Abandoned Königstiger of s.SS.Pz.Abt.101

Image size: 2680 x 1429 pixel. 988 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Beauvais, Oise, France
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf B Tiger II Fahrgestellnummer (Hull Number) 280093, turmnummer (turret number) 104, of Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung (Heavy SS Tank Battalion) 101, after the crew abandoned the vehicle. Note that the hull mounted MG34 machine gun has been removed. After the destruction of the German military units in the Falaise Pocket, the surviving soldiers and their vehicles and horses made a dash for the Seine River in late August 1944. Several bridges were intact after repeated bombings, and the Allied divisions were severely depleted after two months of combat operations and unable to bring sufficient forces to prevent their escape. SS Abteilung 101 received fourteen Tiger IIs in late July and early August. As the Germans retreated into Germany, they engaged Allied forces in a defensive role, in which they excelled. On August 23, SS Abteilung 101 supported the 18th Luftwaffe (Air Force) Field Division in an attack on Guitracourt. Tiger II 104's commander, SS-Oberscharfuhrer Sepp Franzl (Squad Leader, or Warrant Officer) was the 1.Kompanie Headquarters Squad Leader. On August 29, Franzl's tank was hit by shellfire in the suspension near Magny-en-Vexin. Unaware of the damage, the crew engaged a British anti-tank gun in a barn at Aux Marais. When the Tiger II sharply turned to move away, the suspension failed, immobilizing the tank. Franzl and his crew bailed out. French Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (Forces of the Interior), irregular bands of resistance fighters, observed the crew and fired when they bailed out. Sources vary on whether two crewmen were killed or made it back to German lines. A Sherman tank commanded by a Sergeant Roberts of A Squadron, 23rd Hussars, 11th Armoured Division, came across the tank and fired on it. German tanks would sometimes "play dead" to ambush Allied armor, so any German tank was fired upon. Roberts reported the engagement and was given credit for the kill. The abandoned tank was left in the field until December 1944. Frozen in place, gasoline fires were required to move it. The damaged suspension also proved problematic for the recovery crew. The tank was taken to the Bovington Proving Grounds in January 1945. Until 2006 the tank was on private display at the Royal Defense Academy in Shrivingham, Oxfordshire. Then it was returned to the Bovington Tank Museum for renovation and possible return to running condition.

Source :
https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/07/tmn-on-tour-bovington-tank-museum-tiger.html
https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0150

Wiking Officers Strolling at Nurzec rail station

 

Image size: 1600 x 1246 pixel. 684 KB
Date: Saturday, 22 July 1944
Place: Nurzec-Stacja, Poland
Photographer: SS-Kriegsberichter Ernst Baumann

Three officers of the III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 9 “Germania” / 5.SS-Panzer-Regiment "Wiking" stroll along a road near the Nurzec rail station on 22 July 1944 at the village of Nurzec-Stacja in eastern Poland. The tower shown in the background still stands in modern times. The three Wiking officers are, left to right: SS-Hauptsturmführer Friedrich Hannes (Chef 12.Kompanie), SS-Hauptsturmführer Helmut Schumacher (Chef 9.Kompanie) and SS-Hauptsturmführer Paul Scholven (III.Bataillon executive officer). The village had just been captured by the Germans that day and the fighting is over for now. Due to the presence of Scholven it may perhaps be that these men are on their way to a meeting with III.Bataillon commander SS-Sturmbannführer Paul Kümmel. The barefoot German Heer soldier is an officer of the Grenadier Battaillon z.b.V.("zur besonderen Verwendung" or For Special Employment unit) 560 which was established as a Bewährungs-Battaillon or a probationary battalion created for soldiers who had been convicted of minor crimes or disciplinary offenses. Presumably this officer had earlier been captured by the Soviets and stripped of his boots and uniform insignia. Only several thousand meters to the north of Nurzec-Stacja the Gren.Btl.z.b.V. 560 had been surrounded by Soviet forces in the small village of Zerczyce for three days and was the objective for Kümmel’s III.Bataillon ”Germania” and their attack that day, successfully relieving the trapped and battered penal battalion which had suffered heavy losses.

