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On 21 December (and possibly late in the prior day), combat at the crossroads just north of the small town of Joubiéval, Belgium, cost the lives of several 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron men and loss of vehicles. There may have been as many as 30 German armored vehicles in the column that hit these 7AD men and vehicles. This was a strategically crucial crossroads, which is what makes this combat so significant. Had the outcome gone differently, there may have been a radically different history of the Battle of the Bulge. It is going to take a great deal of research to bring together all the bits and pieces of information I have in order to see the big picture and know just what happened. This web page, begun 20 Feb 2023, brings all those pieces together. This very significant combat does not appear in any histories that I have seen with the exception of Gregory Fontenot's map in his "Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge". This is the only history I have found that shows the 30-vehicle German column advancing on Joubiéval. This was an absolutely critical crossroads, which both the Americans and the Germans knew. So, the outcome of the combat there could have radically altered the course of history if the Germans had taken the crossroads. Yet, this crucial combat has never been known much less examined in detail. This web page gathers the fragmentary information about this combat in order to give it long-overdue recognition. I see this effort as a step toward a history of the defense of this road that was the southern front line of the extended St. Vith salient, formed by German units on the south moving much further west than St. Vith as the St. Vith defense held but the adjacent lines did not. I do have separate pages on the two other main crossroads, but I have not examined them all as a whole study of this road. It definitely deserves that examination as a whole. So, I have begun a web page to serve as a big picture gathering of the defense with links to the various web pages on specific combat site. Here is the link to that site: Three men of A/31st Tank Battalion lost on this day have never been accounted. While the A/31 headquarters did move to Joubiéval, probably after the 87 Rcn combat there, I have concluded that all A/31 combat was on the ridge line east of St. Vith, 20 miles east of Joubiéval and thus not at Joubiéval. A separate web page covers the A/31 losses on 21 Dec 1944.
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The map illustrates my initial conjecture. 7th Armored Division Headquarters was at Vielsalm, along the Salm River north of Salmchateau where the main east-west road crossed the river. The road junction just north of Joubiéval was crucial for any movement west out of Vielsalm or east to bring supplies from what originally was the rear up to Vielsalm and further east to the 7AD units on the front lines at and near St. Vith -- about 20 miles east of Joubiéval. On 17 Dec 1944, as 7th Armored 7AD moved from north of Aachen, Germany, 60 miles south to Vielsalm-St. Vith, D Troop of 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, along with D Battery of the 203rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion were near the end of 7AD's column. When German Kampfgruppe (Battle Group) Peiper broke through the column just south of Malmédy, Belgium, and then attacked Stavelot, D/87 and D/203 were cut off and had to detour west and then south and then back east to re-connect with 7AD. D/87 and D/203 both wound up at the crossroads called Baraque de Fraiture. On 21 Dec 1944, D/87 attempted to move east -- probably to re-connect with 7AD Headquarters at Vielsalm -- starting that day from Regné. The Headquarters Company of 87 Recon also moved to Joubiéval with D/87. Meanwhile two reports had come in to 7AD HQ of German forces at and approaching Joubiéval. Both the Germans and the Americans could see the extreme strategic significance of controlling the road junction at Joubiéval. One report said there were two German tanks at Joubiéval, and the other said that a force of 30 German vehicles was heading for Joubiéval. (At this point in the research, I do not know the timing of these two reports.) Also, while the combat elements of Company A of 31st Tank Battalion suffered major casualties this day east of St. Vith (20 miles to the east), the A/31 headquarters moved to Joubiéval (again unsure of the timing). Thus, the map shows three arrows all converging on Joubiéval. At least 9 7AD men in D/87, HQ Co/87 and A/31 were killed 21 Dec 1944. I have done enough of the research to conclude that all of the A/31 deaths were on the ridgeline east of St. Vith, but the other deaths were at Joubiéval. The combat led to the D/87 survivors apparently turning around and going back west to defend the Baraque de Fraiture crossroads that the Germans did overrun two days later. A major issue to be figured out is the timeline of just which US and German units were where and when. The map shows everything as if it was all in the same time. But at this point, this is really unclear. Everything on the map is valid for some point in time and was mentioned in a document. But the timing is uncertain. This is my initial conjecture, now updated with some research. As I learn more, I will alter my conjecture as new information indicates it is needed. There is a LOT of work left to do.
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For now, I am just doing a rapid gathering of the fragments of information. Formatting and analyzing will come later.
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Active overview of all pages at the 7th Armored Division web site
