Advance at Ligneuville and Kaiserbaracke through thin American lines

Paras of 3.Fallschirmjäger-Division

Schnelle Gruppe Knittel

Left image: Oberjäger Sepp Reiner of the Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 9 offering a cigarette to an SS-Kradschütze outside the town of Ligneuville on December 17 1944 while elements under Schnelle Gruppe Knittel were making their way to Stavelot to link up with SS-Kampgruppe Peiper. The tank is Königstiger n°222 of s.SS-Panzerabteilung 501 commanded by SS-Oscharf. Kurt Sowa. The day before the FJR9 had lost 37 men at Lanzerath Ridge were they had captured 14 Americans of the U.S. 394th Regiment. They had been taken from their foxholes and brought down to Lanzerath to be treated by medics. Only one U.S. soldier was killed, Staff Sergeant Billy Queen was shot dead after he opened fire with a heavy machine gun on the Paras killing, among others, several medics with red cross insignias on them. The 14 POWs all survived the war. The American platoon was led by Lieutenant Lyle Bouck who reported that his platoon had killed several hundred German Paras at Lanzerath. In 1966, Bouck contacted his former division commander MG Walter E. Lauer to get proper recognition. He was then nominated for a Silver Star. Also seen in the picture is OGefr. Hof, Lt. Riedl, ObJg. Olten, Ogefr, Rosenkrantz and OGefr. Kirchhof. Credit: Mateusz Pietruszkiewicz. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: SS-Ostuf. Heinz Goltz of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel at the Kaiserbaracke Crossroads between St. Vith and Malmedy on December 18 1944. Knittel operated near Stavelot behind KG Peiper. Peiper got closest to the Meuse/Maas but got encircled in La Gleize. SS-Kampfgruppe Hansen made an attempt to break the encirclement but failed. The other Kampfgruppen tried to free the supply route which had also been cut by Allied Forces. Goltz was accused after the war of having given the order to shoot Belgian civilians for sheltering U.S. troops in the vicinity of Stavelot on December 19-20 1944. A trial held in Liège in Belgium ended on July 31 1948 with the conviction of Goltz. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment but served less. Photo SS-KB Max Büschel. U.S. NARA.