Panzer Commanders of 7./ϟϟ-Panzerregiment 5 „Wiking“

SS-Obersturmführer Otto Schneider of 7./SS-Panzer-Regiment 5

SS-Obersturmführer Ulf-Ola Olin of 7./SS-Panzer-Regiment 5

SS-Obersturmführer Otto Schneider was born in Böhmisch-Leipa in Czechoslovakia 1921. After having served with the Sudetendeutsches Freikorps he joined the SS-VT in 1938. Schneider saw combat with the SS-Standarte Germania during the Polish Campaign and entered the SS-Junkerschule in 1940. He commanded a reconnaissance platoon in SS-Division Wiking during Barbarossa and from Feb. 1942 a tank platoon in the Reich. In Nov. 1943, he then again