Ernst
Barkmann (highest promotion SS-Oberscharführer) was a top Panzer(Type:Panther)
ace in the German Army and in the 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich" on
both the Eastern and the Western Front.
He was born on 25 August 1919 as the son of a local farmer.He volunteered to the Waffen SS on 02.04.1939,served with SS-Standarte "Germania" and took part in Poland,France and Russia. Same years,he was wounded as grenadier and MG-Schütze in Poland.In 1941,Ernst Barkmann was wounded in battle again and he received the Silver Wound Badge and the Iron Cross 2nd Class. During the following months he distinguished himself in battle and became commander of a "Panther" tank as Rottenfuhrer.
Actions in Russia
Ernst Barkmann transfered to second platoon of 2/SS-Pz.Reg.2 in 1942.He took part as gunner of Alfred Hargesheimer's Panther for a time period.Early 1943,he got his own panther and became commander of a Panther as SS-Rottenführer.(Panther no:221)
In
the early morning of 4 February,panzer commanders of the 2/SS-Pz.Reg.2
stood in their cheif,SS-Hastuf.Lorenz,who had just returned from
Abteilung headquarters,and awaited orders."Comrades,the company will
attack,in unit formation,advanced enemy forces near Olschowatka and take the
village.Thereafter we will advance to next town.Panzer 221(Barkmann) on the left
flank of the company,the rest in normal formation.Mount!"
Ernst Barkmann gave the battle orders to his crew via the
intercom."We will advance to Olschotwatka under cover of terrain,Panzer
March!"
Panzer Rolled.Panther 221 reached a dip in the terrain
and followed it,then it swung towards the village where the first anti-tank gun
was already firing on frontally attacking Panzers of the company.A maxim machine
gun opened fire on Barkmann's panther.The gunner silenced it with his first
shot.At full speed the Panzer raced towards the village."Watch
out,Molotov coctails!" Bottles filled with gasoline burst on nose of
the Panzer.Burning gasoline ran downward.Emerging from his hatch,the loader
tried to wipe off the pieces of broken glass and the burning liquid with old
jacket.Rifle fire repeatedly forced him back into cover.Then,the commander
recognized a Pak behind a house corner by the flash from it's
muzzle.Opposite,the enemy Pak commander spotted the Panzer which had closed in
to about thirty meters.He brought the Pak around to destroy it.Barkmann saw the
blank ring of the muzzle swing towards him.They were still some ten meters
apart.Run over the Pak!" The engine howled.At the moment when the
Panzer rammed the gun and pushed its danger was not over,bazookas boomed and
their projectiles hit the armor.The engine noise the Panzers,which had pushed
into the village of Olschotwatka in the meantime,and their gun discharges,echoed
between the houses.
"Set up defense in the village" came the
order from the company commander.Barkmann heard on wireless that many,Panzer
were knocked out.Only three Panzers reported ready for action,among them Panzer
221.The theree undamaged Panzers returned to the starting position to fetch fuel
and towing vehicles.
Despite constant enemy fire the three Panzers reached their
starting position and were loaded up with jerry cans.The young Rottenführer was
replaced by an experienced Oberscharführer in the turret,and Barkmann had to
move the gunner's seat.In the middle of the night the three Panzer rolled forwad
again through the deep snow.Heavy drifting had started,the visibility was barely
twenty meters,and suddenly Oberscharführer lost sight of the other Pbazers.Soon
after they were stuck in a deep snow drift,in the middle of enemy-held
terrain.All attempts to free Panzer 221 failed.At dawn,the commander and the
loader set out on foot towards their own lines to fetch helð.Barkmann
stayedbehind with two comrades of his crew.Attacking "Ratas"(Soviet
planes) showered the Panzers with fragmentatiob bombs and machine gun fire at
first light,but the armor withstood the fire.
