High Scorers with Panzers and Paks

[Gastolli]

... Oberleutnant Hans Wilhelm Verch ...

Hello Edward,
no, sorry, I have no further information on that man ...
Oliver

[Gastolli]

Hauptmann Olaf von Kundesh - 35 kills
Obergefreiter Irwin Rohers - gunner - +20 kills
Leutnant Herbert Ettmayr - 27 kills

Hello Antonio,

oh dear ...

1) von Kundesh: total bogus, don't want to spent much more words on that!
2) sounds plausible, but, Irwin is a very, very unusual name, while Rohers doesn't exist at all in Germany!
3) no, apart from the fact that this obviously is a ultra-right website, I haven't heard of an officer with that name

I don't tend to took any of these names into the compilation of tank aces!

Oliver

[alcius]

Thanks Oliver, I figured they were fictional, but I was looking for another opinion.
These invese are true, of some I don't know the department, and of others I don't know if the victories are single or of the department.

Gefreiter Robert Rahlenbeck – 16/Jager Rgt.38 – 23 kills
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/409 ... Robert.htm
with a captured T-34 he destroyed 23 tanks in 3 days

Feldwebel Adam Riedmuller – Jagd-Abt. Kurmark – 6 kills
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/348 ... r-Adam.htm
Riedmüller destroyed six T-34 tanks at Kunersdorf, the first four with his Hetzer and the last two with the Panzerfaust.
I have an old note, where it is written that Riedmuller destroyed 24 enemy tanks.
“das-ritterkreuz hat recht, genau steht es auf seinem vorläufigen Besitzzeugnis, laut Manfred Dörr hat er bis zur Verleihung mindestens 24 Panzer vernichtet.”

Unteroffizier Wiedera – Schweren pak - 6 kills
Znaimer Tagblatt 12. Januar 1944
https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno ... ch&seite=2

Oberleutnant Herbert Tilgner – Pz.jg.Abt.61 - 8 kills
Stadtanzeiger für Castrop-Rauxel und Umgebung / Herner Zeitung 70 (29/12/1944) 302
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbms/periodical/ ... tilgner%22

Oberleutnant Heinz Marticke – PZ.Jg.Abt.559 – 9 kills
Oedenburger Zeitung 10. Oktober 1942
https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno ... ch&seite=3

Oberfeldwebel Mengler - Panzerjager – 12 kills
General-Anzeiger 55 (03/09/1943) September
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbbn/periodical/ ... mengler%22

Unteroffizier Johannes Schneider – Panzerjager – 6 kills
Die Glocke / Ausgabe C (27/08/1943) 235
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbms/periodical/ ... hneider%22

Feldwebel Rosin – pak - 7 kills
Kölnische Zeitung (26/03/1944) 85
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbbn/periodical/ ... 20rosin%22

Feldwebel Kahn – 7 kills
Schwerter Zeitung 75 (10/07/1943) 159
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbms/periodical/ ... %20kahn%22

Gefreiter Walter Busch – PAK - 14 kills (6+1+7)
Westfälische neueste Nachrichten 45 (09/01/1945) 7
https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbms/periodical/ ... 20busch%22

Antonio

[Gastolli]

Gefreiter Robert Rahlenbeck – 16/Jager Rgt.38 – 23 kills
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/409 ... Robert.htm

Hello Antonio,

it's 15 tanks as a gunner. tracesofwar obviously is wrong with 18 tanks on 23.8.1943, it were 10 out of 16 tanks - so = 15 tanks altogether.

Maybe some newspaper wrote the figure 10 instead of the letters "zehn", and the faint scan of the newspaper could be read as 18 instead of 10, you know what I mean.

Here are some newspapers (Tremonia, 28.8.1943 and 6.9.1943) which wrote "zehn" instead of "10". Also, I would say, killing 18 tanks in a single action would have caused much more hype those days

Tremonia 28.08.43 - Rahlenbeck (Jg.Rgt. T34).png (381.14 KiB) Viewed 462 times

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Feldwebel Adam Riedmuller – Jagd-Abt. Kurmark – 6 kills

Hello,

my own notes read as 3 T34 shot up with his Hetzer and one additional T34 via Panzerfaust. But the 24 tank kills in total (maybe 2 altogether in close combat) seems to be right, I have a similar note in my files, maybe from an article of "Ritterkreuz-Archiv" (Veit Scherzer) in 2012?

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Unteroffizier Wiedera – Schweren pak - 6 kills

This is Uffz. Gerhard Widera, later Feldwebel, got the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 27.4.1945 with 14./G.R. 442 (168. Inf.Div.).

