Favorite Soldier

[aag567]

Mine is Mike Strank a Czech who became a Marine who lead the squad that hoisted the second flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, affectionately referred to as a "Marine's Marine" 'cause he was the type of a Marine in the movies (the ones made by people who don't know what war is like). One time he lead his men on a charge after saying "let's show those bas*ards a real banzai charge!".

[OliverMarshall]

Duke of Wellington-Excellent 'Sepoy General' who liberated Portugal and Spain from the French, the defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
Duke of Marlborough-Commanded the alllied armies which saved Europe from France and took Britain on her first faltering steps towards Empire.
Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson (do sailors count?)-Greatest fleet action ever and assured British dominance of the sea for the next 100 years
Michael Wittman-Greatest tank commander ever, over 100 tanks and over 150 guns destroyed n two years
Admiral Lord Cochrane-Great British sailor of small action and frigate fame
John Howard-Commanded the coup de grace at Pegasus Bridge
Field Marshal Montgomery-Commanded two of the turning points of the war and a great general
Winston Churchill-great statesman after he was a soldier and sailor
GeneralFeldMarshal(?) Rommel- The 'Desert Fox', inventive use of moble warfare in the Western Desert and a good soldier.
Hans von Luck

[biggles]

Well.....you should expect this one: Major Richard "Dick" Winters, Easy Company, 101st Airborne Div, 502 PIR.
Honestly, I don't think it's really fare to say a soldier is your "Favourite". What about all those unnamed heroes who fought and died during the war? I picked my favourite, because I felt this was a question I could not skipp. An example for a unknown hero is Michail Petrowitsch Mini, former U.S.S.R. It was he who raised the Red banner on top of the Reichtag, the world-famoous photo was a reconstruction which was made the day after........

[Edub]

Marine 1st Sergeant Brad Kasal


one of my favorite stories. This guy is Brave.

http://patriotpost.us/news/kasal.asp

[Hyperion2010]

As far as the rank and file its hard to say, Lt. Winters as portrayed in BoB is in a sense the idea of what a soldier and leader should be. In terms of generals, Zhukov, Caesar, Rommel, and some others. (and yes, if we are talking navy I'll throw Nelson in there too) and hell Churchill should be there too.

[Lordwatson]

I dont really know of soldiers as such because I only know what I see on films recently. I guess Hal Moore is pretty cool from what I read in We Were SOldiers Once... And Young.

[enigma]

Now this guys is hardcore:

link (http://www.amazingben.com/arf0091.html)
watch out harsh language

[[FFTF]Eurofighter]

Now this guys is hardcore:

link (http://www.amazingben.com/arf0091.html)
watch out harsh language

lol enigma which weirdo wrote that? The way this is written is hilarious!

[Lordwatson]

That guy HAS to be in the game!!! He looks and sounds so awesome!

[Vash]

The way he speaks is kind of annoying and painfull to read. kind of embarassing to be that guy.


But the soldier he's talking about, if half of what he says is true, is pretty hardcore.

[Hos]

Audie Murphy. American Metal of Honor Winner, WW2.
Unfortunately, Hollywood got to him. Although, he starred in the autobiographical movie, "To Hell and Back" where he played himself in amazing combat situations. He was a good actor when he played himself. :D

Although the movie was great, it would take 3 movies to dramatize all that he did.
http://www.audiemurphy.com/welcome.htm

Like Biggles said, so many heroes are out there to choose from.

USMC Vietnam sharpshooter Carlos "White Feather" Hathcock is up there as well.

[MikeMcLeod]

Ernest "Smokey" Smith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Alvia_Smith

[Lt. Stephenson]

The men of 2nd Squad in the 101st, A company, 506th Reg, 2nd Platoon.
Donald R. Burgett and Jerry Janes.
Jerry pryed a .50 caliber machine gun off a American half track and used it agianst the Germans during the Ardenne offensive blasting away as he walked forward.