It only became more ominous when Russian infantry attacked
across the snow-covered terrain.Barkmann opebed fire with both Panzer machine
guns and Soviets stalled.Reinforcements,in the form of horse-drawn
Paks,arrived,and the duel with 7.62-cm guns began.The radio operator sent a
message to the unit that Panzer 221 had to be towed.This help was promised.In
the meantime three German Paks were knocked out,a fourth Pak blew up with it's
ammunition,and the gunner reported that only ten shells were left.Finally,18-ton
towing tractors approached.The first tractor was stopped by frontal hit.The
enemy Pak responsible as spotted by its muzzle flash in position by a straw
stack and was immediately fired on.The straw burned and gave off heavy
smoke.Under its cover the enemy Pak scored a hit to the rear od Panzer 221.A
bright flash of fire hit the interior and it became necessary to bail out head
over heels!The three crewmen retreated before the advancing Russians.The ywere
picked up soon after by arriving Panzers of the 5.Kompanie which was sent as
relief by the commander of the PanzerAbteilung,Sturmbannführer Reichsfreiherr
von Reitzenstein.The panzers of the 5.Kompanie could not save the burning Panzer
221.
A few days later,when Charkow was given up on 14 February and
SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich" was pulled back across the
river,I.Abteilung of Panzer Regiment 2,handed over its remaining panzers to the
II.Abteilung,and was moved back to Germany terriory for retraining on
Panthers.It was 14 February 1943.Before Charkow stodd and enemy with at least an
eight-fold superiority.The red tide overran the Charkow area in wild
waves,cutting oss our westward communication and supply routes.It broke,where it
did not already happen on the same day,into the defense,was practically
complete.Even their last open connection,the road via Merefa to Krasnograd,was
cut in the meantime and had to be cleared again.
Battle of Normandy and Barkmann's Corner
In
late 1943, Ernst Barkmann was promoted to the rank of SS-Unterscharführer. In
early 1944, the entire division was transferred to the Bordeaux-area in southern
France for rest and refitting. Following D-Day (6 June 1944), the
2.SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich" was ordered to move northwards and
was committed to battle. Das Reich fought at inner of Normandy.
When the invasion began on 6 June,2.SS-Panzerregiment
remained initially on alert in southern France since further landings were
expected there.Finally,it was set in march to Normandy.
US forces,the 30th and 9th Infantry
Divisions,had crossed the Vire - Taute canal on 7 July and pushed ahead to Le Désert.Taking
advantage of this success,the 3rd US Armored Division attacked northwest of
St.Lo. "Das Reich" Division attacked the enemy with a Kampfgruppe on 8
July near St.Sebastian-Sainteny.The 4.kompanie,with its Panthers formed
spearhead.For the first time,Ernst Barkmann encountered Sherman tanks.Accustomed
to the steppes and wide open spaces of Russia,he experienced the first of many
bitter battles in this landscape crisscrossed by hedges and gullies,the fighting
a short distances and great value of the individual Panzer.There were no longer
any Panzer battles on a large scale at Abteilung strength,let alone at that of
the regiment.
Action took place only at company or platoon
strenght.Often,the Panzer commanders were all by themselves and had to master
the situation without help from infantry.
On 8 July,Ernst Barkmann succeeded in knocking out his first
Sherman,just before the company stalled under murderous artillery fire.
On 9 July,he took part in the counter attack in the area of Péeriers
abd the attack by the 3rd US Armored Division faltered.From then on, Panthers
and Tigers exchanged fire daily with the US tanks which were desperately
searching for an opening,and caused the enemy heavy losses.
On 12 July,Barkmann scceeded in knocking out two enemy tanks
and immobilizing a third one.On13 July,the company stood ambush
positisions,camouflaged against fighter-bomber attacks,in Bocage when the first
enemy tanks appreared from bushy area.Six Shermans were clearly spotted at range
of 400 m.After two tanks had been knoced out,the other four withdrew.Then,a
grenadier came running and reported that Americans had broken through behinf us
and cautioned that they had half-tracks with Pak.Ernst Barkmann swung his
Panther around and raced through a small wooded area until he saw the enemy
spearhead in front of him.
The Pak being set up.Barkmann immediately opned fire on this
enemy with his gun while the radio operator fired on the infantrymen with the
MG.Suddenly,Pak fire ranged in.A shell whistled past turret.The Pak was silenced
with a direct hit.Then came a bang from the right,Panzer took a hit only
centimeters below the optical sight in the front armor.Flames began to leap from
the Panzer."Bail out!",the commander ordered.While the
driver,radio operator and loader managed to get out,the gunnder remained
unconscious in the interior.Barkmann ran back through the shelling and pulled
gunner out through the commander's hatch."Extinguish the fire!"
was Barkmann's next order.They were successful and managed to start engine again
and take the Panzer back to repair company.
