Studio Portrait of Panzertruppen

 WAFFEN-SS

SS panzer portrait with piped SS tabs and panzer cap with metal eagle in wear.

Source :
https://www.generalassaultmilitaria.com/product-category/photos/

Bio of Generalleutnant Rudolf-Eduard Licht (1890-1978)

 

Rudolf-Eduard Hugo Heinrich Licht

Date of Birth: 11.06.1890 - Holzhaleben, Sondershausen, Thuringen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 14.09.1978 - Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg (West Germany)

Promotions:
19.12.1911 Fähnrich
18.08.1912 Leutnant
27.01.1916 Oberleutnant
01.05.1922 Rittmeister/Hauptmann
01.02.1933 Major
01.08.1935 Oberstleutnant
01.03.1938 Oberst
01.02.1942 Generalmajor
01.02.1944 Generalleutnant

Career:
Entered Army Service (17 Mar 1911)
Fahnenjunker in the 167th Infantry-Regiment (17 Mar 1911-01 Oct 1913)
Adjutant of II. Battalion of the 167th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1913-22 Nov 1914)
Wounded, in Hospital (22 Nov 1914-07 Feb 1915)
Adjutant of II. Battalion of the 167th Infantry-Regiment (07 Feb 1915-02 Aug 1916)
Company-Leader in the 167th Infantry-Regiment (02 Aug 1916-15 Oct 1916)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 167th Infantry-Regiment (15 Oct 1916-11 Jan 1917)
Company-Leader in the 167th Infantry-Regiment (11 Jan 1917-08 Jul 1917)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 167th Infantry-Regiment (08 Jul 1917-04 Nov 1918)
In British Captivity (04 Nov 1918-01 Nov 1919)
Transferred into the 22nd Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment (01 Dec 1919-01 Jun 1920)
Transferred into the 21st Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment (01 Jun 1920-01 Jan 1921)
Transferred into the 15th Infantry-Regiment (01 Jan 1921-01 Oct 1921)
Detached for Subsidiary-Leadership-Training and transferred into the 15th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1921-01 Oct 1923)
With the Staff of the II. Battalion of the 15th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1923-01 Oct 1925)
Company-Chief in the 15th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1925-01 Oct 1929)
Instructor at the Infantry School (01 Oct 1929-01 Oct 1934)
Commander of the Training-Battalion of Infantry-Regiment Leipzig (01 Oct 1934-15 Oct 1935)
Commander of III. Battalion of the 101st Infantry-Regiment (15 Oct 1935-12 Oct 1937)
Commander of Instruction-Group C of the War School Dresden (12 Oct 1937-10 Nov 1938)
Commander of Instruction-Group A of the War School Wiener Neustadt (10 Nov 1938-01 Sep 1939)
Führer-Reserve OKH (01 Sep 1939-01 Dec 1939)
Commander of the 40th Infantry-Regiment (01 Dec 1939-23 Jul 1941)
Commander of the 17th Rifle-Brigade (23 Jul 1941-11 Nov 1941)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 17th Panzer-Division (11 Nov 1941-01 Feb 1942)
Commander of the 17th Panzer-Division (01 Feb 1942-10 Oct 1942)
Führer-Reserve OKH (10 Oct 1942-01 Nov 1942)
Commander of Division 487 (01 Nov 1942-15 Mar 1943)
Führer-Reserve & Detached to Army-Group Nord (15 Jun 1943-12 Oct 1943)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 21st Luftwaffe-Field-Division (12 Oct 1943-01 Nov 1943)
Commander of the 21st Field-Division (L) (01 Nov 1943-01 Nov 1944)
Commander of the 710th Infantry-Division (01 Nov 1944-15 Apr 1945)
In Captivity (08 May 1945-1947)
Released (1947)

Awards and Decorations:
25.10.1914 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
09.08.1916 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.191_ Schwarzburgisches Ehrenkreuz III.Klasse mit Schwertern
00.00.191_ k.u.k. Österreichische Militär-Verdienstkreuz III.Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration
26.05.1918 Verwundetenabzeichen 1918 in Schwarz
15.01.1935 Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1914-1918
02.10.1936 Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
30.08.1941 Anerkennungsurkunde des Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres
18.10.1941 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, as Oberst and Kommandeur 17. Schützen-Brigade
00.00.1942 Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/1942” (Ostmedaille)

Front inspection: Divisionskommandeur Rudolf-Eduard Licht (3rd from right) and Generalfeldmarschall Ernst Busch (right)

Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2010/09/daftar-generalleutnant-heer-letnan.html
https://www.oocities.org/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generalleutnant2/LICHT_RUDOLF.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/11169/Licht-Rudolf-Eduard.htm

Bio of General der Panzertruppe Hans Röttiger (1896-1960)

 

General der Panzertruppe Hans Röttiger
Born: 16.04.1896 in Hamburg.
Died: 15.04.1960 in Bonn.

Promotions:
15.09.1914 Fahnenjunker
ca. 1914 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier
30.09.1915 Leutnant
01.04.1925 Oberleutnant
01.10.1931 Hauptmann i.G.
01.01.1936 Major i.G.
01.02.1939 Oberstleutnant i.G.
01.01.1941 Oberst i.G.
01.02.1942 Generalmajor
01.09.1943 Generalleutnant
30.01.1945 General der Panzertruppe
00.00.19__ Generalleutnant (Bundeswehr)

Career:
15.09.1914 - 20.09.1915 Entered service as Fahnenjunker, assigned to Feld-Artillerie-Regiment 45 (Base: Hamburg-Altona).
30.09.1915 - 00.06.1918 Commissioned/assigned to Fuß-Artillerie-Regiment 20. Saw action in Gorlice, Tarnow, and around Lemberg on the Eastern Front; fought at Verdun and on the Somme in 1916, in combat in Flanders in 1917, and in the great Spring offensive of 1918.
00.06.1918 - 00.11.1918 Ordonnanzoffizier to Artilleriekommandeur der Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz.
00.11.1918 - 01.01.1921 Again assigned to Fußartillerie-Regiment 20.
01.01.1921 - 00.00.1923 Assigned to Artillerie-Regiment 4.
00.00.1923 - 00.00.1925 Assigned to Wehrkreis-Kommando IV (HQ: Dresden).
00.00.1930 - 00.00.1931 Attended Lehrgang R, Reichswehrministerium (training as general staff officer.

