Who is this Ardennes soldier?

Discussions on all (non-biographical) aspects of the Freikorps, Reichswehr, Austrian Bundesheer, Heer, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Fallschirmjäger and the other Luftwaffe ground forces. Hosted by Christoph Awender.
Post Reply
User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#136

Post by Harro » 17 Dec 2019, 17:30

And he isn't referring to these pics? Because these are the men Pallud identified as Ochsner and Persin (without a source).

Image
Image

PatrickBateman
Member
Posts: 204
Joined: 27 Nov 2014, 12:53
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#137

Post by PatrickBateman » 17 Dec 2019, 18:06

You're right, my mistake. It was not entirely clear in the book, 1 photo above had no discription. Wrong discription from the wrong photo.

From the photo I posted:
"SS-Untersturmfuhrer Siegfried Stiewe, SS-Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel’s adjutant, and an SS-Rottenfuhrer take a breather under the shelter of a captured U.S. M8 armored car. Stiewe survived the Ardennes Battle but was killed in combat on the Eastern Front on 27 March 1945"

And a photo with those two soldiers in the Schimmwagen:
"The smiling SS soldier sitting on the side of a Volkswagen 166 Schwimmwagen, has sometimes been misidentified as Jochen Peiper. Some sources claim that it is SS-UnterscharfÜhrer Ochsner, which has not either been possible to confirm."


User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#138

Post by Harro » 17 Dec 2019, 18:16

This is how I've put it in my 2006 book "The Career, Crimes and Trial of SS-Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel", chapter 4.3: “They’ve killed a good few at the crossroads”
Knipsel3.JPG
Knipsel4.JPG
Knipsel5.JPG

PatrickBateman
Member
Posts: 204
Joined: 27 Nov 2014, 12:53
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#139

Post by PatrickBateman » 18 Dec 2019, 16:56

I might buy a copy of your book, sooner or later, looks interesting to hear the story of Knittel. Certainly overlooked by the actions of Peiper in the Ardennes.

User avatar
FransN
Member
Posts: 319
Joined: 12 Jul 2016, 21:59
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#140

Post by FransN » 18 Dec 2019, 18:12

Hi Timo,

Maybe I missed something, and there is a new edition of your book? Above you show the Obersturmführer in the VW at the Kaiserbaracke crossroads as being Wägner, the commander of 4. (schw.) Kompanie (page 317 of your book). However, on page 317 of my copy (from 2016) of your book, this officer is presented as Goltz, commander of the Stabskompanie. Which one is it?

Best regards,
Frans

User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#141

Post by Harro » 18 Dec 2019, 21:41

Hi Frans, how are you? It's Goltz indeed, I made the above images from an earlier draft.

User avatar
FransN
Member
Posts: 319
Joined: 12 Jul 2016, 21:59
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#142

Post by FransN » 18 Dec 2019, 22:28

Thanks Timo! AOK here. Enjoy the Christmas days and have a good 2020!
Frans

User avatar
paling
New member
Posts: 1
Joined: 25 Dec 2019, 10:56
Location: Holland

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#143

Post by paling » 25 Dec 2019, 11:03

Just registrered to say thank you to Harro for all of his work and bringing the facts into this topic. I find it quite unbelievable that every now and then someone drops a name in this topic without reading the other 10 pages of this topic. I’ve read them with pleasure, thanks to Harro (Timo). Keep up the good work!

User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#144

Post by Harro » 25 Dec 2019, 22:47

My pleasure!

rash
Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 29 Mar 2018, 15:31
Location: Poland

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#145

Post by rash » 19 Jan 2020, 18:15

Hello,

Short video regarding to german ardennes soldier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_0FxByFoE

Greetings

User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#146

Post by Harro » 19 Jan 2020, 20:56

The main issue with the video is that Hohenstauffen was at Poteau on the 23rd whereas the Poteau photos were taken by SS PK-Berichter Max Büschel on the 18th. Büschel was assigned to the Leibstandarte and accompanied the Stabskompanie of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 LSSAH. Hohenstauffen wasn't anywhere near Poteau on the 18th.
Also, what's the point with the distance between Mailly and Poteau? Between May 1943 and December 1944, Hohenstauffen travelled to Ukraine ( to Buchach near Ternopil, 1765 km from Mailly by train) where it remained until May 1944 when it was transferred all the way back to France where it saw action in Normandy before it retreated to Germany. It then took part in the Battle of the Bulge, first in reserve and saw its first action on the 21st at Sankt Vith, three days after Büschel took those photos of men from Kampfgruppen Hansen and Knittel between Recht and Poteau.

User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#147

Post by Harro » 19 Jan 2020, 21:37

A 1st US Infantry Division G-2 report about the capture of the dispatch rider carrying PK-Berichter SS-Unterscharführer Schäfer's newsreel rolls. The courier and the film were captured on the 19th, one day after the film and photos were taken and four days before Hohenstaufen arrived in the Poteau area. The report details what is on the film and when it was filmed.
74615550_10220980708653258_715320506726744064_n.jpg
75543644_10220980708693259_1990083181184811008_n.jpg

rash
Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 29 Mar 2018, 15:31
Location: Poland

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#148

Post by rash » 27 Jan 2020, 19:38

Ok, No doubt perhaps you are right, Thats my new theory I was going to check reactions on it

User avatar
Harro
Member
Posts: 3233
Joined: 19 May 2005, 19:10
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#149

Post by Harro » 27 Jan 2020, 21:30

Harro wrote:
09 Dec 2019, 07:33
So we have a Kradschütze (light motorcycle-mounted infantry) from an unidentified SS unit - some say Hohenstauffen, some say Wiking - and a Panzergrenadier (heavy infantry) from the LSSAH. The share similar features. Other than that, we have nothing that links these men. Again, I think it is unwise to go solely on facial similarities. Elimar Schneider looks like one of the guys in the Poteau pics yet it is not him, Willi Gilbert looked like one of them but it is not him, Heinz Mäger also looked like one of them yet it wasn't him, see the pattern?

rash
Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 29 Mar 2018, 15:31
Location: Poland

Re: Who is this Ardennes soldier?

#150

Post by rash » 29 Jan 2020, 09:48

Yes, you are right, I see the point

Post Reply

Return to “Heer, Waffen-SS & Fallschirmjäger”