[Hos]

Ernest "Smokey" Smith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Alvia_Smith

Awesome story. It's amazing how those P.I.A.T. teams took on mighty German tanks. I wonder what their casuality rates were.

[2ltben]

Charlemagne
Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson
The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley
Sgt. Paddy Maine(tore out an aircraft control panel with his bare hands)
Gerd von Rundstedt
Erich von Manstein
Sayid Jarrah;)

[Myth]

Fridrichs Briedis, one of the heroes of the Latvian Riflemen
George "Screwball" Beurling, one of the finest Allied fighter aces of the Second World War and saw action at Malta
Līna Čanka, the first female soldier of modern times (and part of the Latvian Riflemen)
Heinz Guderian, Germany's truest visionary of mobile warfare
Tadamichi Kuriyabashi, Japan's finest tactician
Adrian Warburton, the most eccentric recon pilot Britain had ever seen, an ace in his own right (downed 13 planes, including superior Italian and German fighters in his recon plane!) and served at Malta

[Fallschirmjäger]

I would say one of the many thousands of comanders or soldiers of the fallschirmjäger in WW2,there are so many,von der heydte,ramcke,witzig,koch etc..,and then you could say the father of them all kurt student he was a good guy.:cool:

[metsapeikko]

Well actually I have no favorite soldier, every soldier who fought in ww2 is my favorite, they had to made so many sacrifices...

[[BEF]-R!G4M0RT!Z]

That was an amazing account of what Ernest Smith did with the PIAT and thompson.

[biggles]

Marine 1st Sergeant Brad Kasal


one of my favorite stories. This guy is Brave.

http://patriotpost.us/news/kasal.asp


I wish there been more precise about the enemy. WHy did d´they call him a "Terrorist"? Are you a terrorist if you shoot aganst American soldiers during a war aganst them?

[Thanato]

My Grandfather, Norman Ellwood McKee, Navigator on a Bomber for bomber Command, member of the Royal Canadian Airforce, POW but escaped and made it back to Britain.

Also General Sir Arthur Currie is a good guy, best Allied General of WW1. Orcestrated the Attack and Capture of Vimy Ridge. Canadas first Canadian Promoted to the Rank of General. He also toured the Trenches.

~Thanato

[biggles]

As long you don't call Sir Douglas Haig a nice fellow. What a dork he was. Such a waste of human life at Somme......:(

[enigma]

As long you don't call Sir Douglas Haig a nice fellow. What a dork he was. Such a waste of human life at Somme......:(
actully some historian stated that the worlds opinion on this guy is wrong.

After the war he made a charity to look after veterns, the historian also put off that the tactics used where practically the only avaiable and taught the general staff important lessons.
Along with stuff Haig implemented to make the army better is what turned the British army from a small force into a fightign machine which eventullay won the war.

However since ive never really researched and read up on ww1 history i cant say if this is crap or fact.

[biggles]

Neither can I, 'cause I'm mostly in for WW2. I have a special interest for WW1however, possibly 'cause it's the first real bloody war with no real activity all the time.
But if I was to pick a man from WW2 that I think was "great" or somehow, a man yiuy should give more (positive) attention too, then I suppose I should put my cards on Erwin Rommel.

[Sgt So and So]

Rommel, the finest Blitzkrieg tactician, and, surprisingly, not a Nazi. I forget where I read it, but he was involved in an assassination attempt on Hitler, and Hitler gave him an ultimatum- commit suicide or have your family- mother, daughter, two sons?- sent to a concentration camp. He took his own life in 1945.:(

[enigma]

Neither can I, 'cause I'm mostly in for WW2. I have a special interest for WW1however, possibly 'cause it's the first real bloody war with no real activity all the time.


welll there was the more mobile action in the early and later days on the western front, the eastern front was less like the western iirc and there was fighting in the middle east and africa ... it wasnt all trnch warfare.

I forget where I read it, but he was involved in an assassination attempt on Hitler, and Hitler gave him an ultimatum- commit suicide or have your family- mother, daughter, two sons?- sent to a concentration camp. He took his own life in 1945.

