page_title: Battle of St. Vith
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of St. Vith / Aftermath
context_page_description: 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, 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 and Alan W. Jones, successfully resisted the German attacks, thereby significantly slowing the German advance.
context_section_description: While the final battles for St. Vith were gathering momentum, the Allied high command was moving to meet the crisis. On 20 December, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery – commander of the 21st Army Group – was given command of all troops north of the German advance. This was done to both improve communications and because Montgomery held the ultimate trump card in the battle, an uncommitted reserve, the British XXX Corps. Also on that day, the forces of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, under Major General James M. Gavin, made contact with the 7th Armored Division, meeting the condition General Hodges set for command of the St. Vith forces shifting to the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps under Major General Matthew Ridgway. This was done once again to improve communications and set up a secure supply line to the rear. Ridgeway arrived in Vielsalm on 22 December, shortly after American forces were driven from St. Vith. He was aware that Montgomery had already decided to withdraw from the St. Vith area. Montgomery had seen the threat of a larger encirclement of American forces, and hoped to gather a reserve west of the Meuse River to finally block the German advance while also eliminating vulnerable salients in the allied lines.
  The American commanders had hoped to use the St. Vith salient as the starting point of an attack towards Malmedy in Belgium. This would encircle 6th Panzer Army and destroy any hope of further German penetrations. Ridgway was still willing to consider holding positions in the area for this purpose, but interviews with the local commanders changed his mind. They had brought up many objections to securing the area: poor roads, unreliable communications and supply, severe combat losses, as well as the imminent danger of being cut off by rapidly moving panzer divisions. General Hoge of the 9th Armored Division even considered it unlikely that any escape from the area could be made. Fortunately for the Americans, the weather came to their assistance for the first time in the campaign. What the Americans called a “Russian High” began blowing on 23 December. A cold wind from the northeast, and clear weather, froze the ground, allowing the free movement of tracked vehicles and the use of allied air superiority. American forces were able to escape to the southwest, cross country to Crombach, Beho, Bovigny, and Vielsalm west of the Salm River. The Americans were able to outrun the panzers, and join forces with XVIII Airborne Corps by 24 December 1944.
  The best summation of the fight for St. Vith was one given by the architect of the attack, Hasso von Manteuffel, for a documentary series on the battle in 1965. His analysis did not make much of the grand strategies however. His statement described the actions of the common soldier as follows:
  It is the war of the small men, the outpost commanders, the section commanders, the company commanders; those were the decisive people here, who were responsible for success or failure, victory or defeat. We depended upon their courage; they could not afford to get confused, and had to act according to their own decisions, until the higher command was again in a position to take over. I believe I can say, and I have the right to make this judgment, that the Germans did this admirably well, at the same time however, I am also convinced this was the case with the American forces, who after all succeeded in upsetting the entire time schedule, not only of the attacking unit in St. Vith, but also of the 5th and 6th Panzer Armies. That is a fact which cannot be denied.
caption: American 3-inch M5 anti-tank gun near Vielsalm, Belgium, 23 Dec 1944.
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