 

The tower near the Nurzec rail station in present time

Source :
"Kampfgruppe Mühlenkamp: 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking", Eastern Poland, July 1944" by Douglas E. Nash and Remy Spezzano
https://www.facebook.com/2ssPanzerPionierBtl5Wiking/posts/three-officers-of-the-iiibataillon-ss-panzergrenadier-regiment-9-germania-stroll/657866484397502/
http://www.wieze.geotor.pl/wieze_cisn/nurzec_stac_1/nurzec_stac_1.htm?fbclid=IwAR0060NkbNJUXfdvzuVJSXyUu9SZ2NnaGZ0MtlD5pR-i9O8-1TDoExSVM7Q

SS NCO Ferdinand Breitfelder with Captured British Weapon

 

Image size: 2048 x 1362 pixel. 687 KB
Date: Saturday, 22 July 1944
Place: Montenegrin-Serbian border, Yugoslavia
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Ernst-Alexander Zwilling

SS-Hauptscharführer Ferdinand Breitfelder examines a captured British submachine gun in the company of Albanian soldiers from the battle group SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 21 shortly after the arrival of a companies of recruits from the SS-Skanderbeg Division to help I.Bataillon / SS-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 14, on 22 July 1944. A few days later, unit of Breitfelder would be surrounded by Tito's partisans, and he himself will be mortally wounded on the heights south of Andrijevica and will die from the consequences of his wounds in early August 1944. This picture itself was taken by veteran Kriegsberichter Ernst-Alexander Zwilling during "Unternehmen Draufgänger" (Operation Daredevil), a German Wehrmacht military operation against the Yugoslav Partisans at the Montenegrin-Serbian border area, aimed at breaking the Partisan foothold on the Lim river which was a potential penetration point into Serbia.

Source :
ECPAD Archives
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Draufg%C3%A4nger
https://www.facebook.com/groups/691098008051629/permalink/1025552444606182/?__cft__[0]=AZWtYgzBGoVpbdLbEaNS_viXPahYJmbQ2Rq0CpE0NBNpbGnJu7zX21dthnKGAn0vsXoM1-tXJP1xl4ReP2u9oYr666tMisoyZqDyCSliHUcZnjTWnToQWU_ZgODos7-L5n-gbSt9Q5Wle7lTHy0qijhE&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
https://reibert.info/threads/21-ja-gornaja-divizija-ss-skanderbeg-21-waffen-gebirgs-division-der-ss-skanderbeg-alb-nr-1.281809/

Max Wünsche and 12th SS Soldiers at Rots Normandy

 

Image size: 1186 x 1600 pixel. 484 KB
Date: Friday, 9 June 1944
Place: Rots, Calvados, Normandy, northwestern France
Photographer: SS-Kriegsberichter Siegfried Woscidlo

One of a famous set of photographs taken of the soldiers of 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" in Rots just after their disastrous assault on Canadian-held Norrey-en-Bessin on June 9th 1944. The photo shows SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (with his head bandaged), speaking to SS-Hauptscharführer Wilhelm Boigk and members of III.Zug / 15.(Aufklärungs-) Kompanie / III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25. From left to right: SS-Unterscharführer Peter Koslowski (Adjutant III.Zug), unknown, SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 "Hitlerjugend"), SS-Oberschütze Klaus  Schuh (soldat in 3.Gruppe / III.Zug), SS-Sturmmann Otto Funk (in the background, soldat in 3.Gruppe / III.Zug), SS-Hauptscharführer Wilhelm Boigk (Zugführer III.Zug), and SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 "Hitlerjugend"). The attack was undertaken by 12 Panthers of the 3.Kompanie / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 with the 15th company of SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 in support. "After leaving Rots on the southern road, the 3rd kompanie tanks passed beneath the rail embankment via an underpass and turned right facing west towards Norrey. They planned to use the embankment on their right as cover northwards as they moved towards their objective. Speed had been stressed by Wünsche as the highest priority. The Panthers quickly left most of the infantry behind in the dust. As they passed a linesman's cottage and crested the hill, they began to take accurate 6 pounder fire from the Canadian positions in Norrey. They had planned for this, angling their tanks appropriately and keeping up their speed. What they hadn't counted on was a squadron of Sherman's including Fireflies which had, by chance, taken a detour on their way to their defensive position, placing them a few hundred metres north of the panthers. Canadian fire from the 6 pounders and machine guns from Norrey was intense, but when the Shermans opened fire from their perfect ambush position, the 3rd Kompanie's Panthers began to brew up with horrific consequences. Burning crewmen hurling themselves out of their machines anyway they could. The Firefly commanded by Lt. G. K. Henry of the 1st Hussars accounted for 5 Panthers in that engagement. His gunner, Trooper Chapman, accomplished that feat with only 5 shots! Minutes later, the accompanying infantry of 15/25th arrived up behind the Panthers to support them. It became immediately apparent things had gone horribly wrong. To make things worse, as the attack began to stall, accurate naval artillery fire from Allied ships off-shore began to fall along the length of the rail embankment. A retreat was ordered and a few of the 12 original Panthers were able to fall back. The wounded crewmen and panzergrenadiers crawled back along the embankment towards the cover of the underpass and back up the road to Rots. The photos were taken as the exhausted men got back to the village.”


Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/foto-12-ss-panzer-division-hitlerjugend.html
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158834881874890&set=gm.1114336335675141
http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/11462-15-ss-panzer-grenadier-regiment-25/

Wounded SS Soldier during the Battle of the Bulge

Image size: 1518 x 1600 pixel. 610 KB
Date: Saturday, 16 December 1944
Place: La Gleize, Stoumont, Liège, Belgium
Photographer: John Florea of LIFE Magazine

Wounded German soldier of the Waffen-SS lying on a makeshift bedding after being taken prisoner during an attack on an American fuel depot at outset of the last major German offensive on the Western Front, a.k.a. the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and, later, Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses. The Germans had attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. Columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. The furthest west the offensive reached was the village of Foy-Nôtre-Dame, south east of Dinant, being stopped by the British 21st Army Group on 24 December 1944. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge
https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/wounded-german-soldier-lying-on-makeshift-bedding-after-news-photo/50494163?fbclid=IwAR1SoAFMCqA_IX25BsfVt5drlt4dt6klEI85ZjpUleJzkmhJoxGh4pHHrk4

Motor Units of LSSAH at Amsterdam (1940)

Image size: 1600 x 1081 pixel. 546 KB
Date: Thursday, 16 May 1940
Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Photographer: Unknown

On 16 May 1940, German troops marched into Amsterdam, including a Zündapp type KS 600 belong to motor units of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (motorisiert). In early 1940 the LSSAH was expanded into a full independent motorized infantry regiment and later a Sturmgeschütz (Assault Gun) battery was added to their establishment. The regiment was shifted to the Dutch border for the launch of Fall Gelb. It was to form the vanguard of the ground advance into the Netherlands, tasked with capturing a vital bridge over the IJssel, attacking the main line of defense at the Grebbeberg (the Grebbeline), and linking up with the Fallschirmjäger of Generaloberst Kurt Student's airborne forces, the 7.Flieger-Division and the 22.Luftlande-Infanterie-Division. Fall Gelb—the invasion of France and the Low Countries—was launched on 10 May 1940. On that day, the LSSAH crossed the Dutch border, covered over 75 kilometres (47 mi), and secured a crossing over the IJssel near Zutphen after discovering that their target bridge had been destroyed. Over the next four days, the LSSAH covered over 215 kilometres (134 mi), and upon entering Rotterdam, several of its soldiers accidentally shot at and seriously wounded General Student. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for the Hague, which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war. After the surrender of the Netherlands on 15 May, the regiment was then moved south to France through Amsterdam.

Source :
"May 1940: The Battle for the Netherlands" by Herman Amersfoort and Piet Kamphuis

The Capitulation of Greek Forces to SS Leibstandarte

Image size: 1600 x 1114 pixel. 180 KB
Date: Sunday, 20 April 1941
Place: Katara Pass, Northern Greece
Photographer: Unknown

