Guess who advised Danny on that matter
Harro wrote:I never came across a Persin or Ochsner in any document, not in the Anschriftliste of the Truppenkameradschaft AA LAH, not in the Volksbund database and none of the veterans I asked knew them. I know Pallud introduced these names in the early 1980's but I still wonder about his source. Several people in the photos in his book, including photos from the Kaiserbaracke crossroads, have been misidentified so how reliable are the names Persin and Ochsner?
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=137016
Harro wrote:Veterans of SS AA 1 have no clue about Persin or Ochsner, though some say they "might have been" with the Versorgungskompanie. They are not listed on the address list of the SS AA 1 Truppenkameradschaft and not in the Volksbund database. I have no clue who ever introduced these names in a publication for the first time. The first Schwimmer in the Kaiserbaracke pics is the vehicle of an Obersturmführer and his driver. From comparing the Ostuf. with one from 1948 is becomes most probable that it's Heinz Goltz, in December 1944 the commander of the Stabskompanie. However, this does not mean the second Schwimmer - the one with "Persin" and "Ochsner" belongs to the Stabskompanie or even the SS AA 1. Some sources suggest that it's actually a Schwimmer from the Batterie Stab of Obersturmführer Fritz Butschek (2./AR 1 LAH), who's Batterie was attached to Kampfgruppe Knittel. But who knows.
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=61988
Eight years later we can add that the officer in the first Schwimmwagen is indeed SS-Obersturmführer Goltz, commander of the 4. (schw.) Kompanie, SS-Pz.AA1 LSSAH. Manfred Coblenz, then commander of the 2. Kompanie, identified him as such. It is my estimated guess that the famous "
Peiper" Schwimmer shows members of the 3. (V.W.-) Kompanie: however, only weeks before the offensive they recieved a shipload of frech replacements from the Ersatz-Btln "Totenkopf" and it's likely that our "
Peiper" perished in the senseless attacks against Stavelot. The veterans of the SS-Pz.AA1 never got familiar with their names. As for the names "Persin" and "Ochsner": I guess it's hard to confirm any name for these men as long as we don't know who Pallud's source was.