10.11.1938 - 15.10.1939 Assigned to the Generalstab des Heeres.
15.10.1939 - 05.02.1940 Ia of VI.Armee-Korps.
05.02.1940 - 01.01.1940 Chef des Generalstabes of XXXXI.Armee-Korps.
01.01.1942 - 28.04.1942 Chef des Generalstabes of 4.Panzer-Armee.
28.04.1942 - 16.07.1943 Chef des Generalstabes of 4.Armee.
16.07.1943 - 24.03.1944 Chef des Generalstabes of Heeresgruppe A.
05.06.1944 - 08.05.1945 Chef des Generalstabes of Heeresgruppe C.

Postwar Confinement & Bundeswehr Service:
In British captivity, 02.05.1945 - 00.00.1948.
21.09.1956 – 15.04.1960 Inspekteur des Heeres der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. First holder of this post. Succeeded Generalleutnant Alfred Zerbel.

Decorations & Awards:
26.01.1942 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as Oberst i.G. and Chef des Generalstabes XXXXI.Armee-Korps
1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
1914 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
1914 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
ca. 1934 Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnungen

Notes:
* Son of Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Röttiger, director of an Oberrealschule and a Major d. R. in World War I. Grandson of an Oberst and great-grandson of a General der Artillerie.
* Married in 1923 to Ilse Boldt; one daughter (born 1925)

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Hans Röttiger (16 April 1896 – 15 April 1960) joined the Prussian Army in 1914 and served from 1915 as a Leutnant in the 20th Artillery Regiment. After the First World War he served in the Reichswehr as a battery officer, adjutant, and battery chief. He then served as an officer on the General Staff of the Wehrmacht.

At the beginning of the Second World War Röttiger was an Oberstleutnant and he served from 1939–1940 as the Chief of Operations for VI Corps. From 1940–1942 he was Chief of Staff of XXXXI Corps and was then appointed the Chief of Staff of the 4th Panzer Army on the Eastern Front, serving at Stalingrad. From 1943 to 1944 he was Chief of Staff of the 4th Army and then of Army Group A from 1944–1945 under Generaloberst Josef Harpe. He then became the Chief of Staff of Army Group C in Italy under Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring. On 30 January 1945 he was promoted to General der Panzertruppe.

Röttiger was a prisoner of war of the British and Americans from the end of the war until 1948. In 1950 he was a participant at the meeting to discuss the establishment of a new German defence force; the result of the meeting was the Himmerod memorandum.

Röttiger was accepted into the Bundeswehr in 1956 at the rank of Generalleutnant. On 21 September 1957 he became the first Inspector of the Army and was instrumental in its early development.

Röttiger was diagnosed with cancer in the late 1950s and spent his last years undergoing treatment. In the morning of 15 April 1960 he died in office, one day before his 64th birthday.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_R%C3%B6ttiger
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General2/ROETTIGER_HANS.html
http://sylviolassance.blogspot.com/2015/05/rottiger-hans-1604189615041960.html

German Soldiers Enjoying Music through Gramophone

Similar to the scene in the movie "Saving Private Ryan", this photo - which was taken by Kriegsberichter Geller from PK (Propaganda-Kompanie) 694 - shows German soldiers from the panzer and infantry units enjoying the music from a gramophone, amidst the ruins of war-damaged buildings on the Eastern Front. There is no exact information which unit they came from, but most likely they were part of 1. Panzerarmee / Heeresgruppe A whom are celebrating the fall of Rostov to the Germans on July 23, 1942. Obviously this photo was not taken in Stalingrad as some sources claim. - including Bundesarchiv - because in July the German troops had not yet arrived in the "City of Hell".

Source :
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-218-0524-32
http://wehrmachtss.blogspot.com/2021/10/prajurit-jerman-menikmati-musik-dari.html

Bio of Generalmajor Friedrich-Wilhelm von Mellenthin

Friedrich Wilhelm (‘‘F. W.’’) von Mellenthin (pronounced Fon Mellenn-teen) was born in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland) on August 30, 1904. His father, a professional army officer from Pomerania—the most Prussian of the Prussian provinces—could trace his ancestry back to 1225. His mother, Orlinda von Waldenburg von Mellenthin, was a great-granddaughter of Prince August of Prussia and a great-grandniece of Frederick the Great. His family looked upon military service as a calling, not a job. Naturally, F. W. was raised from the crib to be an officer. This traditional Prussian upbringing was continued by Orlinda even after her husband—Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henning von Mellenthin—was killed in action while directing artillery fire on the Western Front on June 29, 1918. F. W. later referred to his mother as his ‘‘guiding star.’’ Two of her three sons became generals.

F. W. grew up on the family estates of Mellenthin and Lienichen in Pomerania. He graduated from high school (Real-Gymnasium) in Breslau and enlisted as a lancer (private) in the 7th Cavalry Regiment, because there were no officer slots available in the 100,000-man or ‘‘Treaty’’ army. Although F. W. later recalled the next 11 years were the best of his military life, the first four (when he was an enlisted
man) were tough. After 18 months, he was promoted to corporal, and, as a Fahnenjunker, was sent to officers’ training courses at the Infantry School at Ohrdruf and the Cavalry School at Hanover. Finally, on February 1, 1928, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry. He spent the next seven years with his regiment.

Although he was short—only 5'6"—F. W. von Mellenthin was slim, intelligent, urbane, and full of energy. He was a fine equestrian and won many golden trophies for horse racing, steeplechasing, and dressage. Even as an octogenarian, he spent at least two hours a day on horseback.

On March 2, 1932, he married Ingeborg von Aulock, the daughter of a major. She would give him two sons and three daughters.

Mellenthin was very happy in the 7th Cavalry, but nevertheless accepted an appointment to the War Academy on October 1, 1935, where he began his General Staff training. (Along with more than 1,000 other officers, he had taken the week-long Wehrkreis qualifying examination and had finished in the upper 15 percent that were selected for General Staff training. About two thirds of these survivors were cut before the course was completed.) He finished the two-year course in the fall of 1937 and, as a captain, was assigned to the staff of Wehrkreis III in Berlin. Its commander was General of Infantry Erwin von Witzleben, of whom Mellenthin was very fond. Shortly after his posting, Mellenthin became his Ic. He was also involved in several special events, such as military parades and ceremonies put on to honor various foreign dignitaries. He also served for a few weeks as army liaison officer to Konrad Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten Germans. After the annexation of the Sudetenland, Mellenthin returned to Berlin, where he was largely responsible for planning a parade honoring Hitler’s 50th birthday. By now, ‘‘I was tired of running a military circus,’’ the young Prussian recorded. He arranged to return to a line unit and was ordered to report to the 5th Panzer Regiment of the 5th Light Division on October 1, 1939. Unfortunately, World War II began on September 1, and his transfer was cancelled.

