First German POWs in North Africa

 

Image size: 1600 x 1531 pixel. 893 KB
Date: Thursday, 17 April 1941
Place: Tobruk, Libya, North Africa
Photographer: Unknown

Men of the Australian 9th Infantry Division guard Italians and some of the first German prisoners to be taken during the war in North Africa, after Rommel's first unsuccessful assault on Tobruk, 17 April 1941. If we are talking about Heer Division, it was the 5. leitche-Division during the 1st Siege of Tobruk that was on 10-14 April 1941. However, on the 2nd Siege of Tobruk from 30 April to 7 May 1941 it was a mix between the elements of the 5.leichte-Division and the newly arrived 15. Panzer-Division (except for Panzer-Regiment 8 that was not involved yet). BTW, if someone asking: Why are their heads bowed? It is actually a basic techniek of not to look your captors in their eyes, state only your name and number. Look what happened at Malmedy: at the Nuremberg Trials the SS Soldiers stated in their defense that the American POW’s looked at them tauntingly almost staring them down ... we all know how that ended for the Americans! 

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4981605118546865&set=gm.2563691697254982
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205205791
http://menofwehrmacht.blogspot.com/2020/12/first-axis-pows-at-tobruk.html

Mess Attendant Doris Miller Receives the Navy Cross from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Image size: 1294 x 1600 pixel. 196 KB
Date: Wednesday, 27 May 1942
Place: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States
Photographer: Unknown

Doris Miller, Mess Attendant Second Class, US Navy, Receives the Navy Cross from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, at an awards ceremony held on the flight deck of USS Enterprise (CV-6) at Pearl Harbor. Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, 1942, and on May 27, 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked: "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts." The medal was awarded for heroism on board USS West Virginia (BB-48) during the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941. Doris ("Dorie") Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919. He enlisted in the Navy in September 1939 as a Mess Attendant Third Class. On December 7, 1941, while serving aboard USS West Virginia (BB-48), he distinguished himself by courageous conduct and devotion to duty during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on this occasion. An effort to award him the Medal of Honor was not approved and some suspected racism. Doris Miller served aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35) from December 1941 to May 1943. He was then assigned to the escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56). Cook Third Class Miller was lost with that ship when she was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-175 on November 24, 1943, during the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Missing in action, he was declared dead on November 25, 1944. 

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Admiral_Chester_W._Nimitz_pins_the_Navy_Cross_on_Doris_Miller,_Pearl_Harbor,_May_27,_1942.jpg

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1066

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

Wrecked B-17C Flying Fortress at Hickam Field

Image size: 1600 x 1131 pixel. 476 KB
Date: Sunday, 7 December 1941
Place: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States
Photographer: Tai Ling Soo

Wrecked Army Air Corps B-17C (serial 40-2074) Flying Fortress of 38th Reconnaissance Squadron near Hangar 5 at Hickam Air Field, following the end of the Japanese raid. This plane, piloted by Captain Raymond T. Swenson, was one of those that arrived during the raid. It had been the second plane to take off from Hamilton Field, San Rafael, California the previous evening, was now rounding Diamond Head and preparing to land at Hickam. Second Lieutenant Ernest Reid, the co-pilot, was anxious to be on the ground. The whole crew was badly in need of a brief rest after the long flight, and all were looking forward to an afternoon on the sunny beaches of Waikiki. First Lieutenant William R. Schick, the flight surgeon, watched the big island spread out below him from his passenger seat in the aircraft. Second Lieutenant H. R. Taylor, the navigator, was snapping photographs, though he was somewhat mystified by the early morning fireworks he saw in the distance. Captain Swenson assumed the locals were burning sugarcane. He was still unaware of the battle that raged below. The landing gear was lowered and his B-17 dropped to 600 feet for final approach before the crew got a good look at the airfield, now fully under attack. Japanese Zeroes zoomed in to rake the inbound Flying Fortress with a stream of tracers. It was too late to pull up and abort, so the pilot steeled himself against the looming inferno and stayed on course. To the rear Lieutenant Schick cried out, "Damn it! Those are real bullets they're shooting. I'm hit in the leg." The incendiaries ignited the magnesium flares on the plane and they burned furiously. Smoke filled the cockpit as the B-17C dropped earthward, and then hit hard on what was left of the runway. The big bomber broke completely in half. In that moment Captain Swenson's B-17 gained the dubious distinction of being the first American airplane to be shot down in World War II. Lieutenant Masanobu Ibusuki and Lieutenant Commander Shigeru Itaya claimed credit for the B-17C. The nine crewmen scrambled for safety and Lt. Schick was shot in the head by a A6M2 Zero-Sen. Four others were wounded. Swenson and Reid set the parking brakes and shut down the engines on the burning aircraft. Note bicycle parked by the plane. Pith helmet by the case in the left foreground indicates that the photographer was Tai Sing Loo. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1044