Ernst Barkmann recieved replacement vehicle,with an order to
take three Panther and break through to the four Panzers of 4.kompanie which had
been encircled by the enemy.As he entered the Panzer,he could still see blood of
his predecessor who had been killed by a shot in the head; the
"affliction" of the commanders.This mission completed without
losses.Barkmann took over the positions of the four damaged Panzers.
During another attack by Sherman tanks,Barkmann scored three
move victories.Around noon,the commander of the regiment,Obersturmbannführer
Tychsen came to the position.It was planned to free wounded men of the division
who were being held prisoner in a house some 800 m away.The three Panthers
crossed the terrain at high speed and took the wounded prisoners back from the
retreating enemy.
That was Tychsen,the commander, who had proved his mettle in
many Panzer battles in the east, and then in the west,and who died,only a few
days later,at the spearhead of his regiment during a Panzer attack.On 20 July
and 21 July,Barkmann added four more victories over Shermans before artillery
fire damaged the tracks of his Panther and he had to take it back to the repair
company under great difficulties.
The "Old" Panther 424 had been repaired in the
meantime and Barkmann and his crew took it over again.When the breakthrough of
the VII.Us-Corps near Marigny,directed towards Avranches,became evident,Panzer
Regiment "DR" was withdrawn from its sector to close a gap in the
position of the Panzer Lehr Division.This was successful despite enemy air
superiority.This Division had been decimated in a two day bombardment by strong
Allied bomber units.During a change in position,Panther 424 suffered carburetor
damage.The repair group attempted to fix the problem right there.
In order to save time,it was decided no to take any special
precautions.This turned out to be disastrous.Four fighter-bomber attacked.The
first rounds whistled through the open engine hatch into the Panther.
Cooling hosaes and the oil cooler were shot up.The engine
caught on fire.They managed to extinguish the flames and worked throughout the
night.Their hard labor rewarded.At dawn on 27 July,Panther 424 was able to
follow the company into its new combat sector.They reached Le Lorey near main
road Coutances-St.Lo.On the curving road,at the exit of town,Panzergrenadiers
and supply soldiers came running to Panzer."US tanks are advancing on
Coutances",they yelled at them.But that was where they were going!From the
distance Barkmann could hear noise of the battle and aircraft engines,then fire
from sub-machine guns and rifles.Spiess and Schirrmeister both wounded and
approached his Panther.They reported American tanks driving on the road to
Coutances,together with a long column of vehicles."Ready for
Action!" Barmann ordered.Panther 424 rolled ahead slowly until the
crossroads were in view.It was ideal firing position,100 m to the
crossroads,covered at the side by an earth mound with bushes.
"Tanks coming from the left,we will fire on the two
point tanks." Gunner Poggendorf had the first tank in the cross
hairs,the first shell ripped the turret off the enemy tank.Then the second tank
at the point was in the cross hairs,it was set on fire.With this,the crossroads
were blocked for the following tanks.They turned back,even those vehicles which
had already passed the crossroads retreated.
"Open Fire!" The Panzer gun fired shell
after shell into the personnel cariers,jeeps and ammunition trucks.Within
minutes,the crossroads resembled a burning auto graveyards.Suddenly,Barkmann
spotted two Sherman tanks driving off the main road and approaching from half
left.A duel Panzer against tank began.The first Sherman burned brightly after
the second shot.Barkmann took two hits from the second Sherman before
it,too,caught on fire after a hit to the rear Fighter-Bombers then appreared
over the Panther,the first bombs towled earthward but did not hit.But with each
dive they came closer,a violent explosion made the Panther tremble and
shake.Fragments ripped apart a portion of the tracks and explosive rounds hit
the turret and hull.A number of shermans closed in and opened fire.Barkmann
managed to knock out two more before his Panzer sustained heavy damage from
hits.A shell ripped apart the weld and dovetailing of the Panther hull,another
shell blew the track from the teeth of the driving sprocket,and the ventilation
system in the interior failed.There were more hits to rear as the crew tried to
move the Panzer back into cover with the track blown off and a damaged driving
sprocket .This maneuver required the highest concentration,but it was
successful.Another Sherman,which had pushed ahead the furthest,was also knocked
out,then hte Panther limped back to farm house in the village of Neufbourg where
the most critical damage was repaired.Barkmann's battle at main road to
Coutances had stopped the advance of the US troops in the rear of German units
long enough to allow many units,which had already appreared lost,to save
themselves from threatened encirclement.As the last one to break off contack
with enemy,Barkmann's Panther,with two others in tow,reached Coutances on 28
July.