Mellenthin served as III Corps Ic during the Polish campaign and during its redeployment to the Western Front near Saarbruecken. That winter, he was sent back to what had been Poland, where (as a major) he became Ia of the 197th Infantry Division, then training at Posen. This division was later transferred to the Western Front, where it was assigned to Army Group C, which performed a purely secondary role in the French campaign of 1940. After France surrendered, the 197th was send to Breda, the Netherlands, where it performed occupation duties.

After a few weeks duty in Holland, which he thoroughly enjoyed, von Mellenthin was transferred to the 1st Army Headquarters in Lorraine, where he was named chief intelligence officer. His commander was his old boss, Erwin von Witzleben, who was now a field marshal, and who no doubt arranged his transfer. Mellenthin lived in a Gothic castle in Nancy and again very much enjoyed his assignment. He noted in his classic book, Panzer Battles, that ‘‘It is a matter of regret that Gestapo officials soon raised a barrier between the occupation troops and the civil population.’’ He found that many prominent Frenchmen held ‘‘a genuine desire’’ to co-operate in the establishment of a United Europe but were soon alienated by the Nazis.

In the winter of 1940–41, Mellenthin worked on plans for the rapid occupation of Vichy, France, which was connected to the plan to rapidly send German forces to Spain, so that they could occupy Gibraltar. Generalissomo Franco, the Spanish dictator, would have none of it, however, so Mellenthin arranged to have a brief period of temporary duty with an Italian cavalry regiment at Genova. In late March 1941 he
was named Ic of the 2nd Army, which was then assembling in Austria for the invasion of Yugoslavia.

The Germans invaded Yugoslavia and Greece on April 6, 1941. Although the Greeks (who were aided by the British) put up stiff resistance, the Yugoslavian forces collapsed almost immediately. Belgrade fell on April 12 and the Yugoslavs surrendered five days later. Mellenthin called the operation ‘‘virtually a military parade.’’

After the capitulation, Mellenthin was named German liaison officer to the Italian 2nd Army, which was on occupation duty along the Dalmatian coast in the Balkans. Here, F. W. was amazed by the obsolete equipment of the Italian Army, as well as the low standard of training he found among the junior officers. This new job did not last long, however; at the end of May, he was ordered to report to Munich. Here he joined the Gause’s special staff, which was then forming in Bavaria, where he was the new Ic. (Later, this became Staff, Panzer Army Afrika.) En route, he took a short leave and visited his ancestral estates, where his wife had moved along with their five children, to get them away from the bombing of Berlin. On June 11, Mellenthin, along with General Gause and Lieutenant Colonel Siegfried Westphal, the Ia of the panzer group, flew from Rome to Tripoli. On the trip over, they got a view of things to come: several times they were forced to avoid British airplanes by flying at sea level. Then they met with Erwin Rommel.

Mellenthin had met Rommel in Berlin in 1938, but he was in no way prepared for what he faced working for the Desert Fox: ‘‘Rommel was not an easy man to serve; he spared those around him as little as he spared himself. An iron constitution and nerves of steel were needed to work with Rommel, but I must emphasize that although Rommel was sometimes embarrassingly outspoken . . . once he was convinced of the efficiency and loyalty of those in his immediate entourage, he never had a harsh word for them.’’ Rommel was by every account a hard man for whom to work. He could be very rude to his staff and scathing to senior commanders (especially Italians), but never so to enlisted men or prisoners of war. His men (including lower-ranking Italians) loved him, but this was not always the case with his staff and immediate subordinates. Mellenthin, however, recalled that ‘‘I was to learn to love and honor [him] as one of the outstanding generals of our times, the Seydlitz of the panzer corps, and perhaps the most daring and thrustful commander in German military history.’’

Mellenthin served Rommel for 15 months, from June 1941 to September 15, 1942. ‘‘He was the toughest taskmaster I’ve ever known. He spared no one, least of all himself,’’ von Mellenthin recalled.

During the actual fighting, Rommel was often out of touch with his staff for days. When he did return to headquarters, ‘‘He would arrive from the field covered with dust and grime, burst into the command
post, and gruffly demand, ‘Wie ist die Lage?’’’ [What is the situation?] To which Westphal and I would instantly respond with a crisp 5-minute summary.’’ It would take Rommel no more than 30 seconds to analyze the facts and issue standing orders for an entire week. ‘‘Very seldom did these need to be modified,’’ Mellenthin marveled.

Mellenthin fought in all of the battles of Panzer Army Afrika from the Siege of Tobruk to the 1st Battle of El Alamein. He and his staff badly underestimated the strength of the British 8th Army before the Battle of the Gazala Line, largely because of British aerial parity (which limited the effectiveness of Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft), excellent camouflage techniques, commendable radio security (alas vastly superior to that of the American army, even today), and armored car superiority, which prevented the German reconnaissance battalions from gaining a true picture of the situation. Panzer Army intelligence also failed to detect the presence of a large number of Grant tanks (which were superior to any German tank in the desert in 1942), underestimated both the length and depth of the British minefields, failed to note the existence of the Knightsbridge box (and its garrison, the 201st Guards Brigade), and failed to locate and identify two armored and three infantry brigades, including the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, southwest of Bir Hacheim. Mellenthin later noted that perhaps this was fortunate
because had he known the true strength of the 8th Army, even Rommel might not have attacked it. Rommel did not hold any of these failures against von Mellenthin, however, and promoted him to chief
of operations on June 1, 1942, after both Gause and Westphal had been wounded. With Rommel’s approval, Mellenthin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1942.

Mellenthin more than redeemed himself during the 1st Battle of El Alamein. The British commander, General Sir Claude Auchinleck, abandoned the Qaret el Abd box on the southern part of the front to lure Rommel into committing his armored reserve to that sector. For once, Rommel fell into the trap. On July 9, 1942, he concentrated the 21st Panzer and 90th Light Divisions for an attack on the British left (southern) flank, as well as the Littorio Armored, one of the best Italian divisions. Naturally, being Rommel, he went with them and carried his chief of staff with him, leaving Mellenthin in charge at army headquarters. Then, on July 10, the 9th Australian Division launched a major attack against the Italian Sabratha Infantry Division, on the panzer army’s northern (coastal) flank. Sabratha soon collapsed altogether.

Panzer Army Headquarters was behind the Axis northern (coastal) flank, i.e., right behind Sabratha. Mellenthin watched with alarm as hundreds of Italians fled past him to the rear. He soon learned that all
of the Italian artillery had been captured. His first inclination, of course, was to move the headquarters to the rear as well, saving its valuable documents and irreplaceable equipment. Mellenthin, however, realized that there was nothing in reserve and that the coastal road had to be blocked or the entire panzer army would be threatened with annihilation. He organized the staff into an ad hoc battle group and reinforced it with some nearby anti-aircraft guns, as well as some German infantry replacements who were passing by. With this improvised unit, the chief of operations managed to check the Australian attack, although valuable personnel were killed in the process. (Among them were Lieutenant Seebohm and most of his Wireless Intercept Unit.)

