That quote doesn't actually show that the 43rd had its brigades 'up' on the 16th. All it says is that 'the battalion' (9th RTR was a glorified battalion?) remained in position and its role unchanged. If anything 52nd division's detached brigade was on line to replace the 43rd division as they were swapped out on the 17th and the detached brigade, the 157th light brigade, was probably the first one on the line since it was already present with the departing division on the 15th of December. So from the 15th-16th the 43rd filtered off the line and started being replaced by the 52nd division as it filtered in in parts. That means on the 16th things were near peak vulnerability to an attack as the 43rd division was mostly off the line by then and replaced at that point only by 1 light brigade of a division that wouldn't arrive until the morning of the 17th. Though the 9th RTR was just west of Geilskirchen as part of 34th Armoured Brigade with the GAD east of them.Gooner1 wrote: ↑19 Nov 2020, 17:05From 'Tank Tracks' by Peter Bealestg 44 wrote: ↑19 Nov 2020, 02:43That's a problem given that Richard provided a source that by the 17th 52nd division was replacing scratch units of rear area personnel on the front lines around Triprath given the lack of infantry to hold the line. So even if 43rd was on the line at that time, which we're not sure they were, they could well get overrun quickly and 43rd units behind the lines are hit before they have a chance to form up, since the distances to the vital areas were so short.
"The 9th [Royal Tank Regiment] moved slowly through Belgium and Holland and reached the Dutch mining town of Brunssum on 3rd December. After a few days there the battalion moved forward into Germany, passing through the town of Geilenkirchen to take up positions in the villages of Hockheide, Bauchem, Rischden, Niedenheide and Gilrath in support of 43 Div.
On 10 December the CO attended an O group at 214 Brigade at which 43rd Division Operation 'Shears' was outlined, whereby the enemy divisions west of the River Roer between Roermond and Geilenkirchen were to be destroyed. 34 Tank Brigade with 43rd Division were to do the break-out and 52nd Division with 8 Armoured Brigade and Guards Armoured Division the mopping-up. 9 RTR tanks in support of 214 Brigade were to complete the first phase of the break-out.
Following heavy and continual rain the ground provided poor tank going and frequent reports showed no improvement. Nevertheless, thousands of air photos and maps were issued and every plan was complete when the news came that the operation was cancelled.
The battalion remained in position with its role unchanged.
On 16 December news was received of the German counter-offensive against the American First Army front, attacking with the 5th and 6th Panzer Armies"
So 43rd Division, with probably two brigades 'up', was in the line on the 16th, they had a lot of tank support, the locations and layout of the enemy in front of them were well known and the 'going' off road was poor for vehicles.
Also in terms of the weather on the 16th it was apparently frozen ground by then with the mud a problem until the 3rd week of December. Due to the lower ground pressure of German tanks they had little problem traversing even snowy ground that British tanks had issue with (same with the US Shermans):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman#Mobility
Problem for the Comet as well:Comparative testing with the second generation wide-tracked German tanks (Panther and Tiger) conducted by the Germans at their Kummersdorf testing facility, as well as by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division, proved otherwise; partly from their use of the characteristic Schachtellaufwerk interleaved and overlapped roadwheels (as used on pre-war origin German halftrack vehicles), especially over muddy or other unfavorable terrain. Lieutenant Colonel Wilson M. Hawkins of the 2nd Armored Division wrote the following comparing the U.S. M4 Sherman and German Panther in a report to Allied headquarters:
It has been claimed that our tank is the more maneuverable. In recent tests we put a captured German Mark V [Panther] against all models of our own. The German tank was the faster, both across country and on the highway and could make sharper turns. It was also the better hill climber.[112]
This was backed up in an interview with Technical Sergeant Willard D. May of the 2nd Armored Division who commented: "I have taken instructions on the Mark V [Panther] and have found, first, it is easily as maneuverable as the Sherman; second the flotation exceeds that of the Sherman."[112]
Staff Sergeant and tank platoon sergeant Charles A. Carden completes the comparison in his report:
The Mark V [Panther] and VI [Tiger] in my opinion have more maneuverability and certainly more flotation. I have seen in many cases where the Mark V and VI tanks could maneuver nicely over ground where the M4 would bog down. On one occasion I saw at least 10 Royal Tigers [Tiger II] make a counterattack against us over ground that for us was nearly impassable.[112]
U.S. crews found that on soft ground, such as mud or snow, the narrow tracks gave poor (i.e., high) ground pressure compared to the Panther and Tiger. The U.S. Army issued extended end connectors ("duckbills") to add width to the standard tracks as a stopgap solution. Duckbills began to reach front-line tank battalions in fall 1944, but were original factory equipment for the heavy M4A3E2 Jumbo to compensate for the extra weight of armor. The M4A3(76)W HVSS Shermans and other late models with wider-tracked suspensions corrected these problems, but formed only a small proportion of the tanks in service even in 1945.
https://www.baiv.nl/comett335227/#:~:te ... 0kg%2Fcm2).
http://www.panther1944.de/index.php/en/ ... hnik/ketteGround Pressure: 13.85 lbs/inch2 (0,974 kg/cm2).
And even Churchill tank to some degree:Ground pressure::
0,88 kp/cm² Ausf. D and A
0,89 kp/cm² Ausf. G and F
http://www.wwiiequipment.com/index.php? ... ntry-tank-
For the conversion:Ground pressure 13.1
https://www.inchcalculator.com/convert/ ... 703.068836.
13.1 then is a bit more. Not that much more than the Panther, but every bit is significant in those ground conditions.13 psi 9,140 kgf/m²