He wasnt invloved in the July Plot, he was aware but did not take part, he also killed himself in October 44.


As for my own fav German, Erich von Manstein has to be it.

[biggles]

I am aware of the war around the globe in WW1 too, I wasn't clear on that in my last post.
The Death of Erwin Rommel is, if you ask me, the most tradgiest death of a greatly popular officer in the Wermacht. As said before, he was not a nazi, and didn't commit any warcrimes (even if the allies tried to find anything to blame him on in Nurberg, just for formality, they didn't find anything.) Another example of this mans popularity is that he NEVER underestimated an enemy, and his respect for the men on the other side spread amongst his soldiers.

It was a common event that Soldiers of the Desert Rats and soldiers of Rommels desert legion met in the desert to exchange prisoners, cigaretts (sometimes prisoners FOR cigaretts:D ) beer, helmets etc. And high command did not bother at all!

[Tough Ombre 359th]

I can't believe nobody has said Ira Hayes. This guy has to be one of my favorite soldiers. He was one of the men who rasied the American flag on Iwo Jima. 250 men walked up that hill and only 27 lived to walked back down again.

[aag567]

Ira Hayes was one of my favorites too, it's a shame he died from the what he drank 'cause of the public nagging him:( .

[Vash]

Rommel was indeed a great tactician, but after his Afrika conquest (after losing North Africa and Italy, in Normandy) he kinda lost his touch it seems.

The Atlantic Wall was satisfactory, at best (given there was not ample time to build a wall across the entire French coast, or resources), but Rommel's largest flaw lay in his mentality to stop the invasion cold at the beaches or not at all. His failure to withdraw the remaining defenders once the Allies reached high ground prevented the Germans from forming up in battalion or company strength and launching an effective counterattack. Instead, he chose to have his men stay in their fixed defense positions, killing Americans coming on the beach, and postponing and delaying, but not pushing back the Allied advance.

Rommel's tactic of fixed positions left the entire defense force separated, confused, and unable to launch a concentrated counterattack. He left the remaining squad sized groups of men sitting in their machine gun roosts waiting to be mopped up by the never ending flow of Allied troops being sent onto the beaches (once the artillery batteries were effictively put out of action or their ammunition was depleted).

Plus they had the advantage of land lines for radio communication, so they had full ability to reorganize and, quite easily, sweep the weakened and (partially) unarmed Allied landing forces back into the Channel.

My vote (at least for strategists) may have to go [mainly] to Eisenhower, then to all the boys at COSSAC and SHAEF HQ (Monty, Leigh-Mallory, and those chaps).

Can't forget about Roosevelt going in as part of the first wave at Utah, either. But I've gone on long enough; I'm done.

[OliverMarshall]

He wasnt invloved in the July Plot, he was aware but did not take part, he also killed himself in October 44.




HE was approached about taking part and refused and then heard nothing more about it. Hitler accused him of taking part and gave him the choice of taking poison (with full military honours) or having a trial(unfair). You must remember that he was Hitler's favourite, he had commanded his bodyguard and was the youngest German Field Marshal. This shows how far Hitler had gone into dim wittedness.

[Vash]

Indeed. Hitler's mental deterioration was quite apparent on D-Day but thats an entirely separate conversation. His strategic flaws (on both the east and west fronts) were terrible, and his obsession with holding every square inch of Fortress Europe and having absolute control over every unit in his Army led to his ultimate downfall.

[enigma]

HE was approached about taking part and refused and then heard nothing more about it. Hitler accused him of taking part and gave him the choice of taking poison (with full military honours) or having a trial(unfair). You must remember that he was Hitler's favourite, he had commanded his bodyguard and was the youngest German Field Marshal. This shows how far Hitler had gone into dim wittedness.

i know he was one of, if not hitlers fav ... but he didnt take part in the plot. Which all my post was about. :S

Eisenhower
is way overrated.