Before the Australians could reorganize and launch another attack, Rommel rushed up from the south with his personal battle group (the Kampfstaffel) and a battle group from the 15th Panzer Division and struck them in the rear. Although he was checked and the Australians managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Trento Infantry Division, the main body of the German 382nd Infantry Regiment of the 164th Light Afrika Division arrived that afternoon, and the panzer army was saved. In his Papers, Rommel praised Mellenthin by name for halting the Australian attack, something he rarely did.

Colonel Siegfried Westphal returned from the hospital during the night of August 30–31 and resumed his duties as Ia. Mellenthin was now an excess officer and was no longer essential to the staff of Panzer Army Afrika, as Major Zolling had replaced him as Ic. Additionally, Mellenthin had been suffering from amoebic dysentery for months and was by now a very sick man. (This disease is often fatal, even today.) The medical officer had already recommended that he return to Europe. On September 9, he reported ‘‘off duty’’ to Rommel and left North Africa as few days later. He never saw Erwin Rommel again.

To Lieutenant Colonel von Mellenthin, who had just spent 15 months in the Sahara Desert, the next several in the hospital at Garmisch in the Bavarian Alps seemed like heaven. The German Tropical Institute had developed excellent methods for combating the amoebas, and F. W.’s health soon improved. The situation on the Eastern Front, however, was deteriorating. The German 6th Army under General of Panzer Troops Friedrich Paulus bogged down in street fighting in Stalingrad, and on November 19, 1942, the Red Army launched a huge counteroffensive aimed at encircling the 6th. The Reds brushed aside Paulus’s reserve, the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, and the Russians surrounded 240,000 German and Romanian soldiers in the Stalingrad pocket on November 23.

With a moderate degree of justification, Adolf Hitler held the commander of the XXXXVIII Panzer, Lieutenant General Ferdinand Heim, responsible for the disaster. He relieved Heim of his command on November 20 and had him thrown into prison without a trial. Colonel Werner Friebe, the chief of staff, was also sacked. They were replaced by General of Panzer Troops Otto von Knobelsdorff and Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich William von Mellenthin, respectively.

Mellenthin fought in most of the major battles on the southern sector of the Russian Front from November 29, 1942, until September 14, 1944. He performed brilliantly in desperate fighting under Knobelsdorff and his successor, General of Panzer Troops Hermann Balck, and left us a wonderful account of these battles in his classic book, Panzer Battles, which has been in almost continuous print since the University of Oklahoma Press first published it in 1956. He served as acting commander of the 8th Panzer Division during the Battle of Brody (July 1944) and was chief of staff of the 4th Panzer Army under Balck from August 15 to September 14, 1944. When Balck was named commanderin- chief of Army Group G in September 1944, he took Mellenthin with him to the Western Front. Mellenthin was promoted to colonel on May 1, 1943.

Balck and Mellenthin led Army Group G (with the understrength 1st and 19th Armies) brilliantly during the Lorraine campaign in the Vosges against the U.S. 7th and 3rd Armies and the French 1st Army. Army Group G had been severely mauled during the retreat from France. The 19th Army, for example, lost 1,316 of its 1,480 guns during the retreat, and only 10 of its tanks survived. Balck and his chief of staff were able to hastily rebuild it (and least partially) and were greatly aided by OB West, whose chief of staff was Siegfried Westphal, Mellenthin’s old friend from Africa. Despite odds stacked heavily against them (some of their panzer divisions were down to five operational tanks), they managed to hold their lines—in part because of Allied supply difficulties. They even checked Patton in the 1st Battle of Metz, delayed the Allied attack on the West Wall for months, and were largely responsible for enabling OB West to launch the Ardennes Offensive on December 16, 1944. They were unable to hold off the Allies forever, however, and could not prevent Patton from taking Metz (on November 21) or the French from taking Strasbourg (November 24).

Meanwhile, Colonel General Heinz Guderian, the ‘‘father’’ of the blitzkrieg, had been acting chief of the General Staff since July 21, 1944. In late November, he sent an emissary to Headquarters, Army Group G, with some gratuitous advice on how to employ artillery. Compared with the Americans and their allies, however, Army Group G had only a few guns, and they had only a few rounds each. Mellenthin did not appreciate the interference. ‘‘Our problem that late in the war was not how to employ artillery, but where to get the guns and ammunition... We were critically short on everything.’’ He spoke bluntly—too bluntly—to the OKH representative, who returned to Zossen and complained to Guderian that Mellenthin had insulted and then ignored him.

Now Guderian was upset but, unlike Mellenthin, he had the power to do something about it. He summoned the Pomeranian to Zossen on November 28, gave him a thorough tongue-lashing, and placed him under house arrest.

‘‘I said nothing in my own defense, absolutely nothing,’’ Mellenthin recalled. He knew that Guderian was famous for his explosive temper and, if he said anything at all, it would only make the situation worse. Ironically, Mellenthin’s last promotion—to major general—had already been approved. It became effective on December 1, 1944, while he was still locked up. He was then sacked as chief of staff of Army Group G. He returned to Balck’s headquarters on December 5, 1944, but only to hand over his duties to his successor, Major General Helmut Staedke.

In Panzer Battles, Mellenthin implied (but did not explicitly state) that Hitler was to blame for his relief, dismissal from the General Staff, and arrest. He told the whole story to U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Verner R. Carlson when that officer flew to South Africa just to visit with him in the late 1980s. Although he did not lie in Panzer Battles, he did not tell the entire truth either. Why is not known.

Mellenthin’s arrest turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He had the opportunity to visit his family (now living in the Warthegau) and spent Christmas with them—the only Christmas of the war he got to spend at home. Then he got them out of there because the Red Army was not far off. Three weeks later, it broke through the thin German line and overran the Warthegau and much of Silesia and East Prussia, leaving countless tales of rape, murder, and horror in their wake. Mellenthin meanwhile relocated his wife and five children to temporary quarters with friends north of Berlin.

