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The Fifth Field

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So far The Fifth Field has created 141 blog entries.

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski

Erich von dem Bach

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, SS-Obergruppenführer, born March 1, 1899 in Lauenburg (Pomerania), Higher SS and Police Leader Southeast, Higher SS and Police Leader Central Russia, chief of anti-partisan forces in the East, suppressor of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, commander XIVth SS Corps, winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class and wounded in action twice in World War I, winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, sentenced at Nürnberg to ten years, released 1951, sentenced by a German court in 1962 to life imprisonment, died March 8, 1972 in a prison hospital in Munich-Harlaching.

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski2015-09-08T16:03:26-05:00

Dirlewanger and Staff

Dirlewanger and Staff

This is another grainy photo and appears to be from late 1944 or early 1945.  Dirlewanger looks older; he knows that if Germany loses the war, he will be tried and executed.  The officer in the background close to Dirlewanger appears to be wearing the Anti-Partisan Badge in Silver; that would mean service with the Sonderkommando for a long time.

Dirlewanger and Staff2015-09-08T16:04:42-05:00

Dirlewanger Murder Site?

Dirlewanger Murder Site?

Is this building the temporary jail at Altshausen, Baden-Württemberg?  Or did Dirlewanger survive the war and flee to Syria?  Do I need to go back to Germany and re-write the book?

Dirlewanger Murder Site?2015-09-08T16:05:28-05:00

Reconnaissance Platoon in Sonderkommando Dirlewanger

Reconnaissance Platoon in Sonderkommando Dirlewanger

Like so much evidence concerning the unit, this photograph is grainy, with poor light and no names attached.  This appears to be a motorcycle-equipped reconnaissance platoon, based on the goggles. The solid nature of the log barracks building suggests that the photograph was taken in 1943-1944.  The troopers are wearing Waffen-SS pattern camouflage smocks.

Reconnaissance Platoon in Sonderkommando Dirlewanger2015-09-08T16:06:26-05:00

State Funeral for General Dietl

State Funeral for General Dietl

Eduard Dietl, Army Colonel General, was born on July 21, 1890 in Bad Aibling.  During World War I, he was a winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class and was wounded three times.  During World War II, he served as commander 3rd Mountain Division and as commander 20th Mountain Army in Finland.  He was a winner of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, but died on June 23, 1944 in a plane crash at Mürzuschlag, Austria.  His last words were to the pilot shortly before take-off:  “No, we are not going to fly over the plain.  The clouds are six hundred meters above the ground.  I know the area and am glad to finally be back in my mountains.  I want to see them from above once more.  In Finland, everything is flat.  We will fly from Graz along the valley that goes to Judenberg.  From there we will follow the Semmering trace that goes to Mürzuschlag and from there to Vienna.”

State Funeral for General Dietl2015-09-10T12:24:43-05:00

Admiral Günther Lütjens

Admiral Günther Lütjens

Günther Lütjens was born on May 25, 1889 in Wiesbaden.  He served as Commander of Torpedo Boats, Commander of Reconnaissance Forces and finally Chief of the Fleet.  A winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, he was killed in action in the North Atlantic aboard the battleship Bismarck on May 27, 1941 in combat with the British Home Fleet.

Before the final action, he made the following announcement to the crew:

“Seamen of the battleship Bismarck!  You have covered yourselves with glory!  The sinking of the battlecruiser Hood has not only military, but also psychological value, for she was the pride of England…The German people are with you, and we will fight until our gun barrels glow red-hot and the last shell has left the barrels.  For us seamen, the question now is victory or death!”

Admiral Günther Lütjens2015-09-10T12:26:15-05:00

Belzec Officers

Belzec Officers

The Nazis murdered between 430,000 and 500,000 people at the Belzec extermination camp, part of “Operation Reinhard.”  These two SS men were on the staff at the camp.  The Camp Men identifies many of the perpetrators of the Final Solution from old photographs, to include the names of these two men.

Belzec Officers2015-09-09T19:54:01-05:00

Martin Steglich

Wartime photo of Martin Steglich. After Desert Storm, he said the American Army had become the “Sons of the Blitzkrieg.”

Martin Steglich, a Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves winner, was born in Breslau on July 16, 1915.  As with his friend, Heinz-Georg Lemm, Steglich’s early career saw him assigned to the 12th Infantry Division, serving many positions in the 27th Infantry Regiment in Poland, France and Russia (including the encirclement at the Demjansk Pocket.)  During this encirclement, Lieutenant Steglich was flown out of the pocket and to Berlin, where he briefed Adolf Hitler on the situation and had lunch with the German leader and his entourage!  Martin Steglich won the Iron Cross Second Class on September 14, 1939, the Iron Cross First Class on June 27, 1940 and the Honor Roll Clasp of the Army on July 28, 1941.  He gave his Infantry Assault Badge to Major MacLean in 1991 after “Desert Storm.”  Martin Steglich received several serious wounds during the war and finished the conflict as the commander of the 1221st Grenadier Regiment in the 180th Infantry Division, defending the Rhineland.  He received the Oak Leaves on April 5, 1945.  About that time, he was seriously wounded by bullets from a strafing Allied aircraft, striking him in the mouth and foot.

