12/03/11 .AAR

Belligerents:

- 25. Panzergrenadier-Division
- Elements of 2.SS "Das Reich"

versus

- 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized)


Objectives: German forces were tasked with the occupation of two forward defense posts with a fallback point to the main objective of the village of Vieux.

1. Gruppe under command of Gefreiter Stamper was deployed to Haut and my 2. Gruppe was deployed to Maltot. Defensive positions were established, and it was a relatively short wait until the enemy engaged.

My position fell under sudden high-explosive fire from a M4A1 Sherman. Knowing there was little hope of standing against it with a relatively exposed position and few soldiers available, I immediately rallied my men to retreat towards Vieux via the half-track we had waiting. During the retreat, I received reports from Stamper that he would soon follow, but was under artillery fire. Herr Landrik of the 2.SS was killed by an artillery round.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Vieux, Stamper confirmed the artillery had ceased and he had begun his retreat. My men and I arrived in Vieux and I promptly ordered my riflemen to take positions watching the stairs, and my machine gunner to take up a position in the basement. Unterwachtmeister Hertz reported from his reconnaissance vehicle that he had engaged and destroyed an enemy half-track, killing two men. He engaged an enemy tank, but unfortunately, a lucky shot destroyed his Sdkfz. 234.

Stamper arrived in Vieux shortly thereafter and I told him to get his men to cover as much of the building as possible. What followed was an incredibly long wait. Maltot had been taken not long after our retreat, but Haut remained untouched for ten to fifteen minutes. Our suspicions, discussed among the palpable tension of waiting, were that this may have resulted from their unawareness that 1. Gruppe had evacuated Haut, and so they approached with more caution.

It wasn't until roughly thirty minutes or more into the battle that the true engagement occurred. The attack was preceded by intense fire from the east of Vieux, machine gun fire and high explosive shells from the Sherman tank, with likely support from a half-track. Drawing the conclusion that this would be the direction of approach, I reminded Stotz to stay focused in that direction in the basement, and I went downstairs to join him.
Sure enough, infantry began pouring into the courtyard from that direction, using smoke and intervals to cross the open ground before we could sufficiently stop them. The vehicles firing into our position managed to kill a couple of our number, and the enemy infantry encountered resistance on the staircase. Participant and former 25. Panzergrenadier, Joseph Salzmann, killed three enemy soldiers using his machine gun during the chaos.

Having killed the remnants of 1. and 2. Gruppen on the top floor, the enemy assembled on ground level. Stotz and I were still in the basement, and having realized the situation, I immediately ordered him to get in the furthest back room with no windows and one opening into the rest of the basement. I waited by the staircase to ambush incoming troops and to be ready to inform Stotz of the situation.
I killed one soldier who ran down the stairs into the room, but this alerted the enemy to my presence there. They proceeded to throw grenades in through the window, leaving me no route of escape and taking me out of action.
Stotz waited in the room, protected from fire from the windows, as they used smoke to mask their entrance and use satchels, grenades, bazookas, and capture Panzerfäuste in their attempts to kill him. One assault ended with an enemy soldier killed by Stotz, while the explosives used by the enemy led to a friendly fire incident killing one or two of their own. They finally rushed into the room through the smoke and killed Stotz with M1 Garand hipfire, seizing the final objective.




Casualties - Taken: Full casualties sustained.

Inflicted: 7 confirmed enemies killed, including the destruction of a half-track.




In attendance:

- Uffz. Lorenz Georg

- Uffz. Knud Madsen

- Uwm. Alois Hertz

- Gefr. Klaus Stamper

- Pzogren. Peter Stotz

- Obrtr. Nikolaus Kreutz

- Pzgren. Tomas Volker

- Rek. Aaron Würch

Not In attendance: Explanations sought from Lukas Frei and Dietrich Starke regarding absence.

Hearing of enemy presence, we mounted up and checked radio communications with all surrounding Funker. With 5 by 5 all around we awaited orders. Upon receiving orders, my car raced to an observation position at the far left flank, just off of a small dirt road. A short time into the battle we received word that friendly presence at Maltot had broken off; soon after, Haut followed.
Moments later we encountered two squads of American Cavalry mounted in half-tracks. When they stopped, we were certain we had been spotted, so I made the decision to break from cover and attack. I fired one magazine at the front of the vehicle, with the first shots flying overhead. As I got closer, the troops began to dismount and scatter; in the ensuing panic I destroyed the half-track and managed to kill two enemy infantry. During our escape attempt we were hit by an enemy shell, resulting in the loss of our vehicle.




Casualties:


Inflicted: Two confirmed enemy infantry killed - a Squad Leader and rifleman - and the half-track they had been in.


Sustained: Two dead crewmen. Total loss of 1x Sdkfz.234/1.