After Guderian cooled down, he decided to reemploy Mellenthin. This was probably because of Guderian’s long-standing friendship with Hermann Balck, who had served as a regimental commander under Guderian when he broke the back of the French Army in 1940. (Guderian speaks very highly of Balck in his autobiography, Panzer Leader.) Balck was dismissed as C-in-C of Army Group G because of a Himmler intrigue in mid-December 1944, and Guderian managed to obtain another command for Balck—6th Army on the Eastern Front. Although we have no details, the issue of Mellenthin must have arisen when the two old comrades met in December 1944. In any case, Guderian was not yet ready to restore Mellenthin to the General Staff, but gave him command of a regiment in the 9th Panzer Division instead. He reported to Headquarters, Army Group B on the Western Front on December 28 and took command of his regiment the next day. He found that it only had about 400 men left.

Mellenthin led his new command in the Battle of Houffalize and in the final stages of the Battle of the Bulge, during which he beat off several American attacks. His unit formed the rear guard of the 5th Panzer Army, and Mellenthin’s experiences in Russia proved invaluable, as he knew much more about retreating through ice and snow than did his opponents. By the end of the battle, Mellenthin was out of Guderian’s ‘‘dog house.’’ Meanwhile, General of Panzer Troops Baron Hasso von Manteuffel, the commander of the 5th Panzer Army, was transferred to the Eastern Front. He was replaced by Colonel General Joseph Harpe. Mellenthin was picked to be Harpe’s chief of staff. He took over on March 5.

Mellenthin’s account of the last days of the war is thin, in large part because he did not care to remember that bitter episode of his life. Army Group B (composed of the 5th Panzer and 15th Armies) was surrounded in the Ruhr Pocket on April 1. Resistance collapsed relatively quickly. On April 15, Field Marshal Walter Model ordered the army group to break into small bands and to try to escape to the east. He discharged older and younger men from the service on April 17 and ordered everyone to cease fighting, in effect dissolving the army group. He committed suicide the next day.

F. W. von Mellenthin was not yet ready to go into the POW camps. With a handful of other officers, he broke out of the pocket and headed east, traveling by night and hiding by day. It was too late, however. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, and Mellenthin was captured by American soldiers at Hoexter Wesel on May 3.

Mellenthin spent the next two and a half years as a prisoner of war. When he was released, his estates in the East and all of his wealth were gone. He spent the next three years as a homeless refugee in West Germany, which was now a land of little or no opportunity. In 1950, he emigrated to South Africa, where prospects were better. He at least had family there, as his wife’s grandfather had moved there in 1868. In his late 40s—an age in which most people start thinking about retirement—F. W. von Mellenthin started over in the business world. Three years later, with little aviation experience or background, he started his own airline, Trek Air, which later became Luxavia. He managed to capture a sizable portion of Lufthansa’s market, so much so that Lufthansa hired him as its regional director. Trek Air, meanwhile, became very profitable. He later commented that success in the airline business—indeed any business—was ‘‘really only a matter of good staff work and selecting the right people.’’ Using his General Staff principles and his talent for picking the right person for the right job, Mellenthin retired a rich man.

The short ex-general with the pale blue eyes continued to work almost until his death. He rode his horses two hours every day and spent eight hours a day at his desk as an unpaid consultant to various charities. He also consulted for NATO and the U.S. Army, spoke to various Western war colleges, and maintained contact with his extended family. Once a year he flew to West Germany and attended a dinner with his old regiment, the 7th Cavalry. (These reunions were held in Wiesbaden, West Germany, because Breslau had been taken over by Poland and renamed Wroclaw.) Finally, he went the way of all mortals and died at Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 28, 1997, at the age of 92.

Source :
"Rommel's Desert Commanders; The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-1942" by Samuel W. Mitcham
Gregg Tolbert photo collection

Bio of SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul Kümmel

Paul Kümmel (13 April 1911 in Nürnberg - 27 December 1982)
SS Nr. : 28373

Promotions:
20.04.1936 SS-Untersturmführer
09.11.1937 SS-Obersturmführer
28.02.1939 SS-Hauptsturmführer
09.11.1943 SS-Sturmbannführer
20.04.1945 SS-Obersturmbannführer

Career:
00.05.1934 SS-Rottenführer in 4.Sturm / LSSAH
00.09.1940 Chef 3.Kompanie / SS-Totenkopf-Standarte 10
00.07.1941 Chef 8.Kompanie / SS-Infanterie-Regiment 10
00.11.1943 SS-Panzer-Ausbildungs -und - ErsatzGeschütz Regiment
00.03.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 9 "Germania"
00.05.1944 Kommandeur I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"
00.06.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 9 "Germania"
00.10.1944 Kommandeur I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 9 "Hohenstaufen"
00.11.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 20

Medals and Decorations:
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
28.11.1944 Nahkampfspange in Silber

Notes:
Douglas E. Nash (author) : "I was never able to nail down the exact reasons why he was so abruptly transferred from one battalion command to another in a different division. Perhaps the reasons why was that he had qualified himself as a battalion commander, but there were at least two very excellent men who were waiting in line to replace him (Heinz Murr and Paul Scholven), while in contrast the Hohenstaufen Division needed replacement battalion commanders after the debacle in Normandy. Kümmel may also have requested a transfer, but I found nothing in his record to indicate this. It could also have been because his "senior raters" (his division commander Herbert Gille and the senior Waffen-SS commander on the Eastern Front, Felix Steiner, were not overly impressed with his performance). On his efficiency report dated 28 May 1944, Gille stated: "K. needs to become more confident. After further instruction, K. will become a good battalion commander." Steiner wrote on 7 August 1944, "Agree. He is not a prominent personality. Fills his position adequately." Perhaps that was all that was needed to move him out? After all, he wasn't a "Wikinger" from the beginning, having begun his combat career in a Totenkopf Infantry Regiment fighting against partisans in 1941 as part of the 1st SS-Infantry Brigade."

 

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158135645364639&set=gm.1031367484024678
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=53885

Staff Officers of IV. SS-Panzerkorps

The IV. SS-Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was originally to be a skeleton formation to supervise those SS divisions that were being reformed as SS Panzer divisions.

On 30 June 1944, the formation absorbed the VII. SS-Panzerkorps and was reformed as a headquarters for the SS Division Totenkopf and SS Division Wiking. The Corps was placed under the control of former Wiking commander SS-Obergruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille.

The corps was placed into the line around Warsaw, Poland, where it saw action against the Red Army as a part of the 9th Army. In August, 1944, elements of the corps took part in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. After holding the line near Warsaw, the corps was pushed back to the area near Modlin, where it saw heavy fighting until December.

When SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch's IX SS Mountain Corps and large numbers of Hungarian troops were encircled in Budapest in December 1944, the corps was shifted south from Army Group A to join 6th Army and to take part in the relief efforts. The operations were named Konrad. In Operation Konrad III, the largest of the relief operations, IV SS Panzer Corps destroyed all the tanks of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front in an intense two-week battle in Transdanubia but could not relieve the city.