Between tours at the front, Martin Steglich wrote training doctrine and prepared several training films, including how to destroy a tank in close combat.

Martin Steglich joined the Bundeswehr in the mid-1950s; he was promoted to the grade of oberst (colonel) on August 1, 1962.  He owned a furniture store and lived in Ruppichteroth (in a house he nicknamed Haus MaRo) with his wife and three daughters, until his death on October 20, 1997.  Martin had little interest in politics and was truly a gentleman of the old school.

Funeral Notice for Martin Steglich

 

Grave of Martin Steglich shortly after his funeral

Martin Steglich2016-03-28T19:31:43-05:00

Günther Prien, U-47

Günther Prien welcoming returning U-boat

Heinrich Günther Prien, Navy U-boat Commander, was born on January 16, 1908 in Osterfeld/Thüringia, the son of a judge.  In 1923, he joined the German Merchant Navy, receiving his Master’s License in 1932.  He subsequently joined the German Navy and went into the U-boats, receiving command of the U-47 in 1938.  A year later, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Günther Prien took his submarine into Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak.  Upon returning to Germany, Prien and the crew of the U-47 received heroes’ welcomes in Berlin.  Prien received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.  His later career saw him promoted to Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) and awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross.  He conducted ten wartime patrols, spending 238 days at sea.

In addition to sinking the 29,150-ton Royal Oak, Prien sank 30 merchant ships, for a total of 162,769 tons.  He and the crew of the U-47 were killed in action on March 7, 1941 in the North Atlantic.  Initially, it was believed that his submarine was sunk by the British destroyer HMS Wolverine.  But current history is unsure and the U-47 could have been the victim of an accident or mechanical failure.  Before his last patrol, Günther Prien authored Mein Weg Nach Scapa Flow (My Way to Scapa Flow.)

Günther Prien, U-472016-03-28T19:33:10-05:00

Friedrich Paulus

Friedrch Paulus before Stalingrad

Friedrich Paulus, Army Field Marshal, was born on September 23, 1890 in Breitenau, Hesse, the son of a school teacher.  His first assignment was with the 111th Infantry Regiment; he fought in France, Macedonia and Serbia from 1914-1918.  After World War I, Paulus was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment in Stuttgart, before serving in several General Staff positions in the XVI Corps, the Tenth Army and the Deputy Chief of the German General Staff.

In January 1942, Paulus assumed command of the German Sixth Army and led this formation through the Stalingrad Campaign until 1943, when he and the Sixth Army surrendered.  The winner of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Paulus was captured by the Soviets, remained a prisoner, until released from prison in 1953 and allowed to settle in East Germany.  He died on February 1, 1957 in Dresden.  Friedrich Paulus’ remains were later transferred to Baden-Baden, where he was buried with his wife, whom he last saw in 1942.

Iconic photo of Paulus at surrender of Sixth Army. He is to the right; in the center is the Sixth Army Chief of Staff Arthur Schmidt; to the left is Wilhelm Adam, the Sixth Army Adjutant

Paulus was maligned after the war for his conduct of the Stalingrad fight, especially after Soviet forces had surrounded the Sixth Army in November 1942.  But he was in an untenable position.  The following are some quotations of Friedrich Paulus about Stalingrad that show his emotions during the campaign.

“The Stalingrad battle continues along its stubborn course. Things are going very slowly, but every day we make just a little progress. The whole thing is a question of time and manpower. But we’ll beat the Russians yet!” (October 7, 1942)

“I expect you [to a colonel] to carry out the orders of your superior officers.  In the same manner the Führer, as my superior, can and must expect that I shall obey his orders.” (November 1942)

“Unless I concentrate every available man and inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy advancing from the south and west, my Army will be faced with imminent destruction.” (November 23, 1942)

“I still believe, however, that the Army can hold out for some time.  On the other hand – even if anything like a corridor is cut through to me – it is still not possible to tell whether the daily increasing weakness of the Army, combined with lack of accommodation and wood for constructional and heating purposes, will allow the area around Stalingrad to be held for any length of time.” (November 26, 1942)

“You are talking to dead men.” (January 1943)

“The last horses have been eaten up.” (January 19, 1943)

Paulus later in life in East Germany, where he died

Friedrich Paulus2016-03-28T19:36:24-05:00
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