the River Our in boats, where they made a small bridgehead to prepare for the armoured advance to follow. It was a costly penetration. The infantry did not yet have the support of its rocket artillery or tanks, so it was very vulnerable to enemy armoured attack. But a bridgehead was made, and in the predawn hours an artillery bombardment helped