Das Reich withdraws from Manhay

Setting off just after last light, the Das Reich columns got to within a few metres of the American positions to the southwest of Manhay, and then the Panthers opened fire. Within minutes, 17 Shermans were ablaze and the outlying defences of Manhay were breached. The American defenders of Manhay now realized the danger they were in and a retreat was ordered. Hundreds of Americans were streaming north out of the town, at the same time as the remainder of Das Reich's Panthers appeared from the south. Their appearance completed the American rout, and the equivalent of a brigade of troops was now in full flight.

The following day more American tanks arrived to seal the front around Das Reich, backed by 18 battalions of artillery. Ordered to press on westwards, Lammerding's men soon hit a rock-solid defence. Other American tank columns began to press in against its flanks, and two days later Das Reich had to give up Manhay or face complete encirclement.

Three Waffen-SS divisions were now in the line, next to each other, along the northern edge of the German salient or bulge in the US front. By 26 December, the Hitlerjugend Division had managed to battle its way through the grid-locked road systems, and it was positioned on Das Reich's western flank, ready to kick-start the stalled Sixth Panzer Army offensive. Most of the division's panzers and artillery were still stuck in jams many kilometres to the east, so the main responsibility for the attack fell on the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment - helped by Das Reich's Kampfgruppe Krag - by accident rather than design.

Battle for Sadzot

Starting out early in the evening, the heavily loaded panzergrenadiers had to march through deep snow. It took them five hours to close on their objectives. One battalion stormed into the village of Sadzot, completely surprising its American defenders there, many of whom were trying to keep warm in farmhouses rather than stand outside on sentry duty. The panzergrenadiers soon cleared the village and took many of the defenders prisoner. Surprise was not complete, though, and the Americans managed to get off a radio message calling for help before their command post was overrun. Another panzergrenadier unit pushed on past Sadzot and moved towards Erezee.

Kampfgruppe Krag had tried to advance along the main road to Erezee, via the village of Amonines. It ran into a strong road-block and lost a number of armoured vehicles in the dark, so its commander decided that it should turn back.

The Americans now launched their reserve battalion to retake the lost village. They were backed by several M5 Stuart tanks, and for several hours the US paratroopers and Waffen-SS men fought it out in the streets and houses of Sadzot. By dawn 40 dead Germans were left in the village and the panzergrenadier battalion had pulled back to the woods on its outskirts.

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