British Sherman “Firefly” tank in Namur on the Meuse River, December 1944.

The world is a sinking ship
Sunk by the weight of six billion people
We were sentenced to this fate
By those who preached that they all
are as good as you and I
That they all should decide our destination
Though none of them has found a meaningful
Direction for themselves

Now everything we loved will die
Unless get another go at steering

So here we stand,
On the summit of the aft,
Hurling defiance at those who are our misfortune

Soldiers of the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

The 352nd was destroyed in the fighting following the D-Day invasion; on 30 July the 352nd was declared abgekämpft, meaning it was no longer fit for combat. It was reconstituted as the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division in September and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Thereafter, it fought defensively around Trier and the Moselle until it was destroyed again in mid-March 1945, with only a small remnant escaping across the Rhine at Worms.

It was partially reconstituted one last time as a battlegroup in mid-April and ended its career near Darmstadt.

After reaching their objective, a Volksgrenadier battalion commander briefs his Kompanie commanders.

267.Volksgrenadier write orders to maintain the strict orders that all units in the staging areas are to maintain a strict vigilance while moving to their respectful areas.

Volksgrenadiers of the 79.Volksgrenadier Division armed with Panzerschrecks. This photo was taken in early Dec. 1944, prior to transfer to the Eifel region on the Our and the Saur front.

Volksgrenadiers watch the line during January 11 1945.

A scouting party reconnoiters the countryside, to hear better the two riflemen wear field caps instead of their Stahlhelms.

Supply train horses of a German unit “watered” in a Luxembourg brook. This photo is probably taken during Dec. 23-26 time frame, before the sky completely cleared up, making any movement during the day impossible for fear of U.S. air raids.

A heavy MG position at Diekirch firing against an American attack on 18th January 1945.

Heavy 12cm Mortars of an unknown Volksgrenadier heavy weapons Kompanie being towed by a Steyer RSO/o1 during the first days of the offensive.

Three young Volksgrenadiers are thawing out with a canteen cup of hot ersatz coffee provided from a forward kitchen. The Soldat at the right wears captured US over-boots and is eating a piece of ‘Kommisbrot’ softened by the hot coffee.

The actions to support Kampfgruppe Peiper took a heavy toll of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501. At least 12 Tigers had been knocked out or abandoned between Stavelot and La Gleize, and many more were unavailable due to mechanical failure. The battalion regrouped and moved into an assembly area east of Vielsalm to refit and reorganize. The 1. Kompanie handed its tanks over to the other companies and departed for Sennelager in Germany to receive new tanks. The remaining Tigers, approximately 15, were grouped into a kampfgruppe commanded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Möbius. This unit fought alongside Peiper’s remaining tanks as the 1. SS-Panzerdivision attacked south of Bastogne on 30-31 December in an attempt to cut the corridor that U.S. forces had opened to that beleaguered city. At least two more Königstigers were lost in those battles. The remainder withdrew with the rest of the division at the beginning of January to refit in the Köln area.

Some Tiger crewmen were rewarded for their efforts in the Ardennes Offensive.  SS-Unterscharführer Fritz Belbe was the radio operator on SS-Obersturmführer Wessel’s 1. Kompanie command tank.  When Wessel’s Tiger 105 crashed into the house in Stavelot and Wessel jumped to a different tank, he apparently took Belbe with him.  After the battle Wessel listed the engagements that Belbe had fought in and recommended him to receive the Panzerkampfabzeichen (Tank Battle Badge) in Silver.  SS-Obersturmbannführer von Westernhagen approved the award on 30 January 1945.

The 501st SS Heavy Tank Battalion did not fight again as a unit.  The bulk of the battalion accompanied the 1. SS-Panzerdivision to Hungary in late January and fought through Hungary and Austria to the end of the war.  Part of the 1. Kompanie and other elements that had remained in Germany drew a few new tanks and continued to fight as the Americans approached Bielefeld.  In early April the surviving crewmen were moved by train to Austria and united with the rest of the battalion.  SS-Obersturmbannführer von Westernhagen had died on 20 March 1945 in Hungary.  The remnants of his battalion surrendered to the Americans in Austria. 

The Tigers had roared their last. 

The 463rd Ordnance Evacuation Company transport the 332.

Christmas Day also saw one of the strangest episodes of s. SS-Pz.Abt. 501’s actions in the Ardennes.  On Christmas morning SS-Unterscharführer Blase in Tiger 332 was moving north along the N33 through the small village of Coo-Biester, about five kilometers south of La Gleize.  He was probably trying to link up with Kampfgruppe Peiper, but how he had reached the area and why he was still moving toward La Gleize on 25 December remain a mystery.

At the same time, elements of the 740th Tank Battalion were moving south along the N33 after the capture of La Gleize.  Sergeant Glenn George in a Sherman encountered 332 parked on the side of the road.  George immediately directed his gunner to fire at the Tiger.  The crew had a white phosphorous shell loaded, and the smoke from this exploding shell apparently caused the German crew to think their vehicle was on fire.  To George’s surprise they opened their hatches and scrambled out of the Tiger.  George chased them off with machinegun fire and continued his advance.

Later a unit of the 463rd Ordnance Evacuation Company recovered the still operational Tiger 332 and transported it to Spa.  It was eventually shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground, one of the first Königstigers captured by the Americans.

Wendt’s immobilised Tiger 133.

On Christmas morning SS-Oberscharführer Wendt received word that the reconnaissance battalion was withdrawing across the Ambleve.  Wendt sent his loader to inform his platoon leader, SS-Oberscharführer Brandt, of the withdrawal. As Brandt climbed down from his tank an American shell, the only one of the morning, fell right in front of him.  Brandt was mortally wounded and Wendt’s loader was killed. Another crew managed to drive Brandt’s Tiger across the Ambleve and link up with the rest of their company.  Wendt and his driver prepared to destroy their immobilized tank 133 with demolition charges in the turret and engine compartment. They set the charges and crossed the river on an improvised infantry bridge.  As they climbed the opposite slope they continued to watch their tank, but Wendt never saw the charges explode.  The explosives may have gone off later, as a U.S. Air Force observer reported in the summer of 1945 seeing a Royal Tiger at the Petit Spai bridge with the rear of the turret and the frontal hull roof smashed in, though he attributed this damage to Allied bombing. SS-Untersturmführer Kalinowsky’s 008, which had been left with engine trouble near Knittel’s command post at the Ferme Antoine between Stavelot and Trois Ponts, continued to fight on until its crew set it on fire and withdrew with the last elements of the reconnaissance battalion Christmas morning.