From the railhead, Riggs went to a prisoner of war camp northwest of Warsaw. Although the river separating Trois Ponts from the German column was shallow enough for infantry to ford, it was an effective barrier to tanks. Howard C. Speck ( d. 2011 ). During that march, Colonel Riggs lost 40 pounds. These units vary in size from a small number of people up to and including an Army Group. Equipped with some mines and a bazooka, the detachment delayed the column for a few hours. Though greatly outnumbered 291st Engineers during the Battle of the Bulge SSG Abdel D. Phipps This essay illustrates and identifies the contributions made by Engineers during the Battle of the Bulge. At 0700, the Germans began shelling Hotton, and German tanks pushed past a small 3d Armored Division force on the far side of the river. 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. Its organic engineer combat battalion, the 81st, had begun road repair and snow removal in the division’s sector. enemy attempts to drive through their positions. Engineers from the 291st demolished a bridge near Habiemont, Belgium, on … Reinforced by some tanks from the 7th Armored Division, elements of the two engineer battalions under Colonel Riggs held their position against determined German attacks until 21 December. He also told us ( his sons and daughter ) that he was at the Battle of the Bulge ( among other actions ). The same was true for administration personnel including those in combat arms units. and constantly subjected to heavy enemy artillery, mortar, and small-arms fire, the J J J From D-day on, the Allies had swept quickly across Europe—sometimes getting too far 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. Port & harbor maintenance and rehabilitation, including beachheads: Laying roads and unloading/loading supplies, vehicles & personnel from transport and cargo ships, Establishing/maintaining supply and ammunition dumps, Building barracks, depots, and similar structures, Rescue & road patrols, bridge and road reconnaissance, This page was last edited on 23 August 2019, at 19:49. 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. When the Germans brought artillery to bear on the positions of the 35th, it retired under the cover of darkness, but only after imposing yet another delay on the German advance. officers and men of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion stubbornly resisted all As the American front in the Ardennes collapsed, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his subordinates redeployed their forces as quickly as they could to meet the German attack; but while these troops were moving into position, the American commanders had to rely on rear area troops already in the Ardennes. machine gun squads, anti-tank rocket and grenade launchers, and were required to fight as infantry when needed. Although D-day gave the western Allies a beachhead in northern France, it took them almost two months of bitter fighting to break out of the Normandy hedgerows. His route took him near the town of Malmedy and toward the villages of Stavelot, Trois Ponts, and Huy on the Meuse. and .50 cal. Date of situation printed on each sheet, e.g. displayed by the personnel of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion, in delaying and The best general account of engineers in the Battle of the Bulge is the chapter on the Ardennes in Alfred Beck, et al., The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany, United States Army in World War II (VVashington, DC: Center of Military History, 1985).For a more detailed history of the battle, see Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, United States Army in World War II (Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1965).Janice Holt Giles’ lively story of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion’s exploits, The Damned Engineers, was originally published in 1970 and reprinted by the Office of History, Office of the Chief of Engineers, in 1985.The same office resurrected an account of another battalion’s activities, written shortly after the events, from the files of the National Archives and published it in 1988 as Holding the Line: The 51st Engineer Combat Battalion and the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945. The 1104th had been activated in March 1943 and landed in Normandy on 11 June 1944. Alerted the previous evening to help defend the bridge, a platoon of the 158th arrived as German troops seized it. I, Bul. The Germans marched their prisoners over 100 miles on foot to a railhead. The rapid pace of the advance placed a severe strain on Allied logistics, which, along with bad weather and stiffening German resistance, slowed the offensive. For its participation in this action, the 81st Engineer Combat Battalion received the Distinguished Unit Citation, which praised its “extraordinary heroism, gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps.”The capture of Colonel Riggs began an odyssey which eventually ended with his return to his battalion several months later. This is the order of battle of German and Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge — specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945.. As with any large Army organization in extended combat, forces and their assignments shifted over the course of the battle. Disclaimer: This site is purely for hobby-research purposes only. [6], 291st engineers disarm a booby-trapped Sturmgeschütz III during the Battle of the Bulge, The Ludendorff Bridge before its collapse into the Rhine, Sign erected by 291st declaring their bridge the first over the Rhine at Remagen. Under the cover of winter weather, Hitler and his generals massed some 25 divisions opposite the Ardennes and planned to crash through the thinly held American front, cross the Meuse River, and drive to Antwerp. Richardson vet served as a combat engineer in Battle of the Bulge. Operation Dragoon - Combat Studies Institute . During that afternoon, a heavy German assault, led by tanks and accompanied by intense artillery, rocket, and mortar fire, overran the exhausted American defenders. 1:41 PM on Dec 11, 2014 CST. Thank you for posting this article. The 291st received a Presidential Citation for its "outstanding performance of duty in action" for holding a defensive position against a German offensive from 17 December to 26 December in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge: As authorized by Executive Order No. 4-0, War Department Battle Honors–Citation of Units: GENERAL ORDERS WAR DEPARTMENT No. [Ken Hechler; United States. After the American front in the Ardennes collapsed under the weight of the massive attack, few American units, except engineers, were prepared to resist. 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. Theater of Operations, is confirmed under the provisions of section IV, Circular His name/rank was Master Sgt. By nightfall the situation seemed much improved-despite the increased pressure on … shells exploded at irregular intervals throughout the night. These included the deployment and operation of assault boats and the construction of various pontoon bridges,[5] including M1 treadways, and modular steel truss Bailey bridges. Burke, James (299th Engineer Combat Battalion) Funf Mann: A book by James Burke of the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion, an account of his squad's action during the Bulge and subsequent ordeal as prisoners of war. During the afternoon of the 17th, engineers manning a roadblock on the outskirts of Malmedy heard small arms fire coming from a crossroads just southeast of their position. Shortly thereafter, numerically superior enemy infantry and armored columns One of the new divisions there was the 106th Infantry, which had relieved the 2d Infantry Division starting on 10 December. They prevailed upon the crew to join in their defense of the bridge. (7) By the evening of 16 December, it was clear that the German attack was an offensive on a grand scale from Monschau in … ARMY HISTORY THE PROFESSIONAL BULLETIN OF ARMY HISTORY PB-20-94-5 (No. containing a powerful enemy force along a route of vital importance to the Allied Those Damned Engineers! The 51st, also part of the 1111th Combat Group, had received orders to defend the village and prepare its bridges for demolition. One .37-mm. By the next evening, the small American force was surrounded and running low on ammunition. Riggs was eligible for medical leave in the States, but he insisted on rejoining his old unit, now in Western France. The hierarchy given here is at a moment nearly at the end of the Battle. It was one or the other. 22, WD, 1943), 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. This is the order of battle of German and Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge — specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945.. As with any large Army organization in extended combat, forces and their assignments shifted over the course of the battle. An American tank destroyer, which had slipped off the road and into the river a few days earlier, provided the artillery. instance, were thrown back with heavy losses by the resolute and determined So, again, I thank you for this article and I will share what information I have discovered here to my siblings. 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. 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. On the morning of the 19th, German tanks attacked an engineer roadblock in the darkness. 9396 (sec. U.S. Army engineers emerge from the woods and move out of defensive positions after fighting in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. 