Adolf Hitler Congratulating Hitlerjugend Boys

Image size: 1600 x 1123 pixel. 390 KB
Date: Tuesday, 20 March 1945
Place: Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Unknown photographer from Heinrich Hoffmann Studio

Führer und Reichskanzler ("Leader and Reich Chancellor") Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945) touches the face of Wilhelm "Willi" Hubner (1929-April 12, 2010) a Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") during an awards ceremony behind the Reich Chancellery on March 20, 1945. This view was taken from "Die Deutsche Wochenschau" Nummer 755 ("The German Weekly Review" Number 755), which was the last newsreel circulated to non-occupied Germany in March 1945. To Hubner's left is Alfred Czech. To his right, two persons down, is Erwin Scheidewig. Reichjugendfuhrer "Reich Youth Leader") Artur Axmann had just presented twenty Hitler Youth with the Eisernes Kreuz ("Iron Cross") Second Class. Hubner was first decorated by Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph P. Goebbels (October 29, 1897 - May 1, 1945) in Lauban, a German city retaken by the Nazis on March 6, 1945. Hubner was a messenger attached to the Fuhrer-Grenadier-Division and was decorated for bravery under fire in the city square on March 9. Hubner was flown to Berlin, given a new uniform, and after waiting a short time, was redecorated by Axmann. Hitler never actually awarded the medals. The scene was photographed and Hubner was compelled to tell his story for the cameras. Hubner told his story, probably heavily edited, for the cameras: "When the Russians were closing in on Lauban, I reported for voluntary duty as a messinger to the combat commander. My job was to take dispatches to the individual command posts. I also frequently took provisions and panzerfausts (literally "tank fists" a disposable anti-tank weapon) up to the front line under fire. I carried the panzerfausts in a wheel barrow under enemy fire." The son of a farmer in Goldenau, Silesia, Czech made two trips under fire with his father's horse cart rescue wounded German soldiers. He first brought out eight, then four soldiers. The next day, while hiding in their home, a General ordered Czech to fly to Berlin to meet Hitler. Arriving in Berlin, Czech could hear the Soviet artillery outside the city, which was not yet in range. Hubner and Czech and eighteen others were given a large breakfast and put on clean uniforms. They lined up outside the Chancellery's back wall in the garden. While they waited for Hitler, Axmann told them to be at ease and to not greet the Fuhrer with the Nazi salute. Axmann pinned the Iron Crosses on the Hitler Youth. Czech remembered his conversation with Hitler as "So you are the youngest of all? Weren't you afraid when you rescued the soldiers?". Czech responded "No, my Führer!" Decades later, Czech stated ""Even at [age] twelve, I was an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler," After the ceremony, the Hitler Youth lunched with Hitler in the Führerbunker, and told him their combat stories. Hitler was especially pleased with Hubner's story, as it reminded him of his own time as a messenger during World War I. The Hitler Youth were given one wish before returning to combat; Czech asked for and received an accordion. He could not return to Goldenau; the Red Army had occupied it. Czech was sent to German-occupied Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia and was shot in the lung. When he recuperated and returned to Goldenau, he found that his father was drafted into the Volkssturm ("People's Storm" the German Home Guard) and had gone missing during combat. His body was found in July 1945 with a bullet in his neck. Czech threw away his Iron Cross because of the taunting he received from Red Army occupation soldiers and Polish nationals. His sister was forced by the Soviets to consume the photo of Czech and Hitler that was hung over the family's mantlepiece. Germans were being expelled from Silesia and forced to move West. Czech was famous in his town as the Hitler Youth. Working as a miner while filing applications to emigrate to West Germany, he was finally allowed to leave when he joined the Communist Party. There he reacquired an Iron Cross and another copy of the photo for his living room. Hubner appeared in several documentaries after the war about the Hitler Youth, including "V Was for Victory" and "The World at War." He appeared with Erwin Scheideweg in a Netherlands Television documentary called "Die Hitlerjugend" in 1973. Nothing further is known about Erwin Scheideweg. Armin Lehmann (May 23, 1928 – October 10, 2008) often said to be standing with Hubner and Czech, wasn't present on March 20, 1945, but was decorated on Hitler's birthday on April 20, 1945 in an undocumented ceremony outside the Fuhrerbunker in the Chancellery garden.

