Christian Tychsen - death

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Peter
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Christian Tychsen - death

#1

Post by Peter » 22 Jan 2004, 18:55

Sometime ago I found this on the internet somewhere – it is something which gave the detail to the vague stories which I had heard



In 1995, from Captain John C. Bult of the 2d Armored MP Co., I purchased 1/2 dozen photos which were on Tychsen's person at the time of his demise, as well as a flatwire Das Reich cuffband taken from his tunic, and a small Mauser made .25 auto pistol and holster, which Tychsen wore on the rear of his belt. The location or disposition of his Soldbuch and dogtag are still unknown. As a result of the publication of my book, most of the medals Tychsen was wearing when ambushed have been located. The vet who got the medals was a tank driver in the 67th Armored Regiment of the 2d Armored Division and he died in 1992. A person who worked with this vet in a hardware store after WW2, wound-up with the medals. Before he died, the vet told that younger co-worker some details of the ambush. Tychsen's car tried to run a 2d AD roadblock during the St Lo Breakout and was shot up; it turned on it's right side and crashed. The vet in question was first to examine the bodies. He removed Tychsen's KC with oakleaves, discarding the ribbon, probably because it was bloody. He got all the medals and badges which were visible on the left chest, as Tychsen was lying on his right side. Then another GI turned the body over and snatched the DK in gold from Tychsen's right chest and held it up for all present to see. At that point, the other soldiers began a detailed search of Tychsen's person and removed everything except his tunic; more on that later. Lt John Cleveland of the CCB 2d AD traffic squad happened to be at the roadblock when the ambush took place. His job was to direct traffic for Combat Command 'B' and he evidently took the photos and cuffband and pistol during the group pilfering of the body. Since Cleve preferred Lugers and binoculars as souvenirs, he gave Tychsen's items to Captain Bult, his C.O. a week later. He tossed the pistol, photos and cufftitle on Bult's desk and said "I got these from a German colonel.. I almost missed the pistol because it was on his back, not on his side." In 1968, some friends of Tychsen's from Germany had exhumed several bodies of unidentified German officers, in search of his remains. They ID'd him by his dental work, which was unique and resulted from the Russian grenade wound in 1942, which left the horrible scars on his chin. Tychsen's black panzer tunic was exhumed with the body in 1968, still bearing a 4 pip rank collartab and one field grade shoulderboard. All other insignia and decorations were gone. The fact that his tunic was still present when the body was exhumed can be verified in an article in the SS Veterans' magazine 'Der Freiwillige'. The article is called 'The Search For Christian Tychsen', and was published in 1994. This contradicts what Jost Schneider wrote in his KC winners book, when he asserted that souvenir hunters removed Tychsen's tunic with all decorations. Tychsen was reburied under a stone with his name on it-prior to that, he had been listed as an unknown German officer. As to Tychsen's cap, I suspect the vet who got the KC picked it up and tossed the medals inside. I also suspect he later discarded the cap and kept only the metal skull, because one of those was in his effects, plus the following decorations: 1 bronze Infantry Asslt badge, 1 silver close combat bar, 1 Iron Cross 1st class, 1 black wound badge made of brass, with the paint deliberately removed to make it appear gold, and of course the RK with Eichenlaub, As to why Tychsen's body wound-up buried several miles away from the ambush site, it appears possible that the French residents of la Noraiserie, (the farm where the ambush took place), didn't want the body of a high ranking German officer found anywhere near their property. Because if German troops managed to re occupy the area, it would cause an unwelcome investigation. So they probably loaded the body on a farmcart and drove it to the Haut Vents crossroads at Cambry, France, and dropped it among other German bodies at a main road intersection.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#2

Post by sidelock123 » 04 Feb 2013, 14:07

Hi thanks for this information Paul. Does anyone know what happened to Tyschen's SS Totenkopfring? He is seen wearing it in several pictures and some in France where he was killed?
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Simon H
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#3

Post by Simon H » 04 Feb 2013, 15:57

There is a very informative thread on this subject here;
http://triggertimeforum.yuku.com/topic/ ... sen?page=1

Including the discovery of Tychsens steel helmet and other personal effects.

