Losheim Gap
Encyclopedia
The Losheim Gap is a 5 miles (8 km) long, narrow valley at the western foot of the Schnee Eifel
, on the border of Belgium and Germany. Most accounts of World War II
describing the Battle of the Bulge
focus on the attack by the Germans around Battle of Bastogne
and the Battle of St. Vith
, while the Germans' primary ambitions were actually anchored in taking the Losheim Gap. In this region of the border between Belgium and Germany, it is the only region conducive to military movement.
’s division sped through the Losheim Gap to gain the Meuse River and then push onto the English Channel. Hitler held similar hopes for 1944.
During the Battle of the Bulge, some of the best German units, including the 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division
and Sixth Panzer Army planned to assault northwest over the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and along the railroad tracks through the Losheim Gap in force. towards the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt
but were held up by the broken railroad overpasses.
Led by the 1st SS Panzer division, they planned to attack the 2nd and the 99th Infantry Division with the goal of capturing Losheimergraben and gaining access to the vital road network to its north and west that would allow them to capture the important port of Antwerp. Mostly untried U.S. troops succeeded in severely limiting the German's advance, halting them at Elsenborn Ridge
for most of the first day of the battle.
Lanzerath, a village of about 15 homes, lay about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the east of Losheim. The area was on the border between U.S. VIII Corps to the south and U.S. V Corps was the responsibility of a single Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of 18 men and Task Force X, a tank destroyer platoon of 55 men. In a calculated risk, the Allies had only a few men stretched very thinly across a wide area. The German forces were located on the eastern edge of the Losheim Gap in Losheim and further east. The Siegfried Line
between them divided the Losheim Gap.
During their earlier retreat, the Germans had destroyed two key railroad overpasses which they planned to repair on the first day of the counterattack. The 5th Panzer Army was given the task of capturing St. Vith and the vital road and rail network it controlled.
Dietrich's plan was for the 6th SS Panzer Army to advance east through Lanzerath and Bucholz Station and then drive 72 miles (115.9 km) through Honsfield and Büllingen. The infantry would continue north through Losheimergraben to push the 2nd and 99th Divisions out of the way. This would allow the 12th SS Panzer Division
to advance eastward towards a group of villages named Trois-Ponts
, connect to Belgian Route Nationale N-23, and cross the River Meuse. It was then another 53 miles (85.3 km) to Antwerp.
On December 17, German engineers repaired one of the road bridges over the railroad along the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and the 12th Division German armor began advancing towards the key road junction at Losheimergraben.
The Losheim Gap was also the origin of another key route from Germany into Belgium. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division
under the command of Generalmajor Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn
patrolled the Schnee Eifel
area. On December 16 at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam
road route following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. The 5th Panzer Army planned to bypass St. Vith to the north.
On the German side of the Siegfried Line
, the Germans positioned their troops and armor around and to the east of the village of Losheim. On December 16, 1944, at 5:30 a.m., the Germans launched a 90-minute artillery barrage using 1,600 artillery pieces across an 80 miles (128.7 km) front.
The infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division
led the way through the Losheim Gap, tasked with clearing American resistance along the main line of advance
. To spare the armor, they operated in advance of Kampfgruppe SS
Standartenführer
Joachim Peiper
's 1st SS Panzer Division
, the spearhead of SS
Oberstgruppenführer
Sepp Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army. The infantry would then secure the right flank of the attack route near Losheimergraben
.
The 12th Volksgrenadier Division reached Losheimgraben at 7:00 a.m. East of Losheim, Kampfgruppe Peiper expected to reach Losheimgraben by 8:00 a.m., but the tanks were held up for most of the morning of December 16 on the Blankenheim-Schnied road which was congested with horse-drawn artillery, infantrymen, and numerous other vehicles. Peiper himself tried to sort out the mess at one crossroads. For unknown reasons German engineers did not begin repairing the first of the railroad overpasses on the Losheim-Losheimergraben road until nearly noon, and the second was not repaired until December 17.
