December 19-Stavelot
Keeping hold of Stavelot, the 1st Battalion of the 117th Regiment, well supported by artillery and tank-destroyers, barred all progress across the Amblève there. With I.SS-Panzerkoprs’ decision to back Kampfgruppe Peiper, control of the town was of the utmost importance to the Germans, and on the afternoon of December 19 Stavelot was subjected to another attack, both from units doubling back from Le Gleize and those seeking to get through from the far side of the river.
At midday SS-Sturmbannführer Knittel had arrived at Troi-ponts from Le Gleize with his detachment organized with two groups: one, led by SS-Obersturmführer Coblenz, advanced along the main road at the bottom of the Amblève river ; the other led bySS-Obersturmführer Coblenz, attacked the heights around the hamlets of Ster, Parfoundruy and Renardmont. US artillery was responsible for slowing and finally halting them both, though not before the Americans had been pushed to the edge of Stavelot along the valley and hamlets on the heights of the west of the town had been taken.The civilian population of the area, caught in crossfire, suffered greatly from the American shelling but particularly from the excesses of some of the grenadiers.
On the eastern edge of the town, Kampfgruppe Sandig struck at the Americans defending the bridge, but grenadiers could not advance against the heavy mortar and machine-gun fire, and very Schwimmwagens which managed to get across the river were very soon destroyed. Committed for this attack were I.Battalion, led by Sturmbannführer Wilfred Richter, of Sandig’s SS.Pz.Gren.Rgt. 2; some Panzer IVs of the 7.Kompanie of SS-Pz.Rgt. 1 just back from Wanne via Wannernval, and some of the Tiger IIs of Schwere-SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501. One of the tigers was disabled just at the entrance to the bridge by a tank-destroyer and with American artillery plastering the area, Sandig was not slow to sense the battle for Stavelot bridge was lost.