Atlas of Battles

battle, interwar and Second World War

Battle of St. Vith

Battle of St. Vith was a battle fought on 21 December 1944 at Sankt Vith, in what is now Belgium. It was part of the Western Front, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: German victory. Recorded strength: 22,000 men against 100,000+ men; 500 tanks.

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St. Vith, Belgium
St. Vith, Belgium. USAAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought21 December 1944
WhereSankt Vith, Belgium50.282N, 6.127E
OutcomeGerman victory
BelligerentsUnited StatesagainstGermany
Casualties and losses12,500 KIA, WIA, POW, or MIA; 88 tanks, 25 armored carsandUnknown
Part ofWestern Front1939 to 1945

Where it sits in the Western Front

Siege of Fort Hegra, 1940Battle of France, 1940German invasion of Belgium, 1940Battle of Maastricht, 1940Battle of Sedan, 1940Battle of Boulogne, 1940Battle of Dunkirk, 1940Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal, 1940Siege of Lille, 1940Dunkirk evacuation, 1940Battle of Pont-de-l'Arche, 1940Battle of Lanzerath Ridge, 1944Operation Madelaine, 1944Battle of Moerbrugge, 1944Siege of Dunkirk, 1944Battle of Metz, 1944Battle of Opheusden, 1944Battle of Vianden, 1944Battle of Broekhuizen, 1944Losheim Gap, 1944Battle of Clervaux, 1944Siege of Bastogne, 1944Battle of St. Vith, 1944Operation Nordwind, 1944Operation Bodenplatte, 1945Battle of Bure, 1945Battle for the Kapelsche Veer, 1945Operation Blockbuster, 1945Battle of Würzburg, 1945Ruhr Pocket, 1945Battle of Hamburg, 194519401945Battle of St. Vith, 1944
31 placed engagements of the Western Front in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date21 December 1944
PlaceSankt Vith, Belgium
50.282N, 6.127E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Strength22,000 men100,000+ men; 500 tanks
Casualties and losses12,500 KIA, WIA, POW, or MIA; 88 tanks, 25 armored carsUnknown
Commanders
Battle of St. VithBattle of St. VithBattle of Lanzerath RidgeLosheim GapElsenborn RidgeBattle of ClervauxBattle of Heartbreak CrossroadsElsenborn RidgeBattle of ClervauxBattle of Heartbreak CrossroadsFrankfurtBrusselsCologneAntwerpenLuxembourgMannheimDüsseldorfSaarbrücken100 km50.282N, 6.127E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1944

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: GER 66TH CORPS(-)Defender: US COMBAT COMMAND 'B', 7TH ARMD DIV(+)
Strength87,00019,996
Casualties4,306 (4.9%)1,731 (8.7%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1055
Outcomedrawn
Duration2 days
Front width12 km12 km
Attacker advanced30 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 484), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of St. Vith is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 243 in present-day Belgium.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q714298, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of St. Vith, revision 1381744963, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.