[biggles]

One of the reasons Hitler wanted it to look that Rommel died a natural death was of his popularity in Germany. Indeed, Rommel was just as popular as Hitler himself, and Hitler didn't want to risk his already weak popularity by sending Germanys war hero that smashed through the "Indestructible" Magniot line or took Tobruk in one single day!
Rommels grave is one of the few ones that you may visit, (for example, people like Göring didn't got a funeral).

[Lord Justin]

I think, on the topic of soldiers with less appreciation than they deserve, some who deserve our recognition were all the brave German, Japanese, and other Axis soldiers. They were fighting, for the most part, honorably and bravely for their countries, just like the Allies were. Only 10% of the Wehrmacht were Nazis, and yet the term 'Nazi' has been coined as any World War II German soldier.

I also must say I admire Dick Winters, as he disabled the German guns overlooking the beaches while only losing one man, and later became an instuctor for Rangers (or something?). Anyway he was a good tactician and was brave.

As someone else said, Caesar :p and of course Rommel, a brilliant tactician and strategist. Also Mitsuo Fuchida; although we Americans today look on Pearl Harbor as villainous and unfair, the Japanese ran out of choices and the pilots thought Pearl Harbor had gotten warning of the attack. Fuchida led a massively successful attack in duty to his country. (You must understand that had this same thing happened but the other way around, we (Americans) would look on it as a wonderful success).

[aag567]

Actually, my favorite soldier is Philip Caputo a Veteran of the Vietnam War. His memoirs have sparked interest in him. Other than being a Veteran he is a very good writer, he did a very good job on his second memoir, I cried with him when he was imprisoned by guerrilas and I smiled when they sent him a gift as a apology(not that kind of "with", I meant I-felt-I-was-there "with").

[Castor Troy]

William "Wild Bill" Guarnere or anoter nickname Old Gonnarea!

[BillSpargo]

The panzer ace Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyazinth_Graf_Strachwitz_von_Gross-Zauche_und_Camminetz) Des Teufels General - The Devil's General.

There are plenty of articles on the web.

And Wittmann's gunner Balthasar "Bobby" Woll has to take some credit for many of Wittmann's kills. Woll later commanded his own tiger, was wounded and survived the war.

[McCoy [1st RB]]

Audie murphy,

joined USMC at age 16,

one of the most decorated marines ever.

[Manstein]

you can't really fault Rommel for the German failure, his strategy to stop the invasion at the beaches was borne from his experience with the overwhelming Allied air supremecy,

besides which, he wasn't even able to implement his plan fully, due to a disagreement with Rundstedt over how best to stop the invasion, Rundstedt wanted a strategic armored reserve to counterattack, Rommel knew that Allied air power would make this ineffective, and that once the Allies made a beachhead they'd reinforce it like crazy

[Lt. Hanley]

Hard to name just one, so I'll name a few in no particular order:

My father, Air Force pilot
My grandfather, soldier in PTO during WW2
Col. William Travis (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/texas/colonel-william-travis.htm)
Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Sgt. Alvin C. York (http://www.alvincyork.org/Diary.htm)
1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman (http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/citations/bonnyman.htm)
Brig. Gen. Robin Olds (http://www.acepilots.com/vietnam/olds_bolo.html)
...and many others

[xtc-alec]

My grandgather, A German tank mechanic fighting in Egypt/afrika

[2ltben]

Von Rundstedt and Manstein are very overlooked compared to Rommel, but in some regards they outclass Rommel. Despite being favored, Rommel's actual combat record is rather short compared to Rundstedt's and, particularly, Manstein's.

Manstein was at the forefront of the campaign throughout the entire war. He was Rundstedt's Chief of Staff during Fall Weiss, he modified the Schleiffen Plan to correspond with Guderian's new armored spearhead strategies(despite costing him his position on Rundstedt's staff), and he was at the very front of the advance for the entire duration of the Eastern Front, almost breaking the Stalingrad Kessel, recapturing Kharkov, and winning the personal praise of Zhukov for his actions during Kursk.

