7.Armee
The Army was created August 25, 1939, and in 1940 took part in the Battle of France. It remained as army of occupation in Brittany and Normandy and in June 1944 found itself facing the allied invasion. It subsequently withdrew to Germany and took responsibility for defending part of the West Wall. General Erich Brandenberger assumed command on September 3, 1944.
LXXXV. Armeekorps
Created as Generalkommando Kneiss in October 1943 in southern France, it was attached to 19. Armee until December 2, 1944, when it became LXXXV. Armeekorps and transferrred to 7. Armee. Its commander was General der Infanterie Baptist Kniess.
5.Fallschirmjäger-Division
This paratrooper formation was created in March 1944 but it was virtually destroyed in the Falaise Pocket, and, when re-formed in the Netherlands from ex-Luftwaffe ground personnel, it was but a shadow of its former self. The replacements-officers and men- were poorly trained for their role as infantry, and there was a lack of cohesion to the extent that during the offensive individual units quite often went completely their own way regardless!
Responsibility for this poor state of affairs fell to the lot of its commander, Generalmajor Ludwig Heilmann, a Fallschirmjäger veteran of Crete and Russia who had won fame at the head of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 in Sicily and Italy and been awarded the Swords to the Knight’s Cross at Monte Cassino. The division moved into the Bitburg area at the begining of December and was not badly off for assault guns as it was given the support of Fsch.Stu.Gesch.Brig. 11, under the command of Oberstleutnant Hollander, though inevitably below strength, at twenty, according to Oberst i. G. Rudolf von Gersdorff, the army chief-of-staff.
352. Volks-Grenadier-Division
The original 352. Infanterie-Division had been destroyed in Normandy during the summer, and 352. Volks-Grenadier-Division came into being on September 21 by changing the number of the 581. Volks-Grenadier-Division then assembling on the border with Denmark at Flensburg. Its replacements came mainly came from the Kriesgmarine who therefore possessed little of no fighting experience of ground fighting after a period of training which lasted to mid-November, the division was moved to the Bitburg area to complete its organization, and by the end of the month had taken over a section of the West Wall between Viaden and Echternach. The division’s commander, Oberst Erich Schmidt, considered it to be more than in good shape for a volks-grenadier division, as it was almost at full strength and displayed a good fighting spirit. Its Stu.Gesch.Kp. 1352, formed at Milowitz, was said by Schmidt to have possessed no more than about half a dozen Jagdpanzer 38(t) at the start of the offensive.
LXXX. Armeekorps
This corps was created in western France from the Höh.Kdo.z.b.V. XXXI and had its headquarters at Poitiers. It had been attached to 1. Armee unit October 1944 when it was transferred to 7. Armee. The corps commander was General der Infanterie Franz Beyer.
276. Volks-Grenadier-Division
Following the almost complete destruction of the 276. Infanterie-Division in Normandy, a new 276. Volks-Grenadier-Division had came into being in Poland when the number of the 580. Volks-Grenadier-Division was changed in September 4. Rebuilt around wounded veterans not long out of the hospital, the division was in poor shape, deficient in leadership and poorly motivated. It was moved west from Poland on November 15 and completed it organization in the area between Bitburg and Echternach, although to mislead both local population and Allied intelligence companies exchanged billets frequently. It moved up to the starting line between 352 VGD and 212 VGD during the two nights preceding the attack yet none of the StuGs supposedly allotted its Stu.Gesch.Kp. 1276 at Milowitz.
212. Volks-Grenadier-Division
after three years on the Eastern Front the 212. Infanterie-Division had been badly shattered in the Autumn of 1944 during the withdrawal on the Lithuanian sector and its remnants brought back to Schieratz in Poland for refitting. They were incorporated into the 587.Volks-Grenadier-Division assembling there, and the new division was renamed 212.Volks-Grenadier-Division on September 17. Contrary to what happened with 276. VGD, the outcome was not to prove a disappointment. At almost full strength in manpower and well-proven commanders, Brandenburger regarded it as his best division. It had left Poland at the begining of November and taken part of the West Wall south of Echternach. When moved north to reach its start line on the eve of the attack only five StuGs had arrived from Mielau with its Stu.Gesch.Kp.1212.
LIII.Armeekorps
The LIII. Armeekorps was frmed at Danzig on November 11, 1944 from Generalkommando von Rothkirch which had previously controlled the area on the Eastern Front. It then moved west and was given responsibility for the southern wing of 7.Armee. The corps commander was General der Kavallerie Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rothkirch. The forces under LIII. Armeekorps command had the job of anchroing the left wing of 7. Armee along the rugged ‘moat’ of the Sauer and Moselle rovers, and consisted of a motely collection of low-grade units: a punishment battalion, Fest.Inf.Btl.XIII/999; a machine gun battalion of fortress troops, Fest.M.G. Btl.44; and, well to the rear, and army school near Trier.
Engineers
Despite the fact that 7. Armee faced two wide rivers-the Our and the Saur -along the whole of its front, it was not provided the necessary additional engineer units. On December 12 Brandenberger complained to Jodl about this ‘catastrophic situation’ but his army was given no more and had to make due with the following:
a) three engineer battalions-
two battalions of Pi.Brig.(mot.) 47, and Baupionier-Btl.677;
b) one bridge building battalion-
Pi.Brük.Btl.605;
c) four bridge columns equipped with Brückengerät B-
Brücko 964, Brücko 965, Brücko 966 and Brücko 961;
d) one bridging columns equipped with with Brückengerät J-
Brücko 974.
Also assigned to the army were two regiments of OT-Brigade 1.
Assault Units
The 7.Armee was alloted a battalion armed with static anti-tank guns, namely s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 501 (fest), and two battalions of towed anti-tank guns, Pz.Jg.Abt. (mot.Z.) 657 and Pz.Jg.Abt. (mot.Z.) 668.
Artillery
Augmenting the artillery strength of its four divisions, 7. Armee was allotted:
a) two volks-artillerie corps-
Volks-Art.Korps.406 and Volks-Art.Korps 408;
b) two volks-werfer-brigades-
Volks-Werf.Brig. 8 and Volks-Werf.Brig. 18;
c)five heavy batteries
H.Art.Bttr.1092, H.Art.Bttr. 1093, H.Art.Bttr. 1124, H.Art.Bttr. 1125 and
H.Art.Bttr.660;
d)one heavy mortar battery-
Mörs.Battr.1122.
This gave the 7. Armee a total of 381 guns (just 76 of them 150mm or over) and 248 rocket launchers. Of these, 140 were 150mm, 54 were 210mm and 54 were 30mm.