Hitler's Brandenburgers

by Lawrence Paterson

  The colossal bombardment began on schedule and masked the sound of König’s resumed advance as he led his men across a small footbridge that Rau had obviously laid with planks. However, on the far side of the stream they found his body, still clad in its Soviet uniform, though with no obvious signs of violence. Pressing on into the gloom they were surprisingly able to pass unhindered through the Soviet lines which were already dissolving in a chaotic retreat. Mingling with the fleeing Soviet troops, their German weapons went unremarked and they successfully reached the railway bridge that had been their target. Though it was unguarded, demolition charges could be clearly seen and the Brandenburgers started to cut cables and throw the explosive charges over the railing when a sudden burst of gunfire erupted from a Maxim machine gun further along the east bank. König was the first to be hit and fell dead onto the bridge that he and his men had successfully taken. The Maxim was soon silenced and König’s men held firm until Wehrmacht infantry arrived shortly before dawn. Ironically, alongside the advancing troops came photographers of the Propaganda Company, one of whom snapped a photo of a tired and dejectedlooking Red Army soldier, later distributed in Germany as a photograph of the ‘Soviet beast’. It was in fact one of König’s men, Jurschewski, still wearing his Soviet disguise and awaiting orders to return to the rear.

  Three of the teams from 10th Company headed south-east to attack bridges over the Bobr River which presented a major obstacle to the German advance. Feldwebel Rennkamp succeeded in taking his bridge near the village of Hołynka at the head of a ten-man detachment. However, despite successfully consolidating his position and holding the bridge against feeble counter-attacks, the demolition charges were not removed in time and were detonated remotely by Soviet engineers, the captured bridge being destroyed by the blast.

  Unteroffizier Zöller led three men in the capture of a small bridge, approaching the target in Halbtarnung in a car captured from retreating Soviet soldiers. The bridge was lightly defended and, though successfully taken and held, both men accompanying Zöller were killed in the brief exchange of gunfire with retreating Soviet troops.

  Leutnant Kriegsheim also travelled by car with two of his men and a Polish interpreter (Kampfdolmetscher) and guide. They were all clothed in Halbtarnung, Russian greatcoats over their German uniforms and side caps with the red star of the Soviet Army on the front in place of their familiar helmets. They had been furnished with the latest intelligence gleaned from deserters and listening posts, including what they hoped were current passwords if they were challenged. A German war correspondent later reported their advance into enemy territory:

  The Pole led the way as lead man. Kriegsheim controlled the direction of the march using his compass and they agreed. The three did not fully trust the Pole, he had appeared moody and nervous from the beginning. Suddenly two Russians were standing before them as if they had sprung from the ground, rifles clutched in their hands.

  ‘Stoi! Parol!’ (Halt! Password!)

  ‘Astrakhan!’

  ‘No! Stay Still!’

  The Germans were herded together without any chance to escape. The Russians gestured the direction in which to march, shouting sharply ‘Dawai!’ (Come on!) and following at about three metres.4

  Kriegsheim feverishly surveyed his options. They were being marched behind enemy lines and yet apparently their identities had not yet been established. Once they were properly searched the game would be up and they could expect little mercy. Even in this dire situation Kriegsheim reminded himself that he was under strict orders not to fire weapons before 0305hrs, but there seemed little alternative. Their captors were too distant to reach without shooting and he feared that the nervous Pole would soon betray everything. Even in the unlikely event that their identities remained undiscovered, they could be held as Soviet deserters.

  As they approached a small building that showed light under its door, Kriegsheim’s mind was made up. In one swift movement, he reached under his Red Army greatcoat and pulled his concealed pistol free, spinning around and showing the field grey Wehrmacht uniform while opening fire at the first surprised Russian. The bullet hit the man in the face and he dropped immediately, the second managing a single rifle shot that went low and hit the ground. Within seconds two bullets crashed into him, the first in his shoulder and the second a killing blow to his jaw.

  Distant whistles blew and a flare arced into the sky as the Brandenburgers dived for cover into the scrub of a nearby stream. Their Polish interpreter complained vociferously that their chances were slim, as enemy reinforcements were sure to soon arrive with tracker dogs, but he was quickly told to keep quiet. The entire sector appeared to have been fully alerted and there was little chance of reaching the target bridge at Lipsk so Kriegsheim also decided to await the cover of the German artillery bombardment before attempting to complete their mission. At 0305hrs the heavens erupted as shellfire rained down on the Soviet front line, creeping forward ahead of troops advancing on the ground.