When Peiper got word that the overpass would not be repaired in time for his advance, he chose to move west through Lanzerath. He was frustrated and angry that the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment had yet to report that the road was clear. The 500 troops of the 1st Battalion, 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division were held up for most of the day by 18 men of the 394th Intelligence and Reconnaissance Squads
of the 99th Infantry Division at Lanzerath Ridge. At 6:00 pm, Peiper finally learned that the village had been secured. His column of 117 tanks, 149 half-tracks, 18 105mm guns and 6 150mm guns, totaling 600 vehicles, finally moved forward. He was further held up when his tanks struck two of their own minefields, slowing progress while the engineers cleared the fields ahead of mines.
Piper finally arrived in Lanzerath near midnight only to find the infantry bedding down for the night. Every officer he spoke to said the woods were full of Americans and tanks. He furiously interrogated the infantry officers to learn if any patrols into the woods had been conducted and learned that no one had personally reconnoitered the area. Disgusted, Peiper demanded that Oberst Helmut von Hoffman, commander of the 9th Parachute Regiment, give him a battalion of paratroops to accompany his tanks. At 4:30 a.m. on December 17, more than 16 hours behind schedule, the 1st SS Panzer Division rolled out of Lanzerath with a battalion of paratroopers preceding them and headed east for Bucholz Station.
. Kampfgruppe
Peiper a few days later gained notoriety for their murder of U.S. prisoners of war in what became known as the Malmedy massacre
.
reinforced by additional Panzergrenadier and Volksgenadier divisions. On December 17, German engineers repaired one of the road bridges over the railroad along the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and the 12th Division German armor began advancing towards the key road junction at Losheimergraben and the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt
. However, in more than ten days of intense battle, they were unable to dislodge the Americans from Elsenborn Ridge
, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.
The German advance never recovered from its initial delay, and the Sixth Panzer Army only got as far as La Grieze before its advance stalled out, advancing less than half-way to the River Meuse. The remaining soldiers were left to find their own way back to the east.
Schnee Eifel
The Schnee Eifel is a heavily wooded landscape in Germany's Central Uplands that forms part of the western Eifel in the area of the German-Belgian border...
, on the border of Belgium and Germany. Most accounts of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
describing the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
focus on the attack by the Germans around Battle of Bastogne
Battle of Bastogne
The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power...
and the Battle of St. Vith
Battle of St. Vith
The Battle of St. Vith was part of the Battle of the Bulge which began on December 16, 1944, and represented the right flank in the advance of the German center, 5th Panzer-Armee toward the ultimate objective of Antwerp.The town of St...
, while the Germans' primary ambitions were actually anchored in taking the Losheim Gap. In this region of the border between Belgium and Germany, it is the only region conducive to military movement.
Strategic importance
During 1940 when the Germans invaded Belgium and then France, Field Marshal Erwin RommelErwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
’s division sped through the Losheim Gap to gain the Meuse River and then push onto the English Channel. Hitler held similar hopes for 1944.
During the Battle of the Bulge, some of the best German units, including the 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division
3rd Parachute Division (Germany)
The 3rd Parachute Division was a German military unit that was active during World War II. Its formation began in October 1943 in France near Reims. From February 1944 near Brest...
and Sixth Panzer Army planned to assault northwest over the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and along the railroad tracks through the Losheim Gap in force. towards the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt
Büllingen
Büllingen is a largely German language-speaking municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Büllingen had a total population of 5,385. The total area is 150.49 km² which gives a population density of 36 inhabitants per km²....
but were held up by the broken railroad overpasses.
Led by the 1st SS Panzer division, they planned to attack the 2nd and the 99th Infantry Division with the goal of capturing Losheimergraben and gaining access to the vital road network to its north and west that would allow them to capture the important port of Antwerp. Mostly untried U.S. troops succeeded in severely limiting the German's advance, halting them at Elsenborn Ridge
Elsenborn Ridge
The Elsenborn Ridge is a ridge line east of the town of Elsenborn, Belgium in the Ardennes forest that was the blocking line on the northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge. Their area was the main line of advance for Hitler's prized 12th SS Hitlerjugend. Units of V Corps of the First U.S...
for most of the first day of the battle.