After the failure of Operation Konrad III, the corps was moved west to the area around Lake Balaton, where it was responsible for defending the left flank of the Operation Spring Awakening (Frühlingserwachen), near Stuhlweissenberg. After the failure of this operation, the Soviet Vienna Offensive tore a gap between the IV SS-Panzerkorps and the neighboring Third Hungarian Army. After escaping an encirclement thanks to the efforts of the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, the corps withdrew towards Vienna. The remnants of the corps surrendered to the Americans on 9 May 1945.

Commanders  
SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenburg (8 June 1943 - 23 Oct 1943)
SS-Obergruppenführer Walther Krüger (23 Oct 1943 - 14 Mar 1944)
SS-Obergruppenführer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (1 July 1944 - 20 July 1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Nikolaus Heilmann (20 July 1944 - 6 Aug 1944)
SS-Obergruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille (6 Aug 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Chef des Stabes  
SS-Standartenführer Nikolaus Heilmann (1 Apr 1943 - 1 Aug 1944)
SS-Obersturmbannführer Manfred Schönfelder (1 Aug 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Area of operations  
France (June 1943 - July 1944)
Poland (July 1944 - Jan 1945)
Hungary & Austria (Jan 1945 - May 1945)

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The corps staff of the IV. SS Panzer Corps, like all German higher level staffs at the time, was essentially divided into two elements: The Operations and Intelligence section (known as the Führungsabteilung) and the Logistics and Administrative section (known as the Adjutantur and Quartiermeisterabteilung). They often were located in two separate and distinct areas, with the Operations and Intelligence staffs usually located closer to the front  line, where the corps commander spent most of his time. Here, the various key officers who made up the Führungsabteilung are represented. Mostly these men were hidden behind the scenes, and wanted it that way, resulting in few photos being taken of them during the war (after all, what's sexy about pushing paper?).

SS-Obersturmbannführer Manfred Schönfelder, who was the IV. SS-Panzerkorps chief of Staff from August 1944 until May 1945.

The first chief of staff of the corps was SS-Standartenführer Nicolaus Heilmann, who held the position until the first week of August 1944.

The corps' first Ia or operations officer was SS-Hauptsturmführer Richard Pauly, who held the position until the beginning of August 1944.

The second Ia of the corps was SS-Hauptsturmführer Werner Westphal, who served as its acting Ia from 17 August until 9 November 1944.

The third acting Ia of the corps was SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Klose, who replaced Westphal in November 1944 until 16 January 1945, when he became the Ia of the Wiking Division.

The fourth Ia of the Corps staff was SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Rentrop, who served in the position from 16 January until he was captured/killed in action on 2 February 1945. Is it more known about the death of Rentrop: He was captured and beaten up near Dinnyes and his death was 2 February 1945.

After his loss, Rentrop was temporarily replaced by SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Velde, who was a general staff candidate but was serving as the assistant corps operations officer or O1 at the time.

The fifth and final Ia of the corps was SS-Sturmbannführer Friedrich Rauch, who performed the duty from 1 March to 8 May 1945.

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Besides the operations officers in the Führungsabteilung, there was also an intelligence or Ic staff section. For most of the time that the IV. SS-Panzerkorps served in combat, its Ic was SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Jahnkuhn. Jahnkuhn was an interesting character; not only was he an anthropologist and archaeologist, he had been a college professor at the University of Goettingen before the war. Like the Nazi nemesis in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Jahnkuhn along with others scoured the globe, including the Middle East, for artifacts which would allegedly "prove" the origins of the so-called "Aryan Ideal" type of civilization, often resorting to unsavory methods to acquire cultural objects. When the war in the East began on 22 June 1941, Jahnkuhn led a team that was established to search the Ukraine and Crimea for such items, and helped to catalog many of the riches confiscated by a special battalion established by Himmler to loot the occupied Eastern territories. After the war and his rehabilitation, Jahnkuhn was able to regain his chair at Goettigen's anthropology department, though by the mid-1970s, his Nazi past finally began to catch up with him.

Photo of Jankuhn taken February 1945 in Hungary.

Photo of Jahnkuhn taken November 1944 in Modlin.

Subordinate to Jahnkuhn, though not a member of the corps staff, was SS-Untersturmführer Erich Kernmayr, who was the commander of the Psychological Warfare Platoon for Hungary (Kampf-Propaganda-Zug "Ungarn"). Though a member of the SS Kriegsberichter Regiment "Kurt Eggers," Kernmayr received his daily assignments from Jankuhn, based upon his estimate as to where PSYOP leaflets and broadcast messages targeted towards Soviet and Hungarian troops would be most effective. After the war, writing under the name Erich Kern, he became a prolific author and member of various far-right German political parties.

Jahnkuhn's assistant or Deputy Ic was SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. Herbert Metowsich, shown here in February 1945 in Hungary.

Although not a member of the Headquarters staff, SS-Hauptsturmführer Gerhard Dieckmann was the commander of the 2nd Company, SS-Nachrichten-Abteilung 104, the corps' signal battalion.

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Far less glamorous than the operations and intelligence staff sections but just as important to the success of the corps' engagements and battles were the Administration and Supply staffs, along with some of the specialized staffs that focused on artillery matters, engineering, legal, communications, and propaganda. Here are a few of those senior officers who were responsible for the orderly performance of those mundane tasks so necessary for a successful corps in battle.

 

The officer responsible for coordinating the corps' artillery supporting effort was the ARKO, the abbreviation for Artilleriekommandur. The IV. SS-Panzerkorps' ARKO for most of its existence was SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Kurt Brasack, shown here in a prewar photo as a SS-Obersturmbannführer. An artillery veteran from World War I, Brasack was instrumental in the successful prosecution of artillery strikes, counterstrikes, and deep strikes.



Just as important as Panzers, assault guns, and artillery were signal troops. Without the means to communicate orders and messages via radio, land line telephone, or telex, a corps would be virtually unable to adequately coordinate the activities of all of its combat arms. To carry out this specialized function, the corps was authorized its own corps signal battalion, SS-Nachrichten-Abteilung 104. The commander of the battalion for the last several months of the war was Wiking veteran SS-Obersturmbannführer Hubert Hüppe, shown here before the war as an SS Sergeant.



A Panzer Corps, with two or three panzer or mechanized divisions operating under its banner, usually had thousands of motor vehicles assigned, as well as hundreds of armored vehicles, including tanks, assault guns, self-propelled artillery, and armored half-tracks. To keep track of the readiness of these vehicles and their maintenance requirements to keep them combat ready, each corps staff had an officer called a TFK, short for Technischer Führer für Kraftfahrwesen, or simply motor transport maintenance officer. The IV. SS-Panzerkorps' TFK for most of its existence was SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Brandt, shown here before the war in civilian clothes.