  Exactly forty minutes later the first German infantry spearheads came into view. Even before the Brandenburgers could reveal their identities, their earth brown uniforms spelt doom. The first bursts of fire from the troops hit the Pole. Shortly thereafter Gefreiter Dietrichs was wounded. Leutnant Kriegsheim and Gefreiter Ebel screamed at the top of their voices: ‘Vöcklabrück! Vöcklabrück!’

  The first man to approach was an infantry Leutnant and Kriegsheim rounded on him furiously: ‘We are Brandenburgers! Do you know nothing of our special mission?!’ The infantry platoon commander was completely distraught, the excitement and tension of the previous few days had probably confused him somewhat. ‘Yes’ was all he could reply, ‘but when you see these uniforms you must consider all possibilities.’ Medical personnel collected the two wounded men to take them to the rear while gunfire flickered along the front line. Once they had seen their two comrades taken away, Leutnant Kriegsheim and Gefreiter Ebel got moving in the direction of Lipsk.

  With confusion engulfing the Soviet front line, the two men slipped through and contacted retreating enemy troops, merging amongst the disorganised stream of men headed east. Using his linguistic skills to the full, Ebel even asked two Red Army soldiers crouching behind a low wall for directions to Lipsk. They blended seamlessly amongst small groups of Soviet soldiers, nobody remarking on their German weapons, if they had been noticed at all, and before long they were in sight of the Bobr River and the wooden bridge that they had been tasked to seize. Kriegsheim and Ebel each followed an edge of the bridge railing, jostled and pushed across the narrow passage over the river by the mass of men funnelling to presumed safety on the eastern bank. Both had been searching for obvious demolition charges, though neither had seen any, nor any of the usual tell-tale wires.

  As the two Germans waited beside the road on the eastern bank, the surge of Soviet troops thinned enough for them to venture back onto the bridge and ensure that it wasn’t rigged for demolition. They found no trace though now Kriegsheim feared the arrival of Soviet engineers to prepare the bridge for destruction. As rifle fire echoed nearby his worries were vindicated by the sight of nearly forty Soviet troops approaching carrying fuel containers; unable to blow up the bridge they were going to burn it down.

  Kriegsheim and Ebel were now alone on the bridge and stripped off their Soviet greatcoats, taking up defensive positions on the river bank and opening fire when the approaching enemy was within 70m. Several men went down and the remainder scattered, taking cover and returning fire in ragged volleys. Lightly armed, it didn’t take long for Ebel to be down to his last MP40 magazine, shouting to Kriegsheim over the noise of battle, but was hit in the neck before the young officer could reply. Ebel’s body slumped down the shallow bank and lay motionless.

  Suddenly, Russian fire spread in a wider arc behind Kriegsheim, signalling the arrival of German infantry rushing forward to take the bridge. Kriegsheim took the opportunity to jump over to where Ebel lay in order to check his condition. As he tried to get his
comrade to drink from his canteen he realised too late that three Russian soldiers had been hiding amongst the rushes in the water behind him. He barely had time to register their presence before a bayonet was thrust into his neck and he lost consciousness. Behind him the Wehrmacht spearhead charged across the bridge and routed the disorganised enemy, the crossing over the Bobr being captured intact and undamaged. Severely wounded, Kriegsheim was soon taken to a field hospital. Ebel did not survive. In total five of the eight bridges assigned to the 10th Company had been successfully taken, though the cost was relatively high for such small units. Kohlmeyer was awarded the EK I and Kriegsheim the EK II with simultaneous promotion to Oberleutnant.