Lanzerath, a village of about 15 homes, lay about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the east of Losheim. The area was on the border between U.S. VIII Corps to the south and U.S. V Corps was the responsibility of a single Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of 18 men and Task Force X, a tank destroyer platoon of 55 men. In a calculated risk, the Allies had only a few men stretched very thinly across a wide area. The German forces were located on the eastern edge of the Losheim Gap in Losheim and further east. The Siegfried Line
Siegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
between them divided the Losheim Gap.
During their earlier retreat, the Germans had destroyed two key railroad overpasses which they planned to repair on the first day of the counterattack. The 5th Panzer Army was given the task of capturing St. Vith and the vital road and rail network it controlled.
Dietrich's plan was for the 6th SS Panzer Army to advance east through Lanzerath and Bucholz Station and then drive 72 miles (115.9 km) through Honsfield and Büllingen. The infantry would continue north through Losheimergraben to push the 2nd and 99th Divisions out of the way. This would allow the 12th SS Panzer Division
12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend
The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was a German Waffen SS armoured division during World War II. The Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were generally veterans of the Eastern...
to advance eastward towards a group of villages named Trois-Ponts
Trois-Ponts
Trois-Ponts is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Trois-Ponts had a total population of 2,445. The total area is 68.90 km² which gives a population density of 35 inhabitants per km². It is situated at the confluence of the...
, connect to Belgian Route Nationale N-23, and cross the River Meuse. It was then another 53 miles (85.3 km) to Antwerp.
On December 17, German engineers repaired one of the road bridges over the railroad along the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and the 12th Division German armor began advancing towards the key road junction at Losheimergraben.
The Losheim Gap was also the origin of another key route from Germany into Belgium. The 18th Volksgrenadier Division
18th Volksgrenadier Division (Germany)
The 18th Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945....
under the command of Generalmajor Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn
Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn
Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn was an Officer in the German Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II...
patrolled the Schnee Eifel
Schnee Eifel
The Schnee Eifel is a heavily wooded landscape in Germany's Central Uplands that forms part of the western Eifel in the area of the German-Belgian border...
area. On December 16 at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam
Macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
road route following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. The 5th Panzer Army planned to bypass St. Vith to the north.
Advance delayed
Siegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
, the Germans positioned their troops and armor around and to the east of the village of Losheim. On December 16, 1944, at 5:30 a.m., the Germans launched a 90-minute artillery barrage using 1,600 artillery pieces across an 80 miles (128.7 km) front.
The infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division
3rd Parachute Division (Germany)
The 3rd Parachute Division was a German military unit that was active during World War II. Its formation began in October 1943 in France near Reims. From February 1944 near Brest...
led the way through the Losheim Gap, tasked with clearing American resistance along the main line of advance
Main Line of Resistance
Main Line of Resistance, or MLR is a military term describing the most important defensive position of an army facing an opposing force over an extended front...
. To spare the armor, they operated in advance of Kampfgruppe SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Joachim Peiper
Joachim Peiper
Joachim Peiper , more often known as Jochen Peiper, was a field officer in the Waffen-SS during World War II, convicted of war crimes in Belgium and accused of war crimes in Italy. He was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's personal adjutant . In 1945, he was an SS-Standartenführer, the Waffen-SS's...
's 1st SS Panzer Division
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...
, the spearhead of SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
Oberstgruppenführer
Oberstgruppenführer
Oberst-Gruppenführer was the highest commissioned SS rank with the exception of Reichsführer-SS, which was a special rank held by Heinrich Himmler...
Sepp Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army. The infantry would then secure the right flank of the attack route near Losheimergraben
Büllingen
Büllingen is a largely German language-speaking municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Büllingen had a total population of 5,385. The total area is 150.49 km² which gives a population density of 36 inhabitants per km²....
.
