Now that we have covered Manteuffel’s attack against the U.S 106th Infantry Division sector in front of St.Vith, using Lucht’s Corps, we turn to his attack against the U.S. 28th Infantry (“Keystone”) Division sector a bit south, beginning at the intersection of the Belgium, German and Luxembourg border to Gemund. Here, in an area of forested hills and low mountains, Manteuffel faced more difficult terrain and difficult crossings over the steeply banked Our River. Nonetheless, he had five divisions in two corps facing two tired U.S. infantry regiments.

The northern of these two German corps, the 58th Corps under General Kruger, consisted of the 116th (Greyhound) Panzer and 560th Volksgrenadier Divisions. They were to advance in tandem through the 25-mile gap between St.Vith and Bastogne, starting in a narrow corridor near the Lutzkampen and Ouren river crossings, avoiding contact to the extent possible and racing ahead to Houffalize and the Meuse River. Kruger’s Corps was faced by a U.S. regiment, 3,000 men of the U.S. 112th Infantry.

Kruger jumped off between Kalborn and Burg Reuland using Our River bridges and attacking the seam between the U.S. 106th and 28th Infantry Division sectors. However, they immediately ran into stiff opposition from the 112th Regiment, U.S. 28th Division, supported by part of the 424th Regiment, U.S. 106th Division, while also encountering heavy U.S. artillery barrages at the river crossings. The U.S. defenders delayed Kruger’s Corps for 24 hours, inflicting losses on both German divisions.

Eventually, the 116th Panzer Division pushed the U.S. 112th Regiment north, separating it from the rest of the 28th Division and forcing it to join the defenses of St.Vith. Supported by the U.S. 811th Tank Destroyer and 229th Field Artillery Battalions, the 112th’s company-sized units continued to fight as they withdrew, setting up sequential roadblocks to inflict high casualties on the attackers who lacked heavy weapons because German engineer units required to construct bridges had been delayed. The U.S. 28th Infantry Division was supposed to be worn out from heavy fighting and the loss of 5,000 men in the Hurtgen Forest, and had been sent to the Ardennes Forest for rest. Its experience in combat was now proving to be very important.

Kruger’s men made it to Houffalize, but they were battered in getting there.

Manteuffel’s southernmost corps, the 47th Panzer Corps under General von Luttwitz, consisted of the 26th Volksgrenadier, 2nd Panzer, and Panzer Lehr Divisions. They were aiming for the road junctions at Bastogne some twenty miles to the west and planned to race through any roadblocks in their way. They faced the U.S. 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division, spread in company-sized formations along a north-south Ridgeline called “Skyline Drive.” The 26th Volksgrenadiers, an old-line infantry division rebuilt after three years on the Eastern Front, was to lead the way, clearing roadblock for the panzers. The plan was to cross the Our River on boats and surround the America forward positions on Skyline Drive, then build bridges the armored divisions could cross. The 2nd Panzer Division, a famous armored division that had battled the Allies from Normandy to the German border, was attacking behind and slightly north of the Volksgrenadiers. The Panzer Lehr Division under General Fritz Beyerlein, previously Rommel’s Deputy in North Africa, was an elite unit, originally the training cadre for armored warfare. It also had been in France since D-Day and was now refitted for the Ardennes Offensive. It would attack along the southern part of von Luttwitz’s front.

As the offensive began, the 2nd Panzer attacked the 1st Battalion of the 110th Regiment supported by the U.S. 630 Tank Destroyer and 707th Tank Battalions at Marnach, suffering heavy losses before overcoming the Americans. At Clervaux, a dozen other panzer ran into stubborn defense by the 110th Regiment, which held out tenaciously in local buildings, a hotel, and a chateau. Although low on ammunition, the Clervaux defenders fought well into December 17 before surrendering. The 28th Division’s Commander, General Cota, had ordered the 110th Regimental Commander, Colonel Fuller in Clervaux, to “Hold at all Costs,” saying, “Nobody Comes Back.”