9075 (sec. resistance. In the meantime the Germans broke through in the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans had attacked France through this supposedly impassable region in 1940. His name/rank was Master Sgt. : Situation 2400 hrs. III, Bul. Another combat battalion, the 299th, had prepared the bridge for demolition; and one of its platoons, reinforced by some tank destroyers on their way to Bastogne, was defending the bridge when German troops attacked early on 20 December. A makeshift force of engineers and others under the commander of Company B, Captain Preston Hodges, held the Hotton bridge. All images, stories and logos are copyrighted to their respective owners. Corps of Engineers. Before he could complete his degree in psychology from Brooklyn College, Brooks was drafted into the Army to fight during World War II. The massive German assault on 16 December quickly interrupted these routine tasks. Unsure of his target in the gloom, Private Bernard Michin waited until a German tank was only 10 yards away before firing his bazooka. These German penetrations threatened an American Bailey bridge over the Ourthe River at Ortheuville on the main supply route to Bastogne. As they advanced, U.S. Army engineers who had been engaged in road maintenance and sawmilling suddenly found themselves manning roadblocks, mining bridges, and preparing defensive positions in an effort to stop the powerful German armored columns.A few examples will show how these engineers imposed critical delays on an offensive whose only hope for success lay in crossing the Meuse quickly.Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Peiper, a Nazi SS officer, led one of the armored columns racing toward the Meuse. The platoon crossed the river and attacked the German flanks. Both battalions found themselves fighting as infantry in a brave but ultimately futile attempt to stem the German offensive. Howard C. Speck ( d. 2011 ). In addition to two squads of engineers, Hodges’ small force included a 7th Armored Division tank, which the engineers discovered in a nearby ordnance shop. The determination, devotion to duty, and unyielding fighting spirit The ruses apparently worked, because the Germans never launched a determined attack on the village.On 20 December, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division, which was trying to block the German penetrations, learned of the small force holding Trois Ponts. I have been looking for information concerning my father`s time in WW2 ETO. He threw a grenade at the sound, which ceased, and struggled back to his platoon. The Germans captured most of the survivors, including Colonel Riggs. as public evidence of deserved honor and distinction. Fearing that the Germans would discover the weakness of his force, Major Yates tried to deceive the enemy.During the night, the six trucks of the engineer company repeatedly drove into Trois Ponts with their lights on and drove out with the lights off, simulating the arrival of reinforcements. 11, WD, 1942), citation of gun and Sergeant Kenneth Kelly attacked it with a bazooka. JUST TO THE south of the Elsenborn Ridge we left Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper camped just outside Stavelot on the night of 17–18 December.A town of about 5,000, Stavelot, like Malmedy and St Vith, had religious roots. Also included are units of the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces. Army, 18 February 1945, as approved by the Commanding General, European Many of these were corps and army engineer battalions, scattered throughout the area in company, platoon, and even squadsized groups. The Battle of the Bulge is considered one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. equipped German army was overwhelmed. On the 20th, however, the forward positions of the 51st along the Our-the toward La Roche came under German attack, and by early morning on the next day, enemy armor reached Hotton. He had said that he was in the 158th Combat Engineers Battalion with the 1st Army attached to 2nd Ranger Div.(?) The 81st Engineer Combat Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for single-handedly repelling the German advance for four crucial days in the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge… 17 December 1944, at the beginning of the German Ardennes break-through, the 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. FUSAG -- Situation 1200 hrs. 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. The explosion which knocked out the tank blinded him. The narrative on the 291st's actions in the Battle of the Bulge are particularly exciting to read as is the author's description of their building the first Allied bridge across the Rhine river. Huertgen Forest, 1944: The Worst Place of Any General Related Links For the first few days, the engineers’ major problems were caused by the flow of American stragglers streaming to the rear and groups of German soldiers disguised as Americans. The Germans surprised and overwhelmed several units. Here we are the 300 th Combat Engineers still attached to the First Army under General Bradley and there was nowhere to go. By the time he he felt comfortable enough to relay his stories, he was unfortunately beginning to forget some details. Repeated attacks were made by Reprinted with permission of the general editor, Dr. Barry W. Fowle. Army. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/291st_Engineer_Combat_Battalion_(United_States) Private Michin, who regained his sight several hours later, received the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery under fire.During the evening of the 19th and the morning of the 20th, the 101st Airborne Division, which had rushed to the defense of Bastogne, relieved the 158th and the 35th ECBs.German panzers and troops continued to push west and north of Bastogne, eventually surrounding the American defenders in the town. The 300 th Combat Engineers Company A, Company B, Company C and it was their job blow up or to build bridges. the following unit in General Orders, No. The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion was one of the most decorated engineering groups of the United States Army during World War II. Holding the Line: The 51st Engineer Combat Battalion and the Battle of the Bulge Dec, 1944 to Jan, 1945 A company of armored infantry eventually reinforced the engineer roadblock, but this small American force was no match for the German panzers. Lately, I have been researching his involvements during WW2, but have been unable to find any information/mention of the 158 CEB. The tank-infantry battle raged into the afternoon, but the engineers held the bridge until reinforcements arrived from the 84th Infantry Division, one of the many Allied units now rushing to block the German penetrations. Indeed, the Battle of the Bulge was an important turning point in the war in the Allies’ favor, but it was not without its cost. Thank you for posting this article. 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. The report also directed our commanding officer to report to the G-3, 99th Infantry Division at once. 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. The combat engineer battalion deployed about two miles east of St. Vith along the outer edge of a pine forest fringing the ridge mask over which climbs the road from Schönberg. When the engineers attempted to demolish it, the bridge failed to blow up. More reluctant was the crew of a .37-mm. By mid-December, American armies had reached the Roer River inside Germany and the West Wall along the Saar River in eastern France. On his way back to the unit, Riggs stopped in Paris for a debriefing and made his first contact with his unit when he ran into some engineers from the 81st in a bar. However, historians have recorded that many supporting troops became combat troops during the Battle of the Bulge. The soldiers attempted to escape but few made it back safely. He ordered his engineers to set up roadblocks and defensive positions around the town. Shortly thereafter, four terrified American soldiers staggered up to the roadblock. At Hotton they encountered another Ourthe River bridge, a class 70 timber span, defended by engineers from the 51st Combat Battalion. 34. Engineers sweep for mines in the snow during the Ardennes campaign. 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. Department of the Army Field Manual No. [2] These spanned such diverse activities as construction, demolition, sanitation, map production, minefield clearing, and unit intelligence. The delays that engineers helped to impose gave the Americans and British time to bring in reinforcements and seal off the German penetrations. After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name. The span made a material contribution in facilitating the U.S. Army's drive into central Germany.[1]. On 17 December, the VIII Corps commander ordered his 44th Engineer Combat Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Clarion J. Kjeldseth to drop its road maintenance, sawmilling, and quarrying operations and help defend the town of Wiltz in Luxembourg. Next he was assigned to the 1104th Engineer Combat Group in time to participate in the Battle of the Bulge (although he would later state that he was not at the center of the most heated action). superseding Executive Order No. The 51st Engineer Combat Battalion continued to man roadblocks and hold bridges in the area until 3 January.Throughout the Ardennes, divisional, corps, and army engineer units on the front lines and in rear areas participated valiantly in a sometimes desperate attempt to stem the tide of the unexpected German counteroffensive. In early December 1944, five American divisions and a cavalry group held the 85-mile-long Ardennes front. It was also instrumental in building the first pontoon bridge across the Rhine at Remagen to take traffic pressure off the severely damaged Ludendorff Bridge before its tragic collapse. The link has information about copies available for purchase. Many of the engineer combat battalions and other engineer units would play important roles in the Bulge, in many cases by operating as infantry. According to War Department General Order 114, December 7, 1945 there were approximately 2,000 units that received the Ardennes Credit, (The Battle of the Bulge). Services such as engineers, ordnance, signal and others were considered to be supports for the combat arms. He escaped from the camp and headed for the Russian lines, surviving on snow and sugar beets. In addition, the heavy demand for American troops in some sectors had forced Allied commanders to lightly man other portions of the front.After months of retreat, Hitler decided on a bold gamble to regain the initiative in the west. The officer was Captain Maxey Tex (from 1943-04-12 to 1945-09-18 Germany), Back to Normandy™ building the story of d-day. 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