Regards,
Simon.
WW2 Battlefield Relics: German Erkennungsmarken Identification.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#4

Post by sidelock123 » 04 Feb 2013, 16:51

Thanks Simon, yes I saw this its very good and hence we know where his medals are and who has them. I t is therefore strange that item as valuable and interesting as his Totenkopfring should still be missing! I cant imagine the US soldiers who took all his paper documents,medals, cap etc would have failed to notice his Totenkopfring? Interesting if it ever turned up and highly collectable obviously! Its the sort of item that someone wouldnt be able to keep quiet about for 70 years?

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Simon H
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#5

Post by Simon H » 04 Feb 2013, 17:28

sidelock123 wrote:Thanks Simon, yes I saw this its very good and hence we know where his medals are and who has them. I t is therefore strange that item as valuable and interesting as his Totenkopfring should still be missing! I cant imagine the US soldiers who took all his paper documents,medals, cap etc would have failed to notice his Totenkopfring? Interesting if it ever turned up and highly collectable obviously! Its the sort of item that someone wouldnt be able to keep quiet about for 70 years?
Indeed. A grisly thought, but no doubt the ring was probably souvenired at the time and later exchanged for cigarettes. It would be exciting if it turned up, but after so long it could be long lost.
WW2 Battlefield Relics: German Erkennungsmarken Identification.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#6

Post by sidelock123 » 04 Feb 2013, 22:28

Yes absoluteley, many trophy hunters particularly low ranking US servicemen also would'nt have had any idea of the meaning or significance of such an item as the Totenkopfring whereas a Luger to them was the crown jewels so to speak. Hence the ring may have been passed around. My gut feeling though is that these things usually turn up somewhere. Lets hope so!

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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#7

Post by Ian Hulley » 04 Feb 2013, 22:36

There's a write up of Tychsen's demise and the subsequent looting of his body and the trail of the artifacts in the recent Beaver/Bando Insignia and Artifacts of the Waffen-SS book. His Totenkopfring and cap are not mentioned but some of his awards and his pistol/holster rig are.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#8

Post by sidelock123 » 04 Feb 2013, 22:41

Thanks worth purchasing. As SS Offficers and other holders of the Totenkopfring were instruced to send their rings back or make arrangements to have them returned back to Wewelsburg, in this case it was not a possibility as i beleive all occupants of the vehicle he was travelling in were KIA hence he would have been wearing the ring on his death.

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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#9

Post by Ian Hulley » 05 Feb 2013, 10:37

sidelock123 wrote: in this case it was not a possibility as i beleive all occupants of the vehicle he was travelling in were KIA hence he would have been wearing the ring on his death.
Tychsen's unit didn't even know he had been killed, they assumed he was captured. A recovery mission was beaten back before it got to the crossroads where Tychsen and the driver's remains were hastily buried in the grass verge. Even the senior U.S. officers didn't realise who they had killed as the bodies were pillaged by individuals and never checked over by an intelligence officer.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#10

Post by sidelock123 » 05 Feb 2013, 12:47

Yes it would be interesting to read a copy translation of the article in the SS Veterans' magazine 'Der Freiwillige'. The article is called 'The Search For Christian Tychsen', and was published in 1994. I wonder if anyone can find this? They may have found more than his black tunic which he was still wearing when exhumed?

garwin
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#11

Post by garwin » 05 Feb 2013, 23:05

I have this article here and will post it tomorrow.

All they had found when they discovered his body were a pair of officers boots, SS-collar patches with 4 stars and an epaulette with 1 star.

So they knew his rank was Obersturmbannführer.

At the end it was possible to identify him by his several woundings and espacially by his teeth.

Regards, Andreas.

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sidelock123
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#12

Post by sidelock123 » 06 Feb 2013, 13:07

Thank you Andreas, that is a great help and would be good to read. Regards Peter

Ste
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#13

Post by Ste » 06 Feb 2013, 18:45

Is it known who was his driver?

garwin
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#14

Post by garwin » 07 Feb 2013, 12:24

Here is the report
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Re: Christian Tychsen - death

#15

Post by garwin » 07 Feb 2013, 12:33

...
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