[Borus]

Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill

DSO, MC and Bar (September 16, 1906—March 8, 1996), nicknamed "Fighting Jack Churchill", fought throughout World War II armed with a bow, arrows and a claymore. He once said "any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed".

In May 1940, Churchill and his unit, The Manchester Regiment, ambushed a German patrol near l'Epinette, France. Churchill gave the signal to attack by cutting down the feldwebel (Sergeant) with his barbed arrows.

Before the war, Churchill had graduated from Sandhurst in 1926 and served in Burma with the Manchesters. He left the service in 1936 and worked as a newspaper editor. He used his archery and bagpipe talents to play small film roles in movies like Sabu and The Thief of Baghdad.

He resumed his commission after Poland was invaded and volunteered for the Commandos after fighting at Dunkirk. He led two companies in the raid on the German garrison at Vaasgo, Norway. As the ramps fell on the first landing craft, Churchill leapt forward playing the "March of the Cameron Men" on his pipes. The Commandos destroyed the battery and eliminated the garrison.

For his actions at Dunkirk and Vaasgo, Churchill received the Military Cross and Bar. He received the Distinguished Service Order in 1943 for capturing the battery at Salerno, while commanding Number 2 Commando.

Leading from the front, Churchill infiltrated the town with only a corporal in support. He kidnapped a sentry and forced him to make his comrades surrender. Churchill and the riflemen walked out of town with 42 prisoners and a mortar squad.

In 1944, he led Number 2 Commando to Yugoslavia, where they supported the efforts of Tito's partisans. The soldiers raided the German-held island of Brac and assaulted hill 622. Only Churchill and six others managed to reach the objective. A mortar shell killed or wounded everyone but Churchill, who played "Will Ye No Come Back Again?" on his pipes as the Germans advanced. He was knocked unconscious by grenades and was flown to Berlin for interrogation after being captured.

He escaped from Sachsenhausen concentration camp in April 1945 and walked 150 miles to Verona, Italy where he met an American armored column. The war was almost over, and Churchill went to Palestine in 1948. He rescued 700 Jewish doctors, students and patients from a hospital under attack from Arab militants and his squad of 12 men escorted them to safety.

He retired in 1959 and died in Surrey in 1996. Eccentric until the end, Churchill would toss his briefcase out of the window of the commuter train he rode home every day. Passengers and conducters were shocked because they didn't know he was throwing the luggage into his own backyard as the train passed by. It saved him the trouble of carrying it all the way home from the station.

[cpt.miller]

Captain John Miller from Saving private Ryan

Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev

Latvian battalion comander Oskars Kalpaks

[BillSpargo]

Captain John Miller from Saving private Ryan
Fictional people don't count. 1,2,3,4,5... see I'm real.:p

[Juice]

Like most of the stories I've heard about war, my favorite came from the History Channel. I cant recall the man's name or the exact circumstances but his unit was attacking multiple machine gun nests in the jungles of Vietnam. After a long fight, most all of the soldiers around him were dead or wounded, and with little left to lose, he lifted up a large belt-fed machine gun (M60 maybe?) and fired into the trees and bushes where the enemy was set up. For 2 hours, he stood in one place, sweeping the jungle in bursts where the machine guns were set up, reloading the weapon when each belt ran out of ammo, amazingly not being hit. When he was done, he had killed many enemy soldiers and ran off those that remained.

Like I said, I dont remember his name or many of the details but his not being injured standing in the middle of the jungle shooting against multiple machine gun nests is what stood out in the story.

[herman]

My great great great grandpa General Stephen Dodson Ramseur of the Confederate army. One of the youngest generals in history.

[Bosa-Nova]

Having a "favourite soldier" is not something I can honestly do, but I can name two whom I hold in high esteem: Cpl Filip Konowal and Maj John Mahony, the two Victoria Cross winners of my unit from WW1 and WW2, respectively.