The 12th Volksgrenadier Division reached Losheimgraben at 7:00 a.m. East of Losheim, Kampfgruppe Peiper expected to reach Losheimgraben by 8:00 a.m., but the tanks were held up for most of the morning of December 16 on the Blankenheim-Schnied road which was congested with horse-drawn artillery, infantrymen, and numerous other vehicles. Peiper himself tried to sort out the mess at one crossroads. For unknown reasons German engineers did not begin repairing the first of the railroad overpasses on the Losheim-Losheimergraben road until nearly noon, and the second was not repaired until December 17.
When Peiper got word that the overpass would not be repaired in time for his advance, he chose to move west through Lanzerath. He was frustrated and angry that the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment had yet to report that the road was clear. The 500 troops of the 1st Battalion, 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division were held up for most of the day by 18 men of the 394th Intelligence and Reconnaissance Squads
ISTAR
ISTAR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.Information is collected on...
of the 99th Infantry Division at Lanzerath Ridge. At 6:00 pm, Peiper finally learned that the village had been secured. His column of 117 tanks, 149 half-tracks, 18 105mm guns and 6 150mm guns, totaling 600 vehicles, finally moved forward. He was further held up when his tanks struck two of their own minefields, slowing progress while the engineers cleared the fields ahead of mines.
Piper finally arrived in Lanzerath near midnight only to find the infantry bedding down for the night. Every officer he spoke to said the woods were full of Americans and tanks. He furiously interrogated the infantry officers to learn if any patrols into the woods had been conducted and learned that no one had personally reconnoitered the area. Disgusted, Peiper demanded that Oberst Helmut von Hoffman, commander of the 9th Parachute Regiment, give him a battalion of paratroops to accompany his tanks. At 4:30 a.m. on December 17, more than 16 hours behind schedule, the 1st SS Panzer Division rolled out of Lanzerath with a battalion of paratroopers preceding them and headed east for Bucholz Station.
Advance towards Hünningen
At Bucholz Station, the 3rd Battalion of the U.S. 394th Infantry Regiment was surprised and quickly captured, except for a headquarters company radio operator. Hidden in a cellar, he called in reports to division headquarters until he was finally captured. Driving east, the Germans entered Honsfield, where they encountered one of the 99th Division's rest centers, clogged with confused American troops. They killed many and destroyed a number of American armored units and vehicles. Peiper easily captured the town and 50000 gal of fuel for his vehicles. He then advanced towards Büllingen, keeping to the plan to move east, apparently unaware he had nearly taken the town and unknowingly bypassing an opportunity to flank and trap the entire 2nd and 99th Division. Peiper suddenly turned south to detour around Hünningen, interested only in getting back onto his assigned RollbahnRollbahn
A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane road, for example, in the Second World War it described key routes designated by the German Wehrmacht, for example, the route Moscow-Minsk-Brest A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane...
. Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
Peiper a few days later gained notoriety for their murder of U.S. prisoners of war in what became known as the Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
The Malmedy massacre was a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors during World War II. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper , a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge.The massacre, as well as...
.
Losheimergraben attack
The task of defeating the 99th Division was the objective of 12th SS Panzer Division12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend
The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was a German Waffen SS armoured division during World War II. The Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were generally veterans of the Eastern...
reinforced by additional Panzergrenadier and Volksgenadier divisions. On December 17, German engineers repaired one of the road bridges over the railroad along the Losheim-Losheimergraben road and the 12th Division German armor began advancing towards the key road junction at Losheimergraben and the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt
Büllingen
Büllingen is a largely German language-speaking municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Büllingen had a total population of 5,385. The total area is 150.49 km² which gives a population density of 36 inhabitants per km²....
. However, in more than ten days of intense battle, they were unable to dislodge the Americans from Elsenborn Ridge
Elsenborn Ridge
The Elsenborn Ridge is a ridge line east of the town of Elsenborn, Belgium in the Ardennes forest that was the blocking line on the northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge. Their area was the main line of advance for Hitler's prized 12th SS Hitlerjugend. Units of V Corps of the First U.S...
, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.
The German advance never recovered from its initial delay, and the Sixth Panzer Army only got as far as La Grieze before its advance stalled out, advancing less than half-way to the River Meuse. The remaining soldiers were left to find their own way back to the east.