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (Kommandeur Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler) negotiated the capitulation of Greek Armed Forces along with the Greek military representatives sent by Lieutenant-General Georgios Tsolakoglu (Commander Army of Epirus). The handsome officer at left is SS-Hauptsturmführer Max Wünsche (Adjutant Kommandeur Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler). This photo was taken at Katara mountain range, Greece, on April 20, 1941. Representatives from the Greek side are, from nearest to the camera: Lieutenant-Colonel Georgios Lagas, Colonel Nikolaos Balis, Major Vlachos, and an unidentified Lieutenant. In the account of that day from Rudolf Lehmann’s 'The Leibstandarte' Volume 1, the II.Bataillon / Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (motorisiert) led by SS-Hauptsturmführer Erwin Horstmann were surmounting the Katara mountain range on their way to Joanina. Before the summit, SS-Untersturmführer Jupp Diefenthal came careering down in a motorcycle combination with a Greek soldier in the side car who was holding a white flag of surrender. Relaying to Horstmann that he had been approached by the Greeks who were anxious to discuss surrender terms, Dietrich was immediately wired to come up himself to conduct the discussions. SS-Untersturmführer Ralf Tiemann was also dispatched back down to Hani-Murgani to escort Dietrich up accompanied by SS-Hauptsturmführer Max Wünsche. They arrived to see the soldiers from both sides standing casually about playing cards etc and a giant swastika hung from the road. Dietrich went to talk to the ‘parlementaires’ who were no doubt Greek Officers and they told him he would need to travel 15km west to Vontonosi where the HQ of General Tsolakoglou’s was situated. Tiemann than states the Wünsche was dispatched to inform Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm List in person of the developments while Dietrich and a small entourage drove on to the HQ. Tiemann states that he took over Wünsche’s duties in his absence and further relates that they arrived to be greeted personally by Tsolakoglou outside his HQ.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=229924&hilit=ralf+tiemann

A Change of Command Ceremony of SS Division Wiking

Image size: 1600 x 1072 pixel. 450 KB
Date: Saturday, 20 May 1944
Place: Lublin, Poland
Photographer: Unknown

A change of command ceremony for the III.Bataillon of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Germania" / 5.SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking" on 20 May 1944. The entire battalion is present in a U-shaped formation, only partially visible in this photograph taken on the football field at the Lublin army barracks in Poland. The ceremony is seconds away from starting, and waiting in the wings at stage right to begin the transfer before their men are three commanding officers: The center officer is SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Dorr (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Germania"). On the left is SS-Sturmbannführer Franz Hack, the out-going battalion commander who was moving up to take command of Wiking’s Westland Regiment. On the right is SS-Sturmbannführer Paul Kümmel, the new commander of the III. Bataillon, who was a commander of I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking" before. Starting with Dorr, each of the officers in turn addressed the men of the III.Bataillon, who were fresh off from participating in the battles for the relief of the surrounded city of Kovel. The two halftracks is Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D.

Source :
https://reibert.info/threads/5-ja-tankovaja-divizija-ss-viking-ss-division-wiking-5-ss-panzer-division-wiking.24489/page-31

Tank of SS Prinz Eugen in Split Croatia

Image size: 1600 x 1018 pixel. 151 KB
Date: Monday, 27 September 1943
Place: Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia
Photographer: Dr. Gruber

Armoured units of the SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen" and the Grenadier-Regiment 92 passing through the streets of the newly-captured city of Split, Croatia, during Operation Achse. In the foreground: A French-built Hotchkiss H38 tank (captured by the Germans after 1940) of the "Prinz Eugen" Division's armoured company, photographed from a vehicle of the 92nd Grenadier Regiment. Operation Achse (German: Fall Achse, "Case Axis"), originally called Operation Alaric (German: Unternehmen Alarich), was the codename for the German plan to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after the armistice with the Allies in 1943. Several German divisions had entered Italy after the fall of Benito Mussolini in July 1943, while Italy was officially still an ally of Germany, despite the protests of the new Italian government under Pietro Badoglio. The Armistice of Cassibile was made public on 8 September. German forces moved rapidly to take over the Italian zones of occupation in the Balkans and southern France, and to disarm Italian forces in Italy. In some cases, the Italian troops, that had no superior orders and suffered many desertions, resisted the Germans, most notably in the Greek island of Cephalonia, where over 5,100 men of the 33rd Acqui Division were massacred after running out of ammunition and surrendering; in Rome, after the royal family and the government had fled, a disorganized defense by the Italian troops stationed around the capital was unable to defeat the German attack. Additionally, individual soldiers or whole units, like the 24th Pinerolo Division in Thessaly, went over to the local resistance movements. Only in Sardinia, Corsica, Calabria and in the southern part of Apulia were Italian troops able to offer successful resistance and hold off the Germans until relieved by the arrival of the Allies.