Enemy tanks had already broken into the city,one of the
Panzers in tow was knocked out by a Pak.As he drove around enemy-held sectors of
the city,Barkmann experienced another fighter-bomber attack.He was wounded by a
fragment in the calf and the loader was wounded.During the night 29 to 30
July,Barkmann drove his Panther in the direction of Avranches and had to cross
the path of moving US units.The next morning,he was forced to blow up the second
Panzer he had in tow.His own Panther 424 burned out a little later after its
ammunition had exploded.The crew,fourteen soldiers altogether,made their way on
foot to coast and reached their comapny again on 5 August.They had walked
through Us lines and crossed Gulf of Avranches at low tide.In the Justification
of the awarding of the Knight's Cross on 27 July 1944 one reads:
"During the fighting at he invasion fron,SS-Unterscharführer Ernst
Barkmann with his Panther was left behind to cover two of our down immobilized
Panzers.Due to withdrawal movement by his Division,he was separated from our
own forces.Barkmann blew up one of the Panzers and took the other one under
tow.He was repatedly crossed American troop movements and knocked out fourteen
enemy tanks.During the nights he joined US columns and managed to read his own
lines two day later..."
"Ardennes"
Ernst Barkmann also saw action in the Ardennes. He destroyed many American tanks in December 1944. At a one moment during the Ardennes battles, Barkmann's Panther collided with a Sherman and some armored vehicles. His panzer had a damaged engine, se his crew received orders to get out for safety. Then he was followed by some Shermans and caught some fire. His crew quickly drove the Panther through in the frozen wood to forward his Panzergruppe.Here i posted,his lone drove into Manhay with his own words accounts:
“The advance on
Manhay began at 9.00 p.m. At the same time as the grenadiers of SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt.3
backed by the Panthers of SS-Pz.Rgt.2 started forward, the junior commanders of
the 7th Armored's CCA received word over the radio to report in the village - to
be told to pull back as part of the general withdrawal northwards. However it
was already too late for the Americans in the Manhay area: a road-block, set up
on a minor road north of Odeigne and manned by a company of the 40th Tank
Battalion and of the 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, was already in contact
with the grenadiers.
A mysterious
column had been cautiously observed approaching the position from the south but
as the leading tank showed what was taken to be the typical blue exhaust of a
Sherman, it was decided that they must be a detachment from the 3rd Armored
Division, when suddenly Panzerfaust rockets blasted through the nearby woods:
grenadiers had crept up to the American position without being seen. Within a
few minutes six Shermans had been disabled although two of them managed to limp
northwards with the last one that was undamaged. North of the Belle-Haie
crossroads the column arrived on the N15. About a kilometre up the road to
Manhay another roadblock was defended by a company of infantry in positions
around ten dug-in Shermans. Again, the tanks and armoured vehicles were observed
as they came on through the night and were not taken for German.
The column was
almost upon the dug-in Shermans before the leading Panther fired flares and shot
up the positions with all its armament. The blinded and immobilised Shermans
were soon disabled, the crews bailing out to join the infantry failing back
towards Manhay. It was now a little after 10.30 p.m., the very time set for the
CCA to withdraw. Its columns had already started moving out of Manhay when the
Shermans that had escaped from the destroyed road-blocks burst into the village
with news of the German advance. The planned withdrawal rapidly degenerated into
a rout as, in desperation, some of the drivers tried to get away faster than
those in front. One platoon commander attempted to get two of his Shermans into
firing positions at the crucial crossroads in the centre of the village but the
situation rapidly deteriorated as one of the Panthers loomed out of the night.
It was every man for himself.