I give him 11 tank kills, as he appeard again shortly later in the newspapers!!!

Oberschlesischer Wanderer 12.01.44 - Widera (Pak G.R. 442).jpg (133.27 KiB) Viewed 455 times

Oberschlesischer Wanderer 23.01.44 - Widera (14. G.R. 442).png (265.25 KiB) Viewed 455 times

These are two separate actions!

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Oberleutnant Herbert Tilgner – Pz.jg.Abt.61 - 8 kills

Ah, nice

Well, Oblt.d.R. Tilgner of course was Chef of 2./Pz.Jg.Abt. 61, not Chef of a Grenadierkompanie. For sure he had some Grenadiere attached. And of course he didn't have "schwere Pakgeschütze" but Jagdpanzer.

From the divisional history I knew that on 22.11.1944 at St.-Jean-Rohrbach 10 US tanks where killed by Jagdpanzer IV of the 11. Pz.Div., the Jagdpanzer just reaching the company four days before. I'm sure that's the action which got Oblt. d.R. Tilgner the Ritterkreuz.

And, well, it's also sure that this success (10 or 11 tanks) was the score of this small group of 4 Jagdpanzer. As Tilgner drove to the most vulnerable spot he could have scored ..., let's say about 4 tank kills that day, but that's just an estimate. Something between 2 to 8 kills I would say

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Oberleutnant Heinz Marticke – PZ.Jg.Abt.559 – 9 kills

Hello Antonio,

9 kills? No, the newspaper mentions, that his Halbzug (half platoon) was set up against 5 sowjet tanks, and than engaged these tanks, killing 4 of them within a few minutes, before Marticke's Selbstfahrlafette was hit and he died.

So 4 tank kills for his Halbzug (= 2 Selbstfahrlafetten).

It's amazing that the action described happened on Oct 5th 1942, the newspaper is from Oct 10th 1942.

Oblt. Marticke got the Ehrenblattspange for that action "at Uryw" on Oct 16th (also, a very quick descision in Berlin to accept this award), he also got the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on Nov 5th 1942.

From the unit history we know that he was a Zugführer for 8,8 cm Selbstfahrlafetten since "Barbarossa" with 1.(s)/Pz.Jg.Abt. 8 (Sfl), unit changed designation to 3./Pz.Jg.Abt. 559 (Sfl) in 1942. Marticke was with the 8,8 cm until his bitter end.

On 3.7.1942 Abteilung 559 had a big success with 33 tank kills (T 34) on that day alone, Lt. Marticke could have had a share on this.

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Oberfeldwebel Mengler - Panzerjager – 12 kills

Hm, no one with a higher award, unless the newspaper had his name wrong.

But, as a Zugführer, he was responsible for about 3 towed Pak, so not his personal score ...

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Unteroffizier Johannes Schneider – Panzerjager – 6 kills

Puh, impossible to identify this man. Johann Schneider, very, very common names in Germany.

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Feldwebel Rosin – pak - 7 kills

Hm ...

Another one without a higher award, but apart from a Pak gun commander he also could have been a tank commander, there's no hint as to his service branch ...

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Feldwebel Kahn – 7 kills

Another one I don't know, I can't help here either.

Oliver

[Gastolli]

Gefreiter Walter Busch – PAK - 14 kills (6+1+7)

Hello Antonio,

well, I would like to leave this man with 7 kills, as the other 7 kills were scored by his Pak while he served as a loader. He was "involved ...".

Despite a loader also is important for the success of a Pak or a tank, it makes no sense to count the kills for these guys too. Would made the list of aces very, very long

Apart from that I don't know his unit. Another one with a very common name, sorry.

Oliver

[alcius]

Thanks Ollver, as always.
I have 2 Stug Aces, but I don't know who I am.
In https://zeitpunkt.nrw/ulbbn/periodical/ ... yp+T-34%22, it says that a Stug-Abteilung destroyed 128 tanks in 6 days.
The 1 battery alone destroyed 66, 2 batteriechefs from this company destroyed 56 and 52 tanks in Russia respectively.
I think he is referring to 202 Stug.Abt., One could be Amling, but the other I don't know who he is.
In the same article, an Oberleutnant is mentioned who destroyed 6 tanks in one fight, for a total of 24 kills, even this I don't know who he is.
If he can find out more

Antonio

[alessandro bray]

Hallo Antonio,

Probably 237. StugAbt, batteriechef Spranz and maybe Liethmann

Alessandro