Source :
http://bandenkampf.blogspot.com/2015/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Split
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Achse

SS Paratroopers with Captured British and US Flags

Image size: 1600 x 750 pixel. 192 KB
Date: Thursday, 25 May 1944
Place: Drvar, Croatia, Yugoslavia
Photographer: Unknown

Paras of SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka's SS-Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon 500 posing with trophies flags captured during its daring but unsuccessful parachute assault on Marshal Josip Broz Tito's communist partisan headquarters in Drvar, Yugoslavia, on 25 May 1944. Tito and the communist partisans were financed and assisted primarily by the British and the USA. Over 700 of the 1,000 personnel who participated in this operation, known as Rösselsprung, were killed or wounded. The SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500 was a parachute unit of the Waffen-SS made up of an equal percentage of volunteers from both regular Waffen-SS troops, and more specifically, from officially disgraced Waffen-SS officers and enlisted men who wished to redeem themselves under fire. In other words, it was a unit where dishonored officers and men convicted by courts-martial of minor infractions and currently in disciplinary straits could redeem their soldierly honor by participation in hazardous duties and operations. The first gathering of recruits was at Chlum in Czechoslovakia in October 1943. The SS paras wore standard Waffen-SS tunics and caps with Luftwaffe-issue jump smocks, trousers, boots and M38 helmets. Most of the volunteers appear to have removed the Luftwaffe breast eagles from their smocks. The training was completed at the beginning of 1944. The battalion often acted as a 'fire brigade' in the defense of the Baltic States. The brave paratroopers of the SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500 who survived long enough to see the formation of the SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 600 were given back their previous ranks and the right to wear the SS sig rune on 9 November 1944. At least five Scandinavians are known to have served in this battalion. Two companies of the later battalion took part in the Ardennes offensive in December 1944 as a part of the Austrian SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny's 150.SS-Panzer-Brigade wearing American uniforms and using American equipment. Only 180 out of 3,500 Waffen-SS paratroopers survived the war!

Source :
https://feldgrau.info/waffen/64-2010-09-02-12-20-17/19365-podborka-foto-509
http://stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2018-10-24T20:07:00%2B02:00&max-results=1&start=1&by-date=false

Ritterkreuz Award Ceremony for Michael Wittmann and Bobby Woll

Image size: 1281 x 1600 pixel. 406 KB
Date: Friday, 14 January 1944
Place: Vinnitsa, Ukraine, Eastern Front
Photographer: Unknown

On 14 January 1944, panzer ace Michael Wittmann was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) along with his gunner, Bobby Woll, for their achievements which have so far destroyed 88 enemy tanks. The presentation was made at Vinnitsa, Ukraine, by his divisional commander SS-Oberführer Theodor "Teddy" Wisch, who also nominated him for the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz. This picture shows Wittmann with his crew, from left to right. SS-Panzerschütze Werner Irrgang (Funker), SS-Rottenführer Bobby Woll (Richtschütze), SS-Untersturmführer Michael Wittmann (Zugführer in 13.Kompanie (schwere) / IV.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / 1.SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"), SS- Panzerschütze Sepp Rößner (Ladeschütze), and SS-Sturmmann Eugen Schmidt (Fahrer). Behind them is Wittmann's Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I Ausf.F "S04", with 88 victory rings on its barrel. Actually the Ritterkreuz recommendation sent by Divisionskommandeur Wisch to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) on 10 January 1944 "only" included Wittmann's winnings as 66 tanks, but something incredible happens: in the four day span between the submission of the proposal to the official approval notification, this tank master went berserk and destroyed no fewer than 22 additional tanks to hoist his winning score to a total 88!