The corps staff was authorized a senior engineer advisor, the Korpspionierführer, who was responsible for planning and supervising the execution of various engineering tasks, such as road repair, barrier construction, bridge construction and maintenance, minefield emplacement, and so on. The Corps Engineer Officer for most of the IV. SS-Panzerkorps' existence was SS-Obersturmbannführer Fritz Braune, who was supervised by the corps' chief of staff and who resided in the operations and intelligence staff section.



Just like any military organization, it could not ignore matters that arose in the legal and judge advocate arena. The corps' Staff Judge Advocate, or Korpsrichter, was SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Heinz, who worked in the Adjutantur under the supervision of the Staff IIa, Karl-Willi Schulze.



The 2nd General Staff Officer, or Ib, was SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Scharff, another Wiking Division veteran elevated to the corps staff when Herbert Gille was named as the corps commander. The Ib was responsible for coordinating and planning the supply requirements of not only the subordinate divisions, but also that of corps troops, attached army troops, and the corps heaquarters itself.



Within the Ib Staff, was another officer designated as the Officer for Transportation and Traffic Regulation, called the Id or Offizier für Verkehrsregelung. Although he was subornated to the Ib, Hans Scharff. the corps' Id actually worked within the operations and intelligence staff element. The corps' 1d for the first six months of its existence was SS-Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Honsell, shown here as an SS Captain before the war. By the turn of the year 1944/45, he was designated as the Ib of the Wiking Division.



With an organization encompassing at times more than 40,000 men, the proper administration of the corps' manpower needs and concerns was a very demanding job. The staff officer responsible for personnel administration was SS-Obersturmbannführer (shown here as a Sturmbannführer) Karl-Willy Schulze, another Wiking Division veteran chosen by Gille to follow him to the IV. SS-Panzerkorps at the end of July 1944. Schulze had been the Adjutant of the Wiking, and as such was fully qualified to perform a similar function one level higher.



Hubert Hüppe's predecessor as Corps Signal Officer was SS-Hauptsturmführer Martin Müller, shown here in his prewar Allgemeine SS uniform.

The corps' "Morale" officer, also known as the NSFO, was SS-Hauptsturmführer Franz Wehofsich, an Austrian officer known for his pre-war activity in the Austrian Nazi Party. Officially designated as the Staff "VI" Officer, he not only looked after the morale of the troops, but was responsible for their political education in the proper aspects of National Socialism.

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Two other individuals who performed an important role within the corps headquarters were the two officers who served as Gille's Begleitoffizier, or escort officer, a position designated as the O5. The U.S. Army or British equivalent was the general's aid, or aide-de-camp. These two men, SS Lieutenants Günther Lange and Joachim Barthel, served both the corps commander and chief of staff (the latter was not authorized an O5, but Barthel, who had suffered an incapacitating head wound, performed the role) between the end of July 1944 and the end of the war.  Their duties included ensuring that the corps commander's coffee cup was always filled and his cigarettes were always available; ensuring that his staff car and driver (SS Sergeant Pippo) were always ready to go to the front; to make sure that his personal situation maps was always up to date, that Gille's spare uniforms were always cleaned and ready for wear, and that he, as the escort officer, would always know the routes to and from their destination, as well as what the "threat" level ways there and back. A truly demanding job, one that was only given to the most intelligent and experienced young officers.

On the right, SS-Untersturmführer Günther Lange holds a situation map for his corps commander, SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Herbert-Otto Gille. Lange had been serving as a platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion of SS Panzer Regiment 5 until he was selected to replace Hermann Kaufmann as Gille's O5. After the war, Lange returned to his art studio and earned a master's degree equivalent in art, while pursuing a career as an officer in the Bundeswehr, where he finally retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years of service.

SS-Untersturmführer Joachim Barthel, Wiking Division veteran and recipient of the German Cross in Gold for the manner of his performance while serving in the 3rd Company of the Germania Regiment. His fate after the war still remains unknown.

SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Kaufmann was Lange's predecessor as Gille's O5 in the Wiking Division. When he was replaced by Lange, Kaufmann went on the command the 1st Company of SS Armored Reconaissance Battalion 5 of the Wiking Division, where he was killed in action in Hungary on 25 January 1945.

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A Panzer Corps is more than just staff officers, radios, and motorcycle messengers; it also consists of divisions, usually two or more. And these divisions are led by men who have proven themselves in subordinate positions, such as battalion and regimental commanders who learned their trade while serving as subalterns before the war or during the war in the crucible of combat. During the Tank Battle of Praga, the IV. SS-Pz.Korps was fortunate, in that at one time or another before, during, and after the battle, it had several of the finest (and one of the not-so-finest) divisions of the Wehrmacht subordinated to it. These includes the 4th and 19th Panzer Divisions, the Herman Goering Panzer Division, the ill-fated 73rd Infantry Division, and Grenadier-Brigade 1131. For most of the next three months, the corps with its two SS divisions, the Wiking and Totenkopf, would cooperate closely with these units of the Heer and Luftwaffe, enabling General Gille and the 9th Army to keep Marshal Rokossovskiy and his armies away from their goal of Warsaw.

The commander of Fallschirm-Panzer-Division Hermann Göring during the Tank Battle of Praga was Luftwaffe Generalmajor (Major General) Wilhelm Schmalz, who went on to command Fallschirm-Panzer-Korps Hermann Göring.



The commander of the 19th Panzer Division was Generalmajor Hans Källner, who brought his division from Holland, where it had recently undergone complete reconstitution, and deployed it quite effectively during the Tank Battle of Praga.



Oberst Franz Schlieper (shown here as a Generalmajor) took command of the ill-fated 73rd Infantry Division only two days before its collapse during the Battle of Praga in September 1944. He later proved to be an adept commander who rebuilt his division and led it competently during the remainder of its existence.



Generalmajor Clemens Betzel, who expertly led the veteran 4th Panzer Division as it conducted its lethal counterattack at a critical moment during the Tank Battle of Praga, sealing the fate of the Soviet III Tank Corps.



Oberst Wilhelm Söth, the Afrika Korps veteran who commanded and expertly led the newly-raised Grenadier Brigade 1131.