The
Panthers belonged to 4. Kompanie, SS-Pz.Rgt.2, which, under the command of
SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Pohl, led the divisional attack. SS-Oberscharfuehrer Ernst
Barkmann, commander of Panther '401', provides this account of his panzer's
advance into American-held territory.
'We reached the enemy-occupied
crossroads coming from a south-westerly direction, drove on in a double column,
and from all our tanks guns brought coordinated fire to bear on the recognisable
enemy positions with highexplosive shells. After this surprise bombardment there
was hardly any further reaction from the enemy.
'SS-Hauptscharführer Frauscher
reported by radio that he was pulling away in order to reach the Manhay road
which was to be attacked. While turning off the road, the leading tank in his
section received a direct hit and remained out of action. The second Panther was
likewise hit. The section was at a standstill. The commander urged us by radio
to continue the attack. I was anxious about my comrade Frauscher and his crew.
SS-Hascha.Franz
Frauscher(-1991)
'To clarify the situation, I
sent a brief message to the company commander to say I had decided to pull away,
in accordance with what he surely wanted.
Without waiting for his reply, we moved on. Making better
use of the terrain than its predecessor, Panther 401 reached the road without
interference. We crossed over it, and immediately turned in the direction of the
enemy. No firing! Using the higher contours of the road both for observation and
cover, we went slowly on, parallel with it so as to reach the leading tank which
had got stuck and give it protective fire. We couldn't find Frauscher's tank. I
learnt by radio that it had changed its position and moved forward again. So we
went on under the protection of the high-lying road and after a long time
reached the edge of the woods. Under the moonlight shadows of tall pine-trees,
we penetrated into the woods along the roadway.
'Fifty metres away, on the
right, there was a tank which had moved in, with its commander standing in the
turret, and which was apparently waiting for me. Frauscher! I moved up to the
tank on its left-hand side. As soon as both turrets were on a level with each
other, I gave orders to stop and turn off the motor and started to speak. But in
a flash my opposite number disappeared inside the turret and the hatches clanged
shut. My neighbour's driver's hatch lifted and then was lowered again. I noticed
a winecoloured panel light. But the Panther had a green one. Then I knew that
the tank alongside us was an American Sherman.
'Headphones on, I shouted on the
tank intercom: "Gunner! The tank alongside is an enemy one. Fire at
it". Within seconds, the tank turret turned to the right and the long gun
barrel banged against the turret of the Sherman. Gunner to commander:
"Can't fire - turret traverse stuck". The driver, SS-Rottenfuehrer
Grundmeyer, had been listening and, without any order being given, he started up
the motor and pulled back a few yards. Whereupon SS-Unterscharfuehrer
Poggendorf, the gunner, loosed off the Panzergranate into the middle of the rear
of the enemy tank at a distance of a few yards. I was still standing in the tank
turret. A blue flame sprang out from the circular hole in the rear of the
Sherman. As I took cover inside the turret 1 heard the detonation.
'We moved on past the burning
tank. From a clearing in the forest on the right two more enemy tanks came at
us. We fired immediately. The first one gave out black smoke and came no
further. The second one likewise came to a halt.
'No radio contact could be made
with the company. We went on nevertheless, supposing that Frauscher's tank had
been hit in front of us, and that the enemy tanks which had just been shot up
were lying in wait on the edge of the forest and were now trying to make contact
with their own units in their rear. But we had become more careful now.
'As everything remained quiet,
we still moved on and on. The forest was getting light. Then suddenly there was
a wide area in front of us that was clear of trees - a real forest meadow. The
road ran around it in a large S-shaped curve and disappeared into a downward
slope between the trees on the opposite side.
'I caught my breath. In the open
grassy area in front of us I counted nine enemy tanks close beside each other.
They all had the muzzles of their guns pointing threateningly at our tanks which
till then had been moving unsuspectingly directly towards them. Our driver
Grundmeyer recognised the danger. He was really taken aback. Standing still or
retreating would be suicidal. Only bluff could still save us. So it was a
question of escaping in a forwards direction. And the commander's orders to the
driver were:"Move on ahead without reducing speed". Perhaps we would
succeed in passing around them without being recognised because they were
thinking that we were their own tanks. We advanced along the bend, showing them
the full length of our sides and with nine turrets threatening us. Their gunners
really had us in the bag. But not a shot was fired. As soon as we were on their
flank and I could pick out the backs of all the enemy tanks drawn up behind each
other, I called a halt. We had the best firing position and in fact had only one
enemy tank to deal with. All the rest were blocking each other's field of fire.