Source :
https://panzermaenner.blogspot.com/2019/02/ritterkreuz-award-ceremony-for-panzer.html

Three German Commanders in St.-Lô area

Image size: 1600 x 1094 pixel. 434 KB
Date: Sunday, 16 July 1944
Place: Villebaudon, St.-Lô, Normandy, France
Photographer: Unknown

Three senior German commanders in the Battle against Allied troops in St.-Lô area, Normandy, 16 July 1944. From left to right: General der Fallschirmtruppe Eugen Meindl (Kommandierender General II. Fallschirmkorps), SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Paul Hausser (Oberbefehlshaber 7. Armee), and Generalleutnant Dipl.Ing. Richard Schimpf (Kommandeur 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division). Behind Schimpf is SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl-Heinz Boska (Adjutant Oberbefehlshaber 7. Armee). In this meeting Meindl told his commander, Hausser, that the German defense position at St.-Lô was untenable any longer due to the superiority of the Allied forces on land and in the air. The next day Hausser forwarded this message to his commander, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B). Unknowingly, on the same day Rommel was badly wounded by Allied air strikes and went to the intensive treatment at the hospital! This photo is most likely taken at Villebaudon which is the base of II. Fallschirmkorps.

Source:

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29879&p=2124764&hilit=schimpf#p2124764

http://www.specialcamp11.co.uk/General%20der%20Fallschirmtruppe%20Eugen%20Meindl.htm

The First Christmas of SS Division "Prinz Eugen"

Image size: 1600 x 1118 pixel. 437 KB
Date: Friday, 25 December 1942
Place: Yugoslavia
Photographer: Unknown

The first Christmas of the SS Volunteer Division "Prinz Eugen". Although the SS, being a pagan organisation, was essentially an opponent of Christianity – celebrating Christian holidays was nevertheless allowed within the organisation, because of the deep roots of this religion in Europe (that is, to avoid turning off the potential manpower). In the photo, the Banat ethnic Germans modestly celebrate their first and only peaceful wartime Christmas, before marching off to bloody battles across Yugoslavia. Their faces are already nostalgic and their thoughts directed towards home, to which most of them will never return.

Source :

http://bandenkampf.blogspot.co.id/2015/12/bk0118.html

SS Division Wiking Award Ceremony for Panzertruppen

Image size: 1600 x 1009 pixel. 350 KB
Date: Friday, 19 May 1944
Place: Kholm, Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

The photo is taken on May 19, 1944 at Cholm from an awards ceremony for the SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 of 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking". From left to right: SS-Sturmbannführer Paul Kümmel (Kommandeur I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"), SS-Standartenführer Johannes Mühlenkamp (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"), SS-Obersturmführer Kurt Schumacher (Führer 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"), SS-Untersturmführer der Reserve Paul Senghas (Zugführer in 1.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"), and unidentified SS-Oberscharführer (possibly also from I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"). The 5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking´s Panzer Commander Johannes "Hannes" Rudolf Mühlenkamp (1910 – 1986) was promoted SS-Standartenführer on April 20 1944. On August the same year, he was given the command of the division. He always led from the front and commanded Wiking until October 1944. Then, Mühlenkamp was promoted Inspector of Waffen-SS Panzer troops in the SS-Führungshauptamt. Johannes Mühlenkamp held the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves that reflected not only his achievements but also those of his men. To the European volunteers under his command he was a figurehead who was often to be found standing over his panzer, his face covered in dust, leading them into battle.


Source:

http://stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com/2011/05/copyright-and-license-all-text-articles_29.html

Muslim Members of Handschar Division at Prayer during their Training in Germany

Image size: 1600 x 1086 pixel. 301 KB
Date: Tuesday, 9 November 1943
Place: Neuhammer, Silesia, Germany
Photographer: SS-Kriegsberichter Falkowski