  The last ready company of the 3rd Battalion, Oberleutnant Schäder’s 12th, advanced from its positions under cover of darkness, separated into two half-companies, one under Schäder’s direct command. The troops were in Volltarnung, though as they made their way through the German lines they wore their Zeltbahn ponchos over the Soviet disguise. Under the cover of the ferocious artillery onslaught, as Stukas roared overhead, the two half-companies boarded Soviet trucks and raced through the lines, swiftly managing to mingle with retreating Soviet units, surrounded by men, trucks and tanks all headed east as German gunfire crashed behind them. Occasional rifle shots cracked around the Brandenburgers’ heads, their disguise apparently not fooling all of the men that they passed. Gefreiter Vitus von der Lahr was hit in the stomach and badly wounded, but they raced onwards. The two units were to leapfrog each other as they raced to secure bridges over the Bug near Kodeń and its tributary Mukhavets River leading to Kobryn. At the first bridge, the Germans hurriedly dismounted to take control:

  A Russian tank terrified us, because we could not immediately make out whether the crew recognised us or whether it was unoccupied. While we recovered briefly, ‘Gruppe Kraft’ came into position at the still undamaged bridge. The first truck with the other group, including Oberleutnant Schäder and Assistenarzt [medical Leutnant] Arpo, continued past to reach the next bridge. Even before Gruppenführer Kraft had got clear of the truck he was in, he was heavily bombarded. The machine-gunner jammed his MG into his hip, let loose a few bursts of fire and the group of Russians was down. Despite the wounded, injured in close combat with hand grenades, they held the position and the bridge until relief by Guderian’s panzer spearhead.

  Gruppe Schäder was already aware of a wide plume of smoke in the distance without knowing where it came from. A few metres further and it became clear that the bridge had already been burnt down to the supporting posts. Forgetting that we were all in Russian uniforms we leapt from the truck to quickly reach the other side of the river. The advancing German spearhead, however, knew nothing of German soldiers in Russian uniforms. Before we could think and drop our weapons, Gefreiter Wickede, a German from Romania, became our second wounded man. Our medic Dr Arp did his best, but he was no longer able to save Vitus von der Lahr.

  While we were sheltered in roadside ditches, Guderian’s tanks rolled past us all night long.

  During the next morning, we looked at a housing complex, which we had passed the day before when it was full of Russians who hadn’t recognised us. At the entrance a large stage with a picture of Stalin had been erected with lots of bags remaining in the back. Later, the Abwehr reported that Radio Moscow had broadcast the story that German soldiers in Russian uniform had tried to capture Stalin in the central zone … whether this is true is a little unlikely.

  The decisive factor in the success of our initial use of the camouflage was due to the combat interpreter, our comrade E.v.H a Baltic German. He sat in the front passenger seat of the driver’s cab and acted as a Russian officer. He always understood how to scare away any suspicion of us by using his language skills and his cold-bloodedness. Later, when he was so successful in further operations, he wanted to be and was supposed to become, an officer. But it was thought that he was a half-Jew. For us he was a solid comrade [pfundskamerad] and a real Brandenburger! The interpreter later assigned to us by the Abwehr, on the other hand, was scared stiff after the start of the operation.

  As a young soldier, I was only the man who stood next to Schäder on the truck and passed the orders to E.v.H. in the driver’s cabin.5

  In total eight of Schäder’s men were killed that day, though the 12th Company could not rest for long as they were thrown into the fighting for Minsk, Army Group Centre managing to encircle and destroy the Red Army’s western front. The Brandenburger company was used as assault troops and by 24 July had lost thirty-nine men killed and two missing in action. They were eventually withdrawn back to Düren at the end of August.

  Battles with Army Group North

  The advance in the north involved two separate Armies and Panzer Group 4; a total of twenty-three infantry divisions, three motorised infantry divisions and three panzer divisions driving towards the ultimate prize of Leningrad, though the initial goal was to reach Dünaberg (now Daugavpils) in Latvia.