I let the turret swing round to 3 o'clock (to the right) so as to let the gunner
get the targets in his sights. And then I couldn't believe my eyes. Those Ami
crews jumped out, rushed headlong from their tanks, and charged into the shelter
of part of the forest that lay behind them.
'This changed the situation for
us once again. I knew now that Frauscher's tank was behind me, was aware of the
company's combat plans, and had come to grips with an adversary who, in
nightfighting at least, was inexperienced and could be thrown into confusion. We
had to make use of this advantage in the context of the entire operation. Radio
contact with the company was still unobtainable. 'All on my own I decided to
have the turret turned to 12 o'clock (to the line of advance) and gave the
order: "Tanks forward!" We would have been happy to knock out the
enemy tanks but this would have alerted the whole enemy front. Also, our friend
Frauscher who followed us took care of that. According to his report, the tanks
were kept busy once again. He bagged all nine of them.
'We moved on towards Manhay. The
forest closed in on us again. Singly at first, then in groups and columns, there
were American infantry pulling out on to the road from the right side of the
forest. For reasons I couldn't understand, the enemy was disengaging. We were
moving through the middle of them without taking any special care. My crew, and
especially my driver, needed some clarification regarding the situation in which
we found ourselves. My young troops were very tensed up indeed, but wonderfully
calm, as always in such dangerous situations. The American soldiers were
avoiding us, jumping to one side, cursing and threatening us, but they didn't
recognise us as German tanks, though I was standing upright out of the cupola
and looking down at them. Beneath the squares of the pattern of the camouflage
netting their steel helmets were shining in the moonlight. Their faces were
haggard. Then the dawn broke over the forest. Suddenly, there were houses on the
left and right of the road. We had reached Manhay. So as to continue
unrecognised, we increased our speed.
The buildings became denser.
There were tanks and lorries which had arrived at the house and signs of
activity in front of a lighted cafe - surely a staff headquarters. Scurrying
soldiers enlivened the picture. We drove right through the middle of them - with
them even making room to let us through.
'Then we found ourselves at the
crossroads. The left-hand road led through Grandmenil to Erezee, the objective
for the company's attack. From this direction, three Sherman tanks rolled
forwards at us. I refrained from turning aside, and continued to drive straight
on over the crossroads towards Liege Anything to get out of the village! And
then turn round at some point so as to join up with the attacking company again,
or at least get back into its area of radio contact. That was what we were
trying to do. Till then, not a single shot had been fired - either by the enemy
or by us. To start an exchange of fire would have been mad and would have doomed
us. The danger had not yet been staved off; it was just beginning. On our right,
in the direction of the crossroads, there was one enemy tank behind another and
all Shermans of the worst type. And always in groups of nine or twelve, behind
each other in company formation. In the gaps between them there were jeeps -
company commander vehicles. The crews had sat down and were smoking and chatting
near their tanks. There was one enemy company after another, all in rows. I gave
up trying to count them but estimate the number of tanks at eighty or more.
'We had no choice left, we had
to get past them. The American soldiers jumped aside. Before long they
recognised us as German, but not until we were already past them. Behind us
motors were whirring and tank turrets turning but thank God that one tank was
blocking the view and field of fire of another one. I had egg hand-grenades
distributed in case we had to abandon the tank, lit up a smoke generator, and
let it roll over the rear on to the road. Thick smoke was screening us from
behind. The situation was becoming increasingly unpleasant.
'My gun loader Karl Keller
pulled me gently down out of the cupola in which 1 had till then been standing
exposed, and turned up the collar of my camouflage jacket. Pointing to my
Knight's Cross, he said, "It shines too much in the moonlight....'He had
been watching me the whole time from the dark fighting compartment below, and
had judged what was happening outside from the expression on my face. His MG
position had rows of machine gun belts with tracer bullets hanging beside each
other in it.
