Article
"The Black Baron"
And no, I'm not going to talk about Piotr Nikoláyevich Wránguel, I'm going to talk about someone also nicknamed that way, someone relatively known in the framework of the Second World War. I mean...
Michael Wittmann
He is credited with the destruction of 141 battle tanks and 132 anti-tank guns, along with an unknown number of other armored vehicles, making him the best of the best combat car aces in Germany, along with Johannes Bölter, Ernst Barkmann, Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel, who was the ace with the largest number of tanks destroyed (168).
Consider the difficulty of his feat if we observe that a tank combatant was more exposed to the syndrome of combat fatigue than an infantry or aviation combatant, since they fought in a closed, practically blind, being very vulnerable to attacks and with the permanent thought of the high possibility of being carbonized inside the vehicle.
Born on April 22, 1914 in a Germany on the brink of the First World War.
We skipped his childhood to focus on his military career, in 1934 he enlisted in the 19 th Infantry Regiment of the German Army, leaving the service in September 1936. On April 5, 1937 he enrolled in the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, receiving instruction in the armored vehicles Sd Kfz 222 and Sd Kfz 232. Take part in the Polish Campaign commanding a reconnaissance unit of the LSSAH. In February of 1940 it is transferred to a battery of assault guns of the Leibstandarte.
Already with the war started, in 1940 participates in the invasion of the Balkans, being in Greece in command of a platoon of StuG III, assigned to a battery of assault guns of the LSSAH. On June 22, 1941, he was on the front line for Operation Barbarossa, receiving the second-class Iron Cross on July 12, 1941. On September 8, 1941, he received the first-class Iron Cross for the destruction of Six Soviet tanks in one action in the Kharkov area. On June 5, 1942, he was accepted as a cadet at the training school for SS Junkerschule officers in Bad Tolz (Bavaria), graduating on September 5 of the same year as a Panzer instructor.
On December 24, 1942, Wittmann joins the 13th Company of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, commanding a platoon of Pzkpfw III, in a company of Tigre tanks. On July 5, 1943, he began his career in the Tigre tanks during the Citadel operation, in the LSSAH, located in the southern sector of the German device. On its first day in action, it destroys two anti-tank guns and 13 T-34 tanks. On July 12, it destroys 8 Russian tanks, three anti-tank guns and a battery of guns. In the period until July 17, 1943, he participated in the battles of Kharkov, destroying 30 tanks and 28 more guns. On July 29, 1943, the first company is used to form the 101º Tigre Heavy Battalion, which is assigned to the LSSAH in August and transferred to Italy.
Wittmann crew
In October 1943, after the start of the Soviet autumn offensive, the LSSAH is transferred back to the Eastern Front, in the Kiev area, changing Wittmann his Tiger 1,331 by the number S21. On October 13, the tank commanded by Wittmann destroys 20 T-34 and 23 anti-tank and infantry cannons. He receives his Knight's Cross on January 13, 1944. Between the 8 and 9 of January of 1944 its platoon stops a Russian penetration destroying 19 T-34 and three heavy assault guns. On January 30, 1944, Wittmann receives a telegram from Adolf Hitler that says: "in gratitude for his heroic actions in the battle, I award him as the 38th soldier of the Wehrmacht, with the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ".
Tiger S21
Between the 29 of February and the 2 of March of 1944, most of the company of Wittmann is transferred to the zone of Monza in Belgium, receiving the command of the second Company of the Heavy Battalion Tiger 101º, of the LSSAH. On March 1, 1944 he married with Hildegard Burmester, for that time is considered a hero of Germany. In May 1944 he joined the 101st in the area of Lisieux, in Normandy, France. The Battalion is located as a reserve in the area of Normandy, with the 12th Panzer Division Hitlerjugend and the Panzer Lehr. On June 6, 1944, Wittmann received the Tiger tank number 205, entering the battle on June 13 in the area of Villers Bocage, in the Caen area.
On that day, Wittmann's company destroys the entire 4th London Yeomanry Regiment, on hill number 213. On July 22, 1944, he receives the Swords for the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, being personally recommended by the SS Hauptsturmführer Josef Sepp Dietrich. The ceremony takes place on June 25, 1944, being decorated by Hitler in person, becoming the most decorated ace of tanks of World War II. He also receives the rank of Captain and is offered a fate as instructor, which he rejects, returning to Normandy on July 6, participating in the battle of Caen.
At the beginning of August the 101st Tiger Battalion was transferred to the Cintheaux area, and a new battle began on August 8, 1944. This would be the last battle for Wittmann and his crew. Wittmann's tank is hit at 12:47 on August 8 by a 17-pound cannon from a British tank Sherman VC Firefly. The force of the explosion blows the tower and all its occupants die on the first impact.
In March of 1983, during the construction of a highway in the area, the Tiger number 007 is found, being possible to identify the rest of Wittmann by its denture. His remains are transferred to the German Military Cemetery of "La Cambe", in Normandy.
Tiger tank 007
Wittmann's grave
Matias Dominguez
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WW2 Histories #14 "El Barón negro" (7 years ago)
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