[enigma]

may i ask, what did they do to recieve there VC's? and whats your unit?

[xplosiv]

Mine would have to be Otto Skorzeny, an adventurous man and a born leader. Of the many daring missions he commanded - one to note would be the daring rescue of ex dictator Benito Mussolini from the hands of the (now allied) Italian government. The whole operation supposedly took place 'without firing a single bullet'. This earned him the Knights Cross.

Another operation in which he commanded was during the Ardennes offensive, (you could say the final German gamble on the Western front). He was the leader Panzerbrigade150, a small group of selected men from various areas of the German military. They all had to speak Fluent English and be taught how to act 'American' - The typical German (proud, disciplined - you could say like a machine :D) had to be changed into the typical 'Ami' GI (gum chewing, leaning against things and speaking with a relaxed tone of voice actually had to be taught!).
Before and during the actual offensive, the special jeep teams of panzerbrigade150 (The selected Germans wore captured American uniforms and drove captured willys jeeps) sabotage American supplies and generally cause confusion in aid of the actual German offensive. Their immediate objective was to advance behind enemy lines all the way to the River Meuse. Here they would capture the vital bridges and await the regular German units (battlegroup Jochen Peiper of Sepp Deitrich's 6th SS Panzer army, Von Manteuffel's 5th PZ army). As well as the jeep teams, there was more to PB-150. As the main offensive began, a small number of captured American tanks and disguised German tanks were also sent in to cause confusion!

Although the operation was generally a success, the Offensive as a whole was not. What Skorzenys Panzerbrigade did achieve was major panic spreading as far as Southern England! Everywhere American troops were being accused of being german spies, high ranking officers were constantly being stopped by MPs. At the front, the Americans didn't know who they were fighting! Even Eisenhower himself was locked away in Paris and guarded by many MPs! He was essentially.. useless during that time!

LoL I know this was supposed to be about one man, but it was he who lead the operation, just wanted to share what I've been reading recently. :p

Other interesting people from the same offensive are Von Der Hyte (leader of fallchirmjager in the invasion of Crete, Normandy and Belgium) and Herrman Giskes (the spy catcher). Look em up :) .. Ok i'll shut up now :p

[BillSpargo]

Otto Skorzeny from World War II in Colour (http://www.ww2incolor.com/)

http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/germans/anc.jpg

Does anyone know how he got his scar?

[xplosiv]

He supposedly engaged in fencing duels before the war, makes him look like the steriotypical nazi monster! :eek: but he wasn't a fanatical nazi (Although he was in the SS). Just doing his job, and as I said he was very adventurous! Theres more ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny

edit - I've read about the trials just after the war. An RAF serviceman - who might I add was the same adventurous man as Skorzeny was! He and others supposedly rescued a couple of his mates from a POW camp by dressing in german uniforms and infiltrating the camp. He stuck up for Skorzeny during the trials by noting that the Allies had also wore enemy uniforms for their own needs (That was the main reason why Skorzeny was present at the trials for nazi war crimes). Theres more info on Wikipedia.

[BillSpargo]

I'm was aware that he was tried at Dachau along with those accused of the Malmedy Massacre. Much hypocrisy of the Allies was revealed during the accused's defence during these trials such as Patton's orders not to take prisoners.

[[BEF]-R!G4M0RT!Z]

Wow, xplosiv, that was a very good read. Doesn't a small bit of that feature in Battle of the Bulge, or some other 70's-80's film?? Well, you have expanded my knowledge on the subject, because before I never even knew if that really happened, so, thankyou :)

[ThomasStewart]

Toss up - either SS-Sturmscharführer Willi Rogmann or Leuntant Otto Carius.

For Rogmann I highly recommend the book "With our backs to Berlin"
For Carius I recommend "Tigers in the mud".

[ThomasStewart]

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/images/carius_1.jpgLeuntnant Otto Carius

[larme113]

my grandpa monte, he was a damm fine soldier from what i heard! alhtogu he never really was in any intense battles he did his duty to his country and put aside his personal comforts to protect our country from a foreign invader.