'The gunner was pressing his
face against the optical gunsight, thus having the possibility to see at least
something through the narrow field it offered. His hand was grasping the lever
operating the turret traverse mechanism.
'The driver suddenly said:
"There's a car coming at us from in front". My head went outside
again. It was true. There was a jeep moving along towards us. And there was a
man who must have been an officer standing in it and frantically waving a signal
disc. "He´s trying to stop us", I thought.
"He's been ordering us to
do that for a long time already as he approached. Is the man a hero or a
maniac?" Then the driver was given the order: "Run the jeep
over!" My driver acknowledged it. The jeep driver reacted, realised that
his situation was critical, stopped, and accelerated in reverse. A wild chase
began. The officer stopped signalling. Yard by yard the distance narrowed. Then
there was a crash. Our right track had caught the jeep and overrun it. The
occupants tried to jump off.
'Our Panther was thrown off the
road by the impact and came to rest with all its weight against the nearest
Sherman. I was flung halfway out of the turret. My headphones rolled away over
the roof of the turret and were left dangling. My cap remained as a memento for
those outside. Our engine stalled. Our big rumbler had ended up with its
righthand driving sprocket embedded in the tracks of the enemy tank and stuck
fast. After a moment of shock, all hell broke loose outside. Bullets from
infantry weapons were zipping round my ears and forced me to take cover in the
turret. The driver vainly tried to make the motor's starter work. I fished up
the indispensable headgear - microphone and headphones - from over the edge of
the turret and considered all the possible ways in which we could save
ourselves. But was there still any way out?
'Leaving the tank or defending
ourselves with our turret weapons would in fact lead to the same result - either
death or capture. So I had an urgent word with the driver. He was obviously
concentrating on his job. The batteries were recharging themselves. After a few
misfires, the engine came to life. We all breathed freely again. "Move
backwards!" Slowly and carefully, and without the track coming adrift, the
Panther disengaged itself from the Sherman and swung out on to the road. The
smoke pouring from a smoke generator scared the Amis away. "Move
forward!" Under cover of the smoke we moved on again. All along the level
road we went past tanks and still more tanks, columns of trucks, supply vehicles
including two halftracks, trucks belonging to a medical unit with a bus for
operations, until we at last reached open country. The houses of Manhay lay
behind us. The way to Liege lay open for us. Where I now longed to be was up
with the spearheads of my company with my tank unit behind them.
'As 1 noticed that there were
vehicles following us, the gunner swung the turret to 6 o'clock and as we moved
along loosed off high-explosive shells back in their direction and into the
village. After about 300 metres, I halted our '401', had the engine switched
off, and listened to the sounds coming out of the night. 'From Manhay were
coming the sounds of motors and the noise of tanks on the move. We had thrown
the Americans into total confusion at their assembly point. In the distance, I
could hear the sounds of fighting.
'Enemy vehicles were following
us again, including a Sherman, but we shot them up with accurate shell-fire.
Burning vehicles were blocking the road for the others. A couple of hundred
metres further on, we repeated the exercise. As we then changed course again
towards the north, we left the road and, on a bend, found a well hidden firing
position with a good view of the road. Here I stopped to let my crew get down.
They stood around my turret gulping in the air. I looked at their grinning
faces. Everything had worked out alright again.
'As the sounds of fighting came
nearer, we heard the ringing crack of the Panther guns. It was like music to our
ears. The company was attacking Manhay. The radio operator was tuning his
frequency adjuster. "German Tiger! German Tigers!", we heard.
"Help!, help!", coming through on some enemy channel in our combat
area. So our Panzer Vs were being taken for Tiger tanks, though there was not a
single one of these in action on this sector of the front. 'The enemy was under
severe pressure and was carrying out a mass disengagement, westwards towards
Grandmenil and in a north-easterly direction towards Vaux-Chavanne. We scattered
the enemy vehicles pressing us with our guns and many of these vehicles drove
off the road into open country and got stuck in the snow.
'Manhay
was taken by our troops in a relatively short time and our '401' had played a
part in this. The way to Liege lay open before us. We followed the advance on
Grandmenil from the sounds of the fighting, then left our firing position and
moved slowly back to Manhay past burning vehicles. There was not a German tank
to meet us at the entrance to the village. Instead there were hemmed-in and
abandoned American tanks and vehicles. The Sherman tanks which had capitulated
were standing in the front gardens, between and behind the houses. We counted
twenty of them.'(SS-Hauptscharführer Frauscher was honored with
Knight’s Cross for his heroic action.)”