Source :
"From the Realm of a Dying Sun. Volume I: IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July–November 1944" by Douglas E. Nash, Sr.
https://www.axishistory.com/books/118-germany-waffen-ss/germany-waffen-ss-corps-etc/1227-iv-ss-panzerkorps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IV_SS_Panzer_Corps
https://www.facebook.com/Latewareasternfront

Reconnaissance Raid near Tobruk 1941

A DAK assault team climbs aboard a PzKpfw III Ausf.G. Location and date unknown. Supposedly taken during the siege of Tobruk (April to November, 1941). An interesting display of German war material and personal equipment including a flamethrower (Flammenwerfer 35) carried by the soldier already atop the tank. The soldier to the left carries an MG34 ammo drum and a MG spare barrel (the tube on his back); to his right another soldier carries two bags filled with grenades. On the right, what was most probably the team leader has laid his MP-38 or 40 on the vehicle before climbing aboard. Note the 2 canteens per soldier and the makeshift helmet covers.

Source :
Courtesy of Blanluet Christophe of ECPAD Archive
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1728158044141689/
https://www.facebook.com/TheTruthInColor/photos/a.853308841373560/2212145122156585/?type=3&theater

Panzermann and SS Soldier

This studio portrait of two young soldiers, who I presume are friends, contains some interesting details, a couple of enigmas, and some historical background. My guess is that the photo was taken in 1941 or 1942. The Place is the small town of Dürnholz, since World War II known as Drnholec in Moravia in the Czech Republic. The young men are most likely Sudeten Germans, the Volksdeutsche – ethnically German – population of western Czechoslovakia that the Nazi government in Germany used to further their territorial claims. When the war was over, Czechoslovakia was ethnically cleansed, the Sudeten Germans forced to flee to the zones under Western Allied administration. The Soldat on the left is a Panzer crewman. He wears the black side-buttoned tunic typical of the Panzer crews. His collar tabs sport the silver skulls of the armored troops. Those had their roots in the skulls worn on the headdress of Napoleonic-era Prussian Hussars, symbolizing the do-or-die attitude of the daring cavalrymen. Many Panzer divisions were mechanized cavalry units, changing horses for tanks and armored cars. His shoulder straps are partially covered by slip-on fabric loops used to obscure the regimental number. This was done for operational secrecy, but there’s the possibility that his regiment is one of those that use differently-colored loops to differentiate between the battalions. His black sidecap indicates that the photo is taken after 1940. His friend is a Waffen-SS Sturmmann (lance corporal) of some experience, implied by his Iron Cross, 2nd class, ribbon and the silver Wound Badge. He’s a member of a Waffen-SS division, but as his cuff title isn’t visible, it’s impossible to tell which one. One intriguing detail is the Edelweiss flower tucked in his cap. It’s a real flower, and not the embroidered patch of the SS-Gebirgsjäger mountain rangers. It obviously has some personal meaning, as it wasn’t an official feature of the uniform. The skull on his cap is the SS version, which symbolizes the willingness of the SS soldiers to die for the Reich. It wasn’t uncommon for Panzer crewmen to be confused with SS troops because of the skulls and black uniforms. If they were taken prisoner, they ran the risk of being shot straightaway, as both western Allied and Soviet troops thought they were SS soldiers. One can but wonder about the final fates of the two young men in the photo.

Source :
Björn Hellqvist photo collection
https://ww2inphotos.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/skulls/

Panzergrenadiers of Totenkopf in Kharkov

The men of the Totenkopf Division in Kharkov in March 1943, just after the recapture of the city. The morale of the division had been dealt a blow when its commander, Theodor Eicke, was shot down and killed during an aerial reconnaissance on 26 February 1943. The aircraft crashed behind enemy lines, but a party from the division managed to retrieve his body. Despite his death, the Totenkopf Division continued to fight the way Eicke had taught it. As he himself said: “Hardness saves blood. In fact hardness saves more. It saves bitterness, it saves shame, it saves worry, it saves sorrow.”

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/145073172027/the-men-of-the-totenkopf-division-in-kharkov-in

Impromptu Piano Concert in Kharkov

Three Leibstandarte troopers halt their vehicles to celebrate their entry into Kharkov with an impromptu piano concert, March 1943. They wear (from left to right) the winter insulated suit, camouflage smock, and the black panzer uniform. Note the German national flag fastened over the hood of the Kübelwagen, for ground-to-air recognition.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/145023823622/three-leibstandarte-troopers-halt-their-vehicles

DKiGträger SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Matzke

SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm "Willi" Matzke (born in 28 January 1918) received Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 23 April 1944 as SS-Obersturmführer and Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 / 2.SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich". He would became the commander of I. Abteilung in 26 July 1944 replacing SS-Sturmbannführer Rudolf Enseling. Matzke survived the war.

SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Matzke (Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 / 2.SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich") ride a donkey in a company celebration held in May 1944 (possibly to celebrate the company's commander awarding of Deutsches Kreuz in Gold a couple of days before). A few words about the photo: On that day, there were a lot of wine for all soldiers, especially a few officers looked a bit too much in their glasses, and so the young comrades took the drunken officer (Matzke) on a donkey and go around! A lot of pictures were taken from this scene, but on the next day the order was given to the company to deliver all taken negatives. This picture is the very last one that survived the action! One thing for sure: It stands under punishment if pictures like this were ever seen after the action, and it's understandable, because such pictures takes the officer in question.

Source :
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=7690&hilit=wilhelm+matzke
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=726113

DKiGträger SS-Sturmbannführer Friedrich Zipp

 Friedrich Zipp was born in 4 September 1917 in Sulzbach. He joined the SS in 1 October 1936 (SS number 286 585), promoted to SS-Untersturmführer in 20 April 1939, SS-Obersturmführer in 20 April 1941, and SS-Hauptsturmführer in 20 April 1943 (his promotion date to SS-Sturmbannführer is not known). Zipp started his career as a youth in Hitlerjugend (1 April 1933 - 1 October 1935) and Reichsarbeitsdienst (1 October 1935 - 1 October 1936). In October 1936 he joined the 1.Sturm / SS-Standarte "Deutschland", followed by officer training in SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig (1 April 1938 - 20 April 1939). In 1 January 1941 he served as Adjutant in SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 "Totenkopf", and in january 1944 already as a Chef of 1.Kompanie / SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 "Totenkopf". In February 1945 he became Ib Quartiermeister (Logistik, Verwundeten- und Versorgungsdienste) of XI. SS-Armeekorps. Zipp received these following decorations: SA-Sportabzeichen in Bronze, Reichssportabzeichen in Bronze, Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft Abzeichen, Julleuchter der SS, Danziger Kreuz II. Klasse, Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse und I.Klasse; and Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (8 September 1943 as SS-Hauptsturmführer and Chef 1.Kompanie / SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Totenkopf").


Source :
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=143487