Aces!

This is coolbert:

"How do you think he does it? I don't know! What makes him so good?" - - from "Tommy" - - The Who.

It is undeniable that during World War Two [WW2], the German military produced some men whose battlefield exploits are the thing of legend.

The Luftwaffe had such superlative combat pilots as Hans Ulrich Rudel ["Eagle of the East"] and Erich Hartmann ["The Blond Knight of Germany"].

Men whose performances were so outstanding and unique that special awards for valor and courage had to created just for them.

German ground forces, particularly in the area of armored warfare also produced men whose exceptional and extraordinary battlefield exploits defied the ordinary accolades awarded a brave soldier.

[One here has to stop and wonder if the word "hero" is appropriate when considering the behavior of the German military in WW2. Such has been the opprobrium heaped upon the German due to the behavior of SOME during the war that to speak of a German "hero" in the context of WW2 is OUT OF THE QUESTION!! Even those did not participate in atrocity were SILENT!! What is to make of such German luminaries as Rommel, Model, or Guderian and their acquiescence to the Nazi regime!!??]

You all know what I am talking about. The death camps, the undeniable atrocities, etc.

German tank commanders such as Michael Wittmann and Hyazinth von Strachwitz, however, can be seen as being somewhat above the fray in the controversial sense. Fought a militarily more PURE war. Did not involve themselves in "atrocious" behavior. Can be admired as soldiers fighting for their cause in a brave and valiant manner.

Michael Wittman is considered to be the "greatest tank ace of World War Two".



"The number of enemy vehicle kills achieved by crews under Wittmann's command has never been surpassed. Wittman's crews (chiefly gunner Balthasar "Bobby" Woll, also a Knight's Cross holder) are known to have destroyed at least 138 tanks and 141 artillery pieces, along with an unknown number of other armoured vehicles."

[these figures of course do not include soft-skinned vehicles and enemy ground troops killed as well.]

Was first an enlisted man and an armored car driver. Then the commander of an assault gun. Finally the commander of a Tiger tank and ultimately a Tiger tank unit.

Wittmann was also a SS Mann. Was a member of the Waffen SS. This is so. Also a graduate of the famous school at Bad Tolz. Became an officer and gentleman. You have to wonder what they could have taught Michael with regard to tactics on the battlefield. Perhaps they did not. NOTHING could be taught him with regard to combat. About all you could teach Michael would be the finer points of music appreciation [German classical music], ballroom dancing, etc.

Fought in all fronts of the war. Poland, France, Balkans, Russia, France.

Met his end [as did his tank crew] under circumstances that are not clear. Was only given proper burial in 1982. A man who was recognized by his peers as being several cuts above the rest and whose death was a big loss for the German military.

"While the manner of his death is clear - his tank was hit by two shots to the right rear hull which caused an explosion large enough to throw the turret from the vehicle - the weapon responsible is not."

"Wittmann was highly admired by his comrades and very highly thought of by his superiors. Michael Wittmann represents a real hero who fought to the bitter end for his Fatherland. Wittmann's personal bravery is unquestionable and his place in the annals of military history thoroughly deserved."

Of Hyazinth von Strachwitz, the British author James Lucas says:

"the names of Wittmann and Peiper are well known, but less famous is Hyazinth von Strachwitz, whose exploits with small panzer battle groups gained him a reputation throughout the German Army for cool-headed courage . . . probably the most famous of the German Army's tank men at tactical level during the campaigns with Russia."

[his full name is Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz. From a very noble family. Hyazinth surprisingly is a man's name. St. Hyazinth [Hyacinth in English] was a MAN! Seven hundred years of men in the family von Strachwitz had the name of Hyazinth. This man was from a family of LINEAGE and PRIDE!!]



von Strachwitz was wounded no less than fourteen times during the war!!?? Led from up front and was the first into battle leading his unit. And all this from a man that by 1945 was fifty two years old!!?? NOT a young man but fighting the war as a young man!!

What is one to make of such men as Wittmann and von Strachwitz??!! Brave men fighting for their nation in a cause and for a leader that was not admirable.

[it is a known fact that in 1947, the Haganah, the underground fighting arm of the Jews in Palestine and embryonic formation that became the Israeli military, sent it's most promising young officers to Germany to study tank tactics from the German masters. You may not LOVE them, but you can RESPECT them!!]

coolbert.