Battle of the Bulge Kaiserbaracke

Recht (Sankt-Vith)
Luxembourg, Belgium

This is the location where the spearhead of “Kampfgruppe Hansen” stopped on Dec. 17, 1944, to determine which direction to take. Kampfgruppe Hansen, Rollbahn D, consisted of 3 battalions of the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. This location is now a traffic circle near an industrial park. De Kamfpgruppe was 1 of the 4 Kamfgruppen that started het Ardennenoffensief. The other 3 were Kamfgruppe Peiper, Sandig and Knittels, named after the commander of the attack group. Kampgruppe Knittel, Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel, Rollbahn A tijdens het offensief. Kampfgruppe Peiper; SS-Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper, taxiway B tijdens het offensief. Kampfgruppe Sandig, SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Sandig, taxiway C tijdens het offensief. Combat group Hansen; SS-Obersturmbannfühere Max Hansen, taxiway D and E tijdens het offensief. Objective what to reach the river Meuse, and from there to the Ports of Antwerp. Rollbahn D, eventually split into D and E and had as its terminus Hoei and Ombret-Rausa, both located on the Meuse River.

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Text by: Ed Lewandowski

Photo(s): Ed Lewandowski (1,3,4), U.S. National Archives / Public domain (2)