[enigma]

What country he fight for?

[CBowling]

I would have to say my favorite is my Great Grandfather-Henry Berryhill


He served on an american attack trowler I think, he manned an AA gun position during a storm in the Atlantic and such. He never hda to shoot a german down, but he did save a mans life.


A ship was torpedoed a ways away from him, and he saw a man in the water and he jumped in after him and pulled him aboard. The U-Boat that destroyed the othership was hunted by destroyers and debth charged.

[2ltben]

Read up on the stories of Adrian von Folkersam. The things he and his Brandenburgers pulled off seem like the plots of old war movies.

From Wikipedia:
The capture of the Maikop petrol pits, was another success of the Brandenburger Regiment. They were also known as "Lehr und Bau Kompagnie z.b.V.800" (Special Duty Training and Construction Company N° 800) or "Ebbinghaus Batallion", an armed branch of the "Abwehr".

They posed as "enemy" (Slavs and Baltics, among others) and Baron Adrian von Folkersam personally led the undercover section, disguised with "NKVD" uniforms with some "Red Army" deserters. He pretended to be "Major Truschin" from "Stalingrad" accompanied by his men, explained their role to recover deserters to the Soviet Commander in Maikop. The Russian General, believing their story, gave him a personal tour of the city defenses. By August 8, the German Army was only 12 miles away so the "Brandenburgers" made their secret move. Using hand grenades to simulate an "artillery attack", these unit knocked out the Communications Center outside the city perimeter. Folkersam then went to the Russian defenders and told them that a "withdrawal" was taking place. Having seen Folkersam with their commander and lacking any communications to rebut or confirm his statement, Soviets began to evacuate Maikop; followed by the German advance which entered the city without a fight on August 9, 1942.

From Brandenburgers by Ian Allen:
In the early summer of 1942 virtually the whole regiment was deployed to the Ukraine to spearhead the twin proinged drive to the Caucasus and toward Stalingrad....

Once again the various companies were usd in the Spearhead role to seize vital bridges, especially across the Don River, when the offensive began on the 28th of June. One of the most important was that undertaken by 3rd Battalions 8th Company in upport of the push by 5th SS Panzer Division ' Wiking ', the 16th Motorised Infantry Division and the 13th Panzer Division to take the city of Maikop on the Kuban Steppes in the Northern Caucasus in August.

The Brandenburgers had 2 detachments involved. ONe was the 63 man team, including many fluent Russian speakers, under Lt Baron Adrian von Foelkersam. It was to precede the attack by a long range mission to Maikop, while a short range mission led by Lt Ernst Prohaska, was tasked with seizing a bridge over the Bjelaja River across which the regular forces had to pass.

The Foelkersam detachment moved first. Dressed in NKVD ( KGB forerunners )uniforms they crossed the frontlines near Alexandrovskaja under cover of darkness, a week before ( the 2nd ) the main attack opened and successfully reached Maikop, where they were greeted warmly by the local NKVD commander and given billets. Over the following days, Foelkersam was taken on guided tours of the city's main installation and laid plans for a takeover. On the day of the attack his force split into 3 groups. One severed telephone and telegraph lines from Maikop to the frontline units and occupied the central telegraph office, answering any calls with the ' official ' order that the city had to be abandoned. A 2nd group under Foelkersam himslef took over a strongpoint and issued false withdrawl orders to Red Army units in the immediate vicinity, whilst the 3rd group succeeded in preventing the destruction of all but one of the city's oil storage tanks. On the 9th Prohaska led his team. also dressed in enemy uniforms and mounted on Red Army trucks, across teh Bjelaja Bridge. The appearance of apparently retreating Soviet troops sowed panic amoung the defenders of the bridge and they fled, the Brandenburgers then disarmed the demolition charges which had been primed to destroy the bridge. A spearhead from the 13th Panzer crossed safely and Maikop fell the same day. Foelkersam and Prohaska were both awarded Knight's Crosses for the operation, the latter posthumously.