Muslim soldiers from 13. SS-Freiwilligen-Bosnien-Herzegowina-Gebirgs-Division (Kroatien) at their morning prayer during Eid al Fitr celebration in Truppenübungsplatz (Training Ground) Neuhammer, 9 November 1943. The prayer was led by SS-Sturmbannführer Abdulah Muhasilović, the official Imam of the division, while behind him are two muslim officers from Handschar. Muhasilović would be replaced by SS-Obersturmführer Halim Malkoč in 21 October 1944 after led a mutiny at Cerna). The Division itself had at least nine Bosnian Muslim officers, the highest ranking of whom was SS-Obersturmbannführer Husejin Biščević Beg, who had been a Muslim officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army when Bosnia was under occupation. The romantic notions that Himmler had about the Bosnian Muslims were probably significant in the division’s genesis. He was personally fascinated by the Islamic faith and believed that Islam created fearless soldiers. He envisioned the creation of a Bosnian SS division constituted solely of Bosnian Muslims in a manner similar to the Bosnian divisions of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many of these soldiers came from Bosnia, and it was a conscious decision to fight the Communist Partisans and the nationalist Chetniks. The Nazis tried to cater to the Muslim religious needs of their recruits, but the soldiers themselves cared more about protecting their homeland (as promised by the Nazis), than anything else the SS and Himmler told them about racial equality/superiority to the inferior Jews. Riots and desertions were commonplace among the soldiers, often to the Communist Partisans led by Josip Broz Tito, who promised the soldiers amnesty if they joined the Partisans. The soldiers were only interested in protecting their homeland in Bosnia, so any incursions into Croatia or Serbia to help the Nazi allies or war effort there met with consternation among the soldiers, and even more desertions.

Sources:

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-137-20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1977-137-20,_Bosnische_SS-Freiwillige_beim_Gebet.jpg

http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/muslim-waffen-ss-13th-division-1943/

Pulling the Dead SS Soldier from Dachau Canal

Image size: 1600 x 1218 pixel. 506 KB
Date: Sunday, 29 April 1945
Place: Dachau, Oberbayern, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

The photograph above shows two soldiers from the 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division and one of the released prisoners from Dachau concentration camp (Konzentrationslager) pulling the body of a dead Waffen-SS soldier from the Würm river which flows in a concrete-lined canal along the west side of the camp. The American soldier on the far right is 19-year-old Richard F. Dutro of 232 Infantry, E Company from Zanesville, Ohio. After liberated the camp in 29 April 1945, personnel of the 42nd Division discovered the presence of guards, presumed to be SS men, in a tower to the left of the main gate of the inmate stockade. This tower was attacked by Tec 3 Henry J. Wells 39271327, Headquarters Military Intelligence Service, ETO, covered and aided by a party under Lt. Col. Walter J. Fellenz, 0-23055, 222 Infantry. No fire was delivered against them by the guards in the tower. A number of Germans were taken prisoner; after they were taken, and within a few feet of the tower, from which they were taken, they were shot and killed. Quoted from the IG Report of the U.S. Seventh Army. The bodies of two other SS men from Tower B had fallen into the Würm canal beside the tower.

Source:

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/GuardTowerB.html

Knocked-Out Sd.Kfz.250 of Swedish SS Volunteer at Berlin

Image size: 1600 x 1238 pixel. 524 KB
Date: Wednesday, 2 May 1945
Place: Friedrichstraße, Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Mark Redkin

This famous picture by Soviet photographer Mark Redkin shows the knocked out command vehicle (Leichter Schutzenpanzerwagen Sd.Kfz.250 "Neue") of the Swedish SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson, commander of the so called "Schwedenkompanie" (3.Kompanie / Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 / 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland), at Friedrichstraße in Berlin. The body lying to the right of the vehicle appears to be Pehrssons dead driver, the Swede SS-Unterscharführer Ragnar Olof "Giraffen" Johansson. The escape attempt took place the night between May 1 – 2 1945. The above halftrack with licence plate 'SS 900915' was manned by the Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11. They came under heavy Soviet fire at Friedrichstraße. The driver SS-Unterscharführer Johansson was killed and the Swedish SS-Hauptsturmführer Pehrsson, commander of the very same vehicle, later identified the fallen in this photograph as his driver Ragnar Johansson. Pehrsson himself was wounded, but he managed to get away from the Soviets at the time. Fortunately, Pehrsson had time to get rid of his uniform jacket and changed into a Wehrmacht one before being taken prisoner. He was sent to a prison camp, which he managed to escape from. He then hide himself in an apartment in Berlin. After a while, he met another SS-man and together they walked to the British occupation zone and from there they were able to get back to Sweden. BTW, the researcher Lennart Westberg positioned the place for the photo to be Friedrichstraße 107 with the walls of the guardhouse in the backround, 200m north of the river Spree..

