Place Chronology
Cheneux
Commune of Stoumont, Liège province, Belgium
Cheneux is a small hamlet on a plateau above the Amblève River, two and a half kilometres southwest of La Gleize. In December 1944 it held the only bridge over the Amblève still strong enough for tanks, making it the critical link in Kampfgruppe Peiper’s supply line and, when that line was cut at Stavelot, his last potential escape route for armour.
The battle for Cheneux, 20–21 December, was one of the most brutal small-unit actions of the Ardennes campaign. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked across open, wire-strewn fields into devastating 20mm flak fire, fighting through the night with grenades and jump knives in hand-to-hand combat against SS panzergrenadiers and Luftwaffe flak crews. The regiment suffered 225 casualties; Companies B and C of the 1st Battalion were virtually destroyed.
The capture of Cheneux sealed Kampfgruppe Peiper’s encirclement at La Gleize. Without the bridge, neither fuel nor reinforcements could reach Peiper. Three days later, he abandoned all his armour and walked out with 800 survivors on Christmas Eve.
Cheneux, commune of Stoumont, Liège province, Belgium. The Amblève bridge lies to the northeast; La Gleize is 2.5 km northeast; Rahier (504th PIR CP) 1.5 km southwest.
18 December 1944
KG Peiper Spitze1. Pz.Kp., SS-Ustuf. Hennecke
18 Dec
c. 13:00
Peiper’s column arrives
Lead element under SS-Untersturmführer Hennecke crosses the intact Amblève bridge at Cheneux. Hennecke’s Panther fires on five civilians near the bridge, killing two and wounding two. The column pushes west toward Stoumont and the Meuse.
Civilian dead: sources conflict on identities. Bergström: “Mrs. Alphonse Gillet” + 1 unnamed. Castor: “Maria Hulot and Léa Goffinet.”
386th Fighter Sqn365th Fighter Group, USAAF
18 Dec
13:30–16:00
P-47 Thunderbolt air attack
Multiple waves of P-47s strafe the German column for 2–3 hours. Panther No. 131 destroyed, several halftracks and a dozen vehicles knocked out. A bomb hits the Dumont house; owners Jules Dumont and Maria Goffinet killed in the cellar. The air attack buys critical time.
KG PeiperFlak-Abt. 84, III./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 2
18 Dec
16:30
Garrison established
After the Neufmoulin bridge is destroyed further west, Peiper recognises entrapment. He orders the main body back to La Gleize but leaves a strong detachment at Cheneux to hold the bridge: Flak-Sturm-Abteilung 84 (Maj. von Sacken), elements of III./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2, and supporting weapons. The bridge is now the lifeline.
19 December 1944
SS-Hstuf. Leopold7. Kp., from La Gleize
11. (gep.) Kp.SS-Oscha. Rudi Rayer
19 Dec
evening
German garrison reinforced
Peiper orders Leopold’s 7th Company from La Gleize to take position west of Cheneux. 11. Kompanie under SS-Oberscharführer Rayer, remnants from Stoumont Station, also arrives, “in a foul mood,” vandalising houses and assaulting villagers. Garrison now includes 20mm flak wagons, MG-42s, a Puma armoured car, and halftracks mounting 105mm howitzers. Barbed-wire fences strung every 20–50 yards across the western approaches.
Émile Dupont orders civilians to evacuate to the school, then the church. Jean Prince hides in the attic rather than comply.
20 December: Daylight Assault
82nd Airborne HQMaj. Gen. Gavin
504th PIRCol. Reuben H. Tucker
20 Dec
07:00
Gavin orders the attack
Gavin visits Tucker at the Rahier CP. Civilians report ~125 German vehicles including ~30 tanks near Cheneux. Gavin orders Tucker to move into Cheneux without delay and seize the bridge. 1st Battalion (Maj. Willard Harrison) receives the mission; Companies B (Capt. Helgeson) and C (Capt. Milloy) will lead.
1st Bn, 504th PIRMaj. Harrison; Co. B & C
20 Dec
14:00
Daylight attack across the fields
1st Battalion attacks across 400–500 m of open pasture laced with perpendicular barbed-wire fences. Devastating crossfire from 20mm flak guns and MG-42s. Company B pinned down 500 yards from the village. PFC Snow, Pvt Kelly, and Pvt Holliday advance a captured halftrack with a 77mm gun, engaging German positions. Kelly hit by 20mm fire; Snow takes over as gunner.
Company B, 504thCapt. Helgeson
20 Dec
17:00
First withdrawal
Company B forced to withdraw to the woods after suffering 60+ casualties. Devastating cross fire makes the open ground impassable in daylight. Harrison contacts Tucker. Tucker orders a night attack.