[Thanato]

Im suprised that most people arnt saying that thei'er favorite soldier isnt members of there family. Hell I could go all the way back to the American Revolutionary War (My Family Fought against the yanks.)

~Thanato

[BillSpargo]

Im suprised that most people arnt saying that thei'er favorite soldier isnt members of there family. Hell I could go all the way back to the American Revolutionary War (My Family Fought against the yanks.)

~Thanato
That's most likely because our relatives didn't talk much about the war, and also because of a sense of modesty on their behalf. I thinks it's easy to talk in broad terms about what they went through, but getting to the intensely personal tragedies that they went through is much more difficult to reveal to one's own loved ones, let alone relative strangers on a website.

For example a great-uncle was disembowelled by a "spandau" light machine-gun. He must have caught a burst from a mg side-on which cut open his stomach wall. He had to hold his entrails in with his hands until he could be taken to a field hospital. He wore a type of corset to hold his belly together until it had healed. He lived to eighty. There was no heroic deed done but there was a strength of will to survive.

A certain distance makes it much easier to talk about. It's difficult to know if he or any other veteran would have concerns about some else talking about their own small story when so many better men died.

[enigma]

Im suprised that most people arnt saying that thei'er favorite soldier isnt members of there family. Hell I could go all the way back to the American Revolutionary War (My Family Fought against the yanks.)

~Thanato
as what the poster above said or in this case, where not sure what they did.

Am told that my great grandfather was a tanker, was at dunkirk, fought in the desert, the either italy or nw europe.
with other details it works out that he might have been part of 2 of the Royal Tank reg units which served with the desert rats ... at least in the desert.

With no permission to try and get this war record from the MOD, its left at just that places they think he had served and partial things they remember him saying.
For istance, my nan remembers him mention how he was trumatised by running over dozens of people with his tank.

So with somebody who is more impersonal to you then men you have studied about for years and then some partial memoiries of somethink he may have said etc .... you see what i mean :)

[sid]

I believe as least two of my grandads fought in world war 1 but they died before I was born. I do know that one was shot in the head by a sniper and he survived.

[xplosiv]

Wow, xplosiv, that was a very good read. Well, you have expanded my knowledge on the subject, because before I never even knew if that really happened, so, thankyou :)


Any time mate ;) As you know 'the victors write the history books'. It's always suprising what amazing stories you can find from the opposition too.

I recommend the book 'Ardennes' by Charles Whiting for more on the subject. He's one of my favourite writers at the moment, served in an armoured recon regt in the war. His style of writing tends to be written from a first person perspective. (he gained 1st hand accounts for the book) so its a great read. :)

[[BEF]-R!G4M0RT!Z]

Any time mate ;) As you know 'the victors write the history books'. It's always suprising what amazing stories you can find from the opposition too.

I recommend the book 'Ardennes' by Charles Whiting for more on the subject. He's one of my favourite writers at the moment, served in an armoured recon regt in the war. His style of writing tends to be written from a first person perspective. (he gained 1st hand accounts for the book) so its a great read. :)

Yea, I shall definately have to check that book out, I could do with some good reading material for the summer, so, yea, I shall see if I can find it, and I shall tell you what I think of it :)

[Lt. Stephenson]

I'll change mine to my Grandpa.
Cpt. Robert Stephenson.
He fought through the Pacific war and got his first kill at Pearl Harbor.

[larme113]

What country he fight for?
U.S.A.

[Volvulus]

I'll change mine to my Grandpa.
Cpt. Robert Stephenson.
He fought through the Pacific war and got his first kill at Pearl Harbor.

He shot down a plane?

[DaveP]

There's a good chance my great-grandfather on my fathers side was a polish resistance fighter killed early on in WW2 (It was suspicious death in Poland pretty much right after the german occupation, and he was thought to have 'connections'), so I'll go for him.