  The 7th Company spearheaded the advance of 11th Infantry Regiment that crossed the frontier between Lithuania and East Prussia and moved to seize bridges over the Jūra River near the industrial centre of Tauragė. In this Leutnant Pfannenstiel failed; Soviet troops mounting a dogged defence of the border and refusing to be dislodged. With none of the confusing Red Army retreat witnessed elsewhere, there was little point in attempting to infiltrate the lines in disguise and the Brandenburgers were instead employed as shock troops. However, they were unable to reach their initial objective in time and Soviet engineers demolished the bridge. Pfannenstiel’s men were then attached to a Kampfgruppe commanded by Oberst Otto Lasch of the 43rd Infantry Regiment which battered its way towards the Latvian capital Riga; Army Group North’s main task being a rapid advance through the Baltic states to Leningrad, rendering Riga of secondary importance as Leeb’s main force descended on Daugavpils. Nonetheless, German forces were intending to assault the city’s bridges and ‘Kampfgruppe Lasch’ entered the Riga neighbourhood of Pārdaugava on 29 June, headed for the Daugava River. The target bridge was defended by two workers guard battalions, NKVD troops and a pair of armoured trains with supporting artillery. After severe fighting, only three Sturmgeschütz (self-propelled assault guns) managed to cross the bridge before Soviet engineers destroyed it. Lasch ordered Pfannenstiel to take the 7th Company on an assault against the remains of the bridge, but, using his Brandenburger prerogative, Pfannenstiel refused as he saw little chance of success. Under attack from Soviet marines who had made a night landing on the German-held bank, Lasch ordered construction of a pontoon bridge at Katlakalns and eventually crossed the river. During the night of 1 July, the Soviets finally abandoned Riga and retreated eastward. The 7th Company continued to be used as light infantry until August when the survivors were returned to Germany.

  Oberleutnant Knaak’s 8th Company formed two assault groups to accompany the German spearheads, coordinated with the Army Group through Hauptmann Walther and Knaak himself travelling in the vanguard of the 8th Panzer Division. The Daugava River provided another formidable natural obstacle to the German advance immediately before Dünaberg, though smaller waterways leading to the river also needed to be bridged and the Brandenburgers were to lead the way.

  On 23 June, the assault groups prepared for action. The 1st Panzer Division fielded a motorised Kampfgruppe tasked with securing the railway bridge over the Dubyssa River near Lydavenai. The advance of the entire XXXXI Panzer Corps depended on their ability to cross the span with heavy vehicles and Oberleutnant Wichmann of the 1st Rifle Regiment formed an assault team of four armoured cars, two scout vehicles and ten Brandenburgers led by 24-yearold Oberfeldwebel Alfred Ernst Werner which attacked the 270m bridge at 1830hrs on 23 June. Werner and his men stormed the crossing on foot while Wichmann covered them with heavy suppressing fire. The bridge was swiftly taken and successfully held as infantrymen arrived to consolidate the gain. Although heavy KV1 tanks launched a fierce counter-attack the following day that inflicted h
eavy casualties, the bridgehead held and the Dubyssa was crossed. Though the Soviet armoured attack was eventually defeated, it was a foretaste of what the Wehrmacht would later face, the colossal Red Army behemoths appearing virtually impervious to anti-tank and howitzer fire.

  The second assault group attacked a bridge over the narrow Šušvė River near Josvainiai, just over 50km to the south-east of the first group. The Brandenburgers were leading elements of the 8th Panzer Division that held the right flank of Army Group North. Though the bridge was taken and held, allowing the continued rapid advance of the panzers, five Brandenburgers were killed; Knaak’s men being used as highly mobile shock troops rather than the covert infiltration units for which they had been trained and subsequently casualties were disproportionately high.6

  Nonetheless, despite localised aggressive Soviet counter-attacks, the Wehrmacht rolled through Lithuania and finally stood poised to cross the major obstacle of the Daugava River, Oberleutnant Knaak being tasked with taking the main bridge before the outskirts of Dünaberg. On the morning of 26 June Knaak and thirty of his men boarded captured Red Army trucks, slipping through the ragged lines and merging with retreating Soviet troops. They attempted to rush the 300m bridge, hoping that the confusion of the Soviet retreat and the element of surprise afforded by their disguises would carry the battle. They wore Halbtarnung to maintain the façade for as long as possible, aided by the setting sun being behind Knaak and his men as they approached the bridge’s defenders. The first truck managed to reach the eastern bank before they were recognised and Russian troops opened fire with weapons of all calibres. Nonetheless, Knaak’s men had breached the defences and disembarked with few casualties to take up their own firing positions. The second truck was badly hit while still crossing the bridge, its occupants forced to jump out prematurely although, despite the heavy bombardment, the survivors also reached the far end on foot. Covered by their comrades, a small group of men disabled the prepared explosives and the bridge was held for the twenty minutes it took for the first armoured spearhead to begin crossing. Red Army troops attempted several times to rush the bridge in order to seize control and destroy it, but were beaten back each time with heavy losses.