Battle of St. Vith 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 21 December 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Belgium | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Battle of the Bulge | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.2819, 6.1267 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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 (more commonly known as the "Battle of the Bulge").
The town of St. Vith, a vital road junction, was close to the boundary between the 5th Panzer Army and Sepp Dietrich’s 6th 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 (the remaining regiment of the 106th U.S. Infantry Division), 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 (7th Armored) and Alan W. Jones (106th Infantry), successfully resisted the German attacks, thereby significantly slowing the German advance.
Under orders from Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Brigadier General Bruce Cooper Clarke, leader of Combat Command-B 7th Armored Division, gave up St. Vith on 21 December 1944; U.S.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of St. Vith (revision 1371278644), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Lanzerath Ridge 1944 · 17 km
- Battle of Elsenborn Ridge 1944 · 21 km
- Battle of Clervaux 1944 · 26 km
- Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads 1944 · 28 km
- Battle of the Ardennes 1914 · 33 km
- Battle of Sprimont 1794 · 38 km
Other battles of the Battle of the Bulge
- Battle of Clervaux 1944
- Battle of Lanzerath Ridge 1944
- Siege of Bastogne 1944
- Battle of Bure 1945
All 5 battles of the Battle of the Bulge →
Browse more: battles in Belgium · Europe · World War II era battles