The end of the war
During
the last stages of World War 2, in March 1945, he saw action against the Russian
army in a counter attack against Russian T-34 and "Josef Stalin"
tanks.Here
from his own report,"odyssey":
“The 4.Panzerkompanie was securing the loading of the II.
Pz. Abt. “DR”, with minimal fuel left in the tanks. The Russians pushed
across the rail lie to the north at the moment the company, as the last unit to
be loaded, found itself in a trap without fuel.
With great difficulties we secured the required fuel from the closest airfield
and reported to the nearest Heer Armeekorps with the ten Panthers of the 4.SS Pz.Kp.
During the same night we were sent into a counterattack with an armored unit of
the Heer and lost two Panthers during the withdrawal. The unit of the Heer was
annihilated during the counterattack. Left to our own resources, we forded a
shallow river, crossed a railroad embankment and pushed through the enemy
spearheads to establish contact with the 1. SS-Panzer-Division “LAH”,
engaged in rear guard action, and reported to the Panzerregiment.
Obersturmbannfuhrer Peiper wanted to take over our eight Panzers. His whole
regiment consisted of only ten Panzers ready for action. He had plenty of crews
without Panzers.
We were supposed to fight our way to our own units without our Panzers. He was
dreaming! We would not hand over our Panzers . Then he lectured us that he
usually treated his guests gently but in this situation he could not show us any
special concern and we would get to know the fierceness and morale of his unit
the hardway. My company leader, UntersturmfuhrerKnocke, nudged me.
During the nextdays, until 28 March, we proved to our good Obersturmbannführer
Peiper that the fighting spirit of the Panzers of “Das Reich” was not second
to that of the “LAH” and we became close friends. We were then securing the
withdrawal to the left and right of the main route,always engaging the enemy,
and unbelieveable and dangerous situations occurred. We held positions on
hilltopsduring the day, were written off and forgotten, and had to fight our way
back through towns occupied by the enemy in order to link up again with our
troops.
When one platoon became bogged down in a firefight, the other came to its aid
and helped fight its way out. During an attack by nine T-34s in the early dawn,
enemy tanks pushed past us to the left and right and attacked us from all sides.
The bravest T-34 broke through us right on the main route and rammed one of our
Panthers before my gunner blew its turret from its hull. We were successful in
knocking out all nine T-34s. All anti-tank action took place without support
from the infantry; we were the fire fighters. Despite a damaged gun barrel we
knocked out a Josef Stalin tank from a position on a back slope and towed two of
our Panthers, which had taken hits from it, from the battleground. The enemy
pushed back the “LAH” northwest of Lake Neusiedler in the direction of the
Vienna woods.
After two Panthers, my own included, were disabled by direct hits, we blew both
up in sight of the enemy. We said goodbye to Jochen Peiper and reached
Panzerregiment 2 “DR” in the Esterhazy area on 28/3/1945. We had long been
written off."
His crew was wounded by friendly fire and his Panther was knocked out, but not by a Russian tank.His tank drove into a bomb crater and had lost some wheels and its tracks. He surrendered in Avusturia in 8 May 1945.
*He changed name to Ernst Schmuck Barkmann after the war.
*Panther Callsign Numbers:
#221-Russia
#424-Normandy
#401-Ardennes
*End of 1944 and first days of 1945,he became commander of 2.Zug in 4/SS-Pz.Reg.2.
*He was a member of the 4.Kompanie/2.SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 and FeldPost Nr. 59544
*His Kill Score:
82+ Tank Destroyed or Disabled
136 misc. Afv's
43 Anti-Tank guns
*He was honored to :
1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class (July 14, 1941)
1939 Iron Cross 1st Class (August 1 or 8, 1944)
Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross (August 27, 1944)
'50' Tank Combat Badge
Infantry Assault Badge (Silver Class)
1939
Wound Badge (Gold Class)
* He survived the war,worked as Major in his town.He is still alive and living with his family.
|Back|