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| Schnelle Gruppe Knittel |
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| Schnelle Gruppe Knittel |
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| SS-Obersturmführer Leidreiter and SS-Sturmbannführer Knittel |
Shots at the Kaiserbaracke road junction between St. Vith and Malmedy showing a Steyr troop-carrier turning right towards Recht, a massive Panzerkampfwagen
Königstiger from schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501 rolling up at the crossroads carrying heavily-armed paratroopers from 3.Fallschirmjäger-Division relaxing and smoking cigarettes en route to Stavelot in the Ambleve valley, a Sd Kfz 251 halftrack APC turning right for Recht, two junior SS officers most likely from SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 strolling past several Sd Kfz 250 halftracks and conferring over a map on the bonnet of their Schwimmwagen Amphibious Scout Car, enjoying captured cigars with their driver. The men in these famous images are captioned as members of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel's reconnaissance unit on the southern route of the German counter-attack in the Ardennes. Bottom clip: SS-Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel consult a map with his adjutant and company commander SS-Obersturmführer
Hans-Martin Leidreiter at the small hamlet of La Vaulx-Richard, south east of Stavelot on December 18 1944. Leidreiter, a veteran since 1938, showed great bravery in the eastern front and was awarded both the German Cross in Gold and the Close Combat Clasp in Silver. After the war he became an assistant teacher and rose to the position of deputy leader of the Agricultural- and Silviculture School in Titisee-Neustadt. Gustav Knittel himself was one of only 98 German soldiers that received both the
Knight's Cross and the Close-Combat Clasp in Gold. Document contains a false confession, saying he ordered the killing of American prisoners of war near Petit-Spai. Knittel claimed after his trial that the interrogations included psychological torture and that he was physically abused by his guards. He hoped that he could show during his trial that the killings he confessed to never happened. Knittel intended to use the war diaries of the American units which had opposed his Schnelle Gruppe Knittel during the offensive to prove that no Americans were killed at the date and location he gave in his confession. But during the
Malmedy massacre trial his defence lawyers did not get permission to use these war diaries and following his self-incriminating confession he was sentenced to life imprisonment on July 16 1946. In May 1948 the War Crimes Review Board rejected the claim that irregularities had occurred during the trial against Knittel but his sentence was reduced to 12 years imprisonment. Knittel was released from Landsberg Prison in 1953. Credit:
Timo R. Worst and AHF. The clips comes from a captured SS-Propagandakompanie film taken on December 18 1944. The images are credited to SS-Kriegsberichter Max Büschel and newsreel filmer SS-Unterscharführer Schäfer. Schäfer's dispatch rider was taken prisoner by the Americans the very next day along with their undeveloped films. U.S. National Archives. PD.
yes, thats true. even today this entire area of the Kaiserbaracke is a construction company area for buildings and vehicles....all the trees behind these mystery men is gone. This is classic photos about KG Knittel.... Also notice the American Tanker soft cap that the driver is wearing...and the missing headlight on the Schwimmwagen and the broken winter with the rubber liner for the glass laying on the surface under the window.
ReplyDeleteThe images featured in this article were taken exactly 75 years ago today! Thank you for hours of fascinating viewing and reading. You bringing the past to life.
ReplyDeleteThe cigar smoking SS-Unterscharfuhrer at the Kaiserbaracke crossroads during the Battle of the Bulge, has often been identified as a certain Ochsner. However, none of the veterans remembered a man by that name and he is not listed in the old address lists of the Truppenkameradschaft or the databank of the Volksbund.
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