Source:

"Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45" by  Thorolf Hillblad and Erik Wallin
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=81014&start=15

http://stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com/2011/05/der-untergang.html

Portrait Photo of Karl Ullrich After Award Ceremony

Image size: 1082 x 1600 pixel. 491 KB
Date: Tuesday, 1 August 1944
Place: Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze, Rastenburg, Ostpreußen/East Prussia
Photographer: Unknown photographer from Heinrich Hoffmann Firm

Following the presentation of the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) #480 to SS-Standartenführer Karl Ullrich (1 December 1910 - 8 May 1996), the Hoffmann photographer uses the opportunity to take a portrait photograph. The decoration was conferred on 14 May 1944 to the commander of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 6 "Theodor Eicke"/3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf". The presentation of the award was deferred because of the assassination attempt on 20 July 1944. One month later Ullrich became commanding officer of the 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking". He died in Bad Reichenhall in 1996.

Source:

Fotos aus dem Führerhauptquartier - Hermann Historica München

Wounded SS With StuG and Destroyed T-34

Image size: 1600 x 1155 pixel. 481 KB
Date: Tuesday, 7 October 1941
Place: Staniza-Nowopaskaja, Sea of Azov, Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

A Sturmgeschütz (StuG) III A of the 1.Batterie/SS-Sturmgeshütz-Abteilung "Leisbstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Georg Isecke) approaches the Soviet T-34 tank that just recently destroyed. Other Waffen-SS men are evacuating SS-Unterscharführer Martin Hermann August Bergemann (born 30 July 1920 in Berlin-Heiligensee) from 1.(Krad.-)Kompanie/SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung "Leisbstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" after his unsuccessful attempt to destroy the tank with a mine. Several rounds fired against the tank at a range of 25 meters failed to damage it. Destruction came as a result of gasoline 'bombs' being hurled against the vehicle and setting it afire. It is possible that the damage to the track and road wheels was done by means other than gasoline bomb. Bergemann died of his wounds in the same day and then buried in Melitopol, Ukraine. This brave young warrior is listed as one of the early tank destroyer of the Wehrmacht.

Source:

Book "Waffen-SS in Action" by Norman Harms and Ron Volstad, page 15

http://www.volksbund.de/index.php?id=1775&tx_igverlustsuche_pi2[gid]=03195b53b216d97b5230c47fa55c3a8d

Johannes-Rudolf Mühlenkamp with his Fox Terrier dog

Image size: 1232 x 1600 pixel. 381 KB
Date: Thursday, 3 September 1942
Place: Caucasus, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Möbius

SS-Sturmbannführer Johannes-Rudolf Mühlenkamp with his Fox Terrier dog (with the name Heide). This is actually a professionally shot propaganda photo. The picture of Mühlenkamp (known as "Hannes" to his comrades, but referred to as "Rudolf" in most official documents into 1943) was taken by SS-PK Mann Helmut Möbius which took the photo in the Caucasus in September 1942, just after Mühlenkamp received his Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) as the commander of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5/5.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Wiking"/LVII.Armee-Korps/1.Panzerarmee/Heeresgruppe A . The photo then appeared in German newspapers. Note the Army eagle (Heeres hoheitszeichen) on his crusher's cap (knautschmütze)! At the eve of the war, Mühlenkamp was the Divisional Adjutant of the SS-Verfügungstruppe Division, until December 1940, when he was given the command of the Reich Division Reconnaissance Battalion. Mühlenkamp was seriously wounded in the head by artillery shrapnel near Jelnja, Russia. Hospitalized between October and February 1942, Mühlenkamp missed the first Russian winter of the war. On his release from hospital, Johannes Mühlenkamp was assigned to the 5. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking, as Panzer Battalion commander, until March 1943. When the number of soldiers from the battalion have been increased, the battalion was converted into a regiment. On August 1944, Mühlenkamp was given the command of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. He commanded this unit until October 1944. Then, Mühlenkamp was promoted Inspector of Waffen SS Panzer troops in the SS-Führungshauptamt. His last command was the 32. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division from January 1945 to February 1945.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes-Rudolf_M%C3%BChlenkamp

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=671909