20 December: Night Attack
Companies B & C, 504th+ 2× M36 Jacksons (703rd TD Bn)
20 Dec
19:30
Night assault begins
Planned 10-minute artillery barrage fails to materialise. Two M36 tank destroyers rev their engines before the attack, alerting the garrison. Companies B and C attack abreast across the same wire-strewn fields in darkness. Grazing fire from 20mm flaks and machine guns tears into the advancing paratroopers. Men caught on wire fences are shot down.
S/Sgt “Knobby” WalshCompany B, 504th PIR
20 Dec
c. 20:30
“Come on, let’s get ’em men!”
S/Sgt William P. “Knobby” Walsh stands up in the kill zone and yells. His entire platoon follows, shouting. The infantry breaks through the initial German positions. A private from Company C slips onto a 20mm flak gun and kills the gunner with a knife from behind. Hand-to-hand fighting with grenades and jump knives erupts across the village edge.
Company C, 504thCapt. Milloy
Flak-Abt. 84Maj. von Sacken
20 Dec
c. 22:00
Main line overrun; savage hand-to-hand
Company C overruns the German main line of resistance. Approximately 20 SS grenadiers killed in hand-to-hand combat. Lt Kemble (MG platoon) carries a machine gun forward 50 yards to lay covering fire; mortally wounded. Lt Yepsen also killed. PFC Raymond Levy charges a flak wagon, firing; hit by a machine-gun burst, his body catches fire from a white phosphorus grenade. Co. C: ~70 casualties
703rd TD Bn2× M36 Jacksons
20 Dec
23:00
Puma knocked out; Tucker on the radio
Harrison orders the M36s forward with a direct order: “If these men don’t get into the battle, shoot them!” Two rounds knock out the German Puma armoured car. Light MG platoon committed; 20mm fire “methodically killed” the crews of five of eight guns. Tucker on the radio: “Opposition at Cheneux fini except one flak wagon.” Forty-five minutes later: five flak wagons still firing.
1st Bn, 504th~90 men holding
21 Dec
01:50
“HAVE TOWN (CHENEUX)”
Tucker radios: “HAVE TOWN (CHENEUX).” But the 1st Battalion has only tenuous control with c. 90 men. Stretchers brought forward for the wounded. Mme Cornélie Boutet, hiding in a henhouse, is deafened by machine-gun fire. Civilians shelter in the church as four farms blaze through the windows.
21 December: House to House
SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 2PzKpfw IVs, Morschheck road
21 Dec
06:30
German counterattack at dawn
Two panzergrenadier battalions with eight PzKpfw IVs attack along the Morschheck road. They penetrate Company E’s positions and enter the manor grounds. SS-Hauptsturmführer Leopold killed. SS unit commander Schnelle wounded. 1st Battalion repulses the attack; PFC Raymond Holsti (G Company) concentrates machine-gun fire on German vehicles until a bazooka team knocks out the flak wagon. DSC
3rd Bn, 504th PIRMaj. Julian Cook
Lt Jim MegellasH Company, 3rd Bn
21 Dec
morning
Cook’s flanking attack via Monceau
Tucker and Lt Col Cook lead the 3rd Battalion on a wide flanking march east of Cheneux through Monceau. Rough terrain, German outposts. Lt Megellas observes eight Germans digging in near the bridge; fires on order, all eight fall. A 20mm flak wagon opens fire; the group sprints 75 yards under fire. Pvt Donald Herndon hit in the leg; Megellas carries him to safety. Silver Star
1st & 3rd Bn, 504thConverging attack
21 Dec
c. 17:00
Cheneux secured
3rd Battalion attacks from the north while 1st Battalion pushes from the west. House-to-house fighting with grenades and knives as ammunition runs low. By 17:00, the village is firmly in American control. The bridge is secured. German defenders withdraw toward La Gleize. Equipment left behind: 14 flak guns, 5 × 105mm guns, 2 × 75mm AT guns, 6 halftracks, 4 trucks.
KG PeiperChâteau Froid-Cour conference
21 Dec
midday
Peiper concedes
At Château Froid-Cour, Peiper assembles Poetschke, Diefenthal, and von Westernhagen. Conclusion: holding Stoumont and Cheneux is senseless. Fuel and ammunition exhausted. Orders pullback to La Gleize. The encirclement is complete.
22 December: Aftermath
2nd Bn, 504th PIRMaj. Wellems
22 Dec
Relief in place
2nd Battalion relieves the shattered 1st and 3rd Battalions. Capt. Campana (S-3, 2nd Bn) surveys the aftermath: the main road and fields strewn with German dead and equipment; disabled self-propelled guns and tanks visible. Company B, 1st Battalion has been reduced to 18 men with no officers. Company C: 38 men and 3 officers.
225
504th PIR Casualties
23
Killed in Action
31
German Prisoners
4
Civilians Killed