The Panzer Lehr Division made slightly better progress on the southern wing of von Luttwitz’s advance but took 100 casualties at Hoscheid. At Hosingen, the third battalion of the 110th Regiment and the 103rd Engineer Combat Battalion fought the 26th Volsgrenadiers house-to-house, hand-to-hand, holding on for almost two days. Similar house-to-house fighting took place in Consthum, Holtzheim, and Munshausen. At Weiler, the infantry company defending the village called artillery onto its own position after stopping wave-after-wave of German infantry attacks.

All along the front in the string of small villages, the 28th Division fought tenaciously, forcing the Germans to employ battalions against companies and platoons, The 110th lost 60 Sherman tanks from five tank companies, three engineer combat companies, and an artillery company killed or missing. The regimental commander, Colonel Fuller, was taken prisoner at Clervaux, but one-third of his men there received Bronze or Silver Stars. By December 18, two days after the start of Autumn Mist, the 110th had been virtually destroyed. Charles MacDonald pointed out that with only two U.S. battalions supported by two companies of medium tanks, the 110th Infantry held off four German regiments and nowhere had been routed. That was around 2,000 men versus 10,000. “Nowhere on the first day of the German offensive was there a more remarkable achievement by the American soldier.”

A few remnants of the 110th managed to escape and regroup at Wiltz on the road to Bastogne, joining the 44th Engineer Combat Battalion of 600 men, along with six tanks and five anti-tank vehicles from the U.S. 10th Armored Division’s 707th Tank Battalion. Here, ten miles from the Our River, half-way to Bastogne, the 28th Division survivors and engineers blunted successive attacks by the Panzer Lehr Division and 26th Volksgrenadiers attacking from the north and the 5th Fallschirm Division, German Seventh Army, from the south.

Wiltz is a sad story. Facing German paratroopers and 40 tanks, the U.S. defenders continued their stubborn defense until wiped out, holding a penetrated perimeter while short of ammunition. The US. 44th Engineer Combat Battalion lost 150 of its 600 men fighting in the town and providing the rear guard while others evacuated. The survivors had to run the gauntlet of German fire, and eventually were ambushed on the road towards Sibret and wipedout by German armor and artillery.

Late on December 18, when von Luttwitz’s southern corps finally arrived at the eastern outskirts of Bastogne, the 26th Volksgrenadiers were exhausted from fighting and keeping up with the tanks. The 2nd Panzer and Panzer Lehr Divisions had also been roughed up and were low on fuel and tired from struggling over muddy, chewed -up roads, with few engineers to dig out the vehicles or clear mines. After all that, von Luttwitz gave the 26th Volksgrenadiers the lead role in taking Bastogne, where they were to face the very tough 101st Airborne Division. Manteuffel’s expectation of bypassing resistance on the way to Bastogne had promised a vain hope. The virtually destroyed U.S. 28th Infantry Division had held out for a valuable two days, leading Corp Commander Middleton to write Colonel Fuller after he was released from a German POW camp at the end of the war, “Had your boys not done the job they did, the 101st (Airborne) would never have reached Bastogne in time.”

On the last day of our tour with Henri Mignon, we drove to Clervaux, winding down a hairpin road to the city center, to the hotel where Colonel Fuller held out before escaping out the back as German tank were sticking their guns through the buildings windows. As we got out at a traffic circle to look at a bronze statue of the American GI, Henri told us to turn around and look up behind us. Across the street, attached into the upstairs window of a two-story building, was a bronze mural depicting Belgian citizens as they appeared in 1944, leaning out of the window, waving American flags, cheering he GI statue below. This companion piece to the statue of the GI is a reminder of the support we had received from the people of Luxembourg. Clervaux, like Bastogne, is a town where Americans are still loved.

Get full access to Steward at driscolljohn37.substack.com/subscribe