Source:
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 755 - 22 March 1945
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/foto-terakhir-hitler.html

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0265

12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" Panther Ausf G

Image size: 1600 x 988 pixel. 737 KB
Date: Tuesday, 20 June 1944
Place: Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, Normandy, France
Photographer: Frank L. Dubervill

A Knocked out Panzerkampfwagen Panther ausf G, commanded by Untersturmfuhrer Paul Teichert (born 5 August 1924) from the 4.Kompanie/1.Abteilung/SS-Panzer-Regiment 12/12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" outside 75 Rue de Bayeux in Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. The suspension has failed in the fire and the tank has settled to the ground. On the night of June 8-9, 1944, the 1st Abteilung and the 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment made an attack on the 1st Battalion, The Regina Rifle Regiment, 3rd Canadian Division, with twenty-two panthers under SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Max Wünsche, two batteries of self-propelled artillery and a motorcycle company led by SS-Oberführer (later SS-Brigadefuhrer) Kurt "Panzer" Meyer. The Reginas had suffered heavy casualties in the landing on Juno Beach on June 6, but with reinforcements moved towards Caen and occupied Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, Norrey, and Cardonville; other Canadian units occupied other towns, including Putot. The 12th SS "Hitlerjugend" Division was made up of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old Hitler Youth and commanded by SS-Brigadefuhrer Fritz Witt. Witt received orders to drive the Canadians into the sea. Meyer expected the Canadians to falter under a concentrated armored attack, a successful tactic on the Eastern Front. At 1100 Hours the attack began. Lacking heavy anti-tank weapons, the Reginas had to stop the Panthers with 6-pounder 57mm (2.24 inch) guns and Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT), a spigot mortar with a 12 pound (5 kilogram) high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge; the 6-pounders and the PIATs could only penetrate the lesser rear armor of the Panthers. The Reginas also had a large quantity of small arms and aummunition. One PIAT team - Rifleman Joseph E. LaPointe, Rifleman Gill A. Carnie and Lance Corporal Clarence V. Hewitt - took up a position 15 yards (14 meters) from the Regina Rifles Headquarters near Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse's Church. The flaw in Meyer's plan was that his units, having just arrived at the front, lacked coordination with other attacking Hitlerjugend elements; he also sent his Panthers without much infantry down the Rue de Bayeux, allowing the Reginas to deal with them one at a time. The Reginas claimed twelve Panthers were destroyed; Meyer would only later admit to six lost. The Panther in this photo closed to within 30 yards (27 meters) of the Regina's Headquarters at 0000 Hours; LaPointe, exposing himself to the tank's machine gun fire, struck the Panther with repeated PIAT hits. The Panther, attempting to escape, hit an improvised mine of 75 grenades. LaPointe received the Military Medal. A second Panther, seeing the first explode, fired wildly but only struck the first Panther, fracturing the rear of the turret. The crew of the stricken Panther bailed out and were shot down by the Canadians. Meyer was able to reclaim the nearby town of Putot from the Winnepeg Rifles, but the Reginas held Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse throughout the campaign for Caen. Witt was killed on June 14 in a naval bombardment. 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ceased to exist during the Normandy campaign; some 1,500 of their 21,500 officers and men were killed, wounded or captured by September 1! Kurt Meyer was captured on September 6, 1944 and after the war was tried for the war crime of killing thirty-seven Canadian prisoners at the Abbey Ardennes on June 7, the day before the battle for Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. Canadians were outraged that he was given only nine years in prison. Max Wünsche was captured on August 20 after driving a German vehicle through the liberated town of St. Lambert. This Panther was the first to be knocked out in ground combat in the Normandy campaign. 

Source:
National Archives of Canada, PA-130149 
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/CA/Normandy/Normandy-2.html