Sno-King Krieg Spielers

Bastogne Perimeter

19th of December 1944

Operational Plan

During the early morning hours, German forces would move into attack positions and assault into Bastogne. The plan called for a reinforced Grenadier regiment to demonstrate in force on the west front, while a second Grenadier Regiment made rapid attack down the east flank. Tanks and artillery supported both Regiments.

The 901st would demonstrate in front of Neffe, holding American units in place. It's second battalion would sweep around the west side of the town and occupy the woods to the west of Neffe. Secondarily, they were to move into positions to provide support fire for the 902nd attack into Bastogne.

902nd was to attack east of the 901st. Its first objective was to seize and control the hamlet of Sibret. Once it had consolidated the hamlet, its 2nd battalion would pass through and continue the attack. They would infiltrate north to the outskirts of Bastogne using a north-south running ridgeline as cover to conceal their movements.

This lighting strike would only be successful if the 901st could not only pin the front line America troops in place, but force the Americans to deploy their reserves to protect the direct route into Bastogne. While the American had more reserves than anticipated, the failure of the attack was the poor consideration of how the terrain would affect the speed of the advance. The muddy conditions kept all vehicle movement to a crawl and with adequate tank support, the Grenadiers had an extremely difficult time ejecting the Americans from their positions.

The Battle

The weather delayed the start of the attack until late morning, so the German forces were not in positions to launch the attack until 10:45am.

10:45am (1)

Panzer Lehr begins its assault on the village of Neffe, sporadic mortar and artillery fire fall on all advance troops. Though the leading company of the 2nd / 901st suffer heavy casualties and immediately fallback to the jump off point.

11:15am (2)

Due to the terrain the advance was slower than anticipated. Vehicles are getting bogged down in the mud and reduce to a crawl. The Amis continued to harass the slow moving troops with Artillery and mortar fire.

11:45am (3)

The 902nd moved into final attack position to clear out Sibret hamlet.

The 901st moved tanks moving downthe road on the right and a company of grenadiers on the left, leading elements approach Village of Neffe. Smalls and Anti tank fire erupted from the town, though the long range fire was mostly ineffectual, it did bring the advance to a halt.

12:35am (4)

Forward elements of the 2nd / 902nd attacked Sibret hamlet, though the Amis fire, especially mortar fire kept the Grenadiers pinned down in the nearby woods.

1st Battalion / 901st had advanced into the large woods to the left of Village of Neffe. They were foiled in their attempts to enter the Village of Neffe from the rear when ambushed by another American Co.

2nd / 901st and supporting tanks began a long range firefight with the Amis holding up in Village of Neffe. A battery of 105’s supported them but all attacks appeared ineffectual. The return fire was also very low, and surprisingly the Amis artillery fire was scattered and ineffectual.

1:15pm (5)

1st / 901st after taking more fire from Neffe, retreats deeper into the woods. 2nd / 901st cautiously advancing through the woods, closed on the west side of Village of Neffe. This movement prompted massive fire from the Amis, effectively annihilating a company of grenadiers.

Confusion reigned in the 2nd Battalions attack on the hamlet of Sibret … Battalion HQ organized themselves as best they could, while the troops took advantage of the cover around them.

1:45pm (6)

Both Battalions of the 901st regrouped and reorganized all their elements, under the cover of tanks engaging the Amis guns in Village of Neffe.

2nd / 902nd while still having command problems, was able to bring some fire down on the Sibret by the supporting artillery and mortars.

2:35pm (7)

The 901st continued to regroup, while they pinned down American forces in the center, they paid a heavy price and it would be a couple of hours before they continued the attack. 1st Battalion realigned there front to the north of the woods due to reports of heavy American activity in that area.

The 1st / 902nd supported by artillery and Panther tanks unexpectedly advanced into Sibret hamlet. Accurate fire from the supporting guns and tanks had driven the Amis back further into town and the Grenadiers quickly occupied the vacated area.

3:15pm (8)

The 902nd commander brought up his 2nd battalion in support of 1st Battalion. The combined pressure expelled the Americans from Sibret hamlet, who fell back into the woods and began to form a 2nd battle line.

Leading elements of 2nd Battalion were heavily shelled as the moved to the left of 1st Battalion. The Americans deployed some tanks to help stabilize the flank.

4:55pm (9)

The 902nd consolidated its hold on Sibret hamlet and deployed tanks and tank destroyers to deal with the American tanks. Sporadic Artillery and Mortar fire broke up the lull in the battle.

4:25pm (10)

1st 901st began scouting the approaching Paratroopers and prepared to defend the woods they currently occupied. 2nd Battalion began moving their reorganized troops into attack positions.

Concerned about the newly revealed American tank destroyers, the 902nd shifted the tank destroyers to their left. This distraction delayed the push into the woods in the back of Sibret hamlet.

4:45pm (11)

With Tank Destroyers occupying the Americans, the 902nd pushed elements of an infantry battalion further into the woods and gained a foothold on the leading edge of the woods. The tanks began a long range gun duel with no appreciable effect on either side.

With Germans on the left and right flanks, the Americans in Village of Neffe fell back deeper into the town. This allowed the reduced 2nd battalion of the 901st advance to the edge of the town. They also sent flanking forces to help cover the 902nd flank.

1st Battalion after making quick battle plans engaged the paratroopers in the woods. A sharp firefight ensued and one company was mauled heavily. The Amis paratroopers suffered casualties as well but were bringing up fresh reserves to stiffen the attack.

A sharp counter attack on the American left flank stunned the paratroopers and ground their attack to a halt. Both sides moved slight back out of engagement range and waited for the next move.

5:15pm (12)

1st Battalion of the 901st was reaching its breaking point; fortunately the American commander did not feel like he could risk his only reserves so both sides exchange very sporadic fire.

Tank fire on both sides was very intermittent and both side content to stay at extreme engagement ranges. With the evening darkness soon to begin, the 902nd did not press in its attack, though they did bring back the tank destroy support, as tanks from the 901st covered their left flank.

5:45pm (End)

Panzer Lehr while not exhausted, had taken a heavy beating nonetheless. Compounding the issue was the failure to punch through the American lines to Bastogne.

While not expected to capture Village of Neffe, all the positions of the 901st had to abandon as the American paratroopers maintained pressure on their front, while the forces still controlling Village of Neffe threaten to cut off the lines of communications. They succeeded in covering the American forces to their front and sucking in some of the reserves. For this they paid a heavy price and was all for not as the breakthrough on the right never materialized.

The 902nd had captured Sibret hamlet and forced the American forces in the woods to fallback near Bastogne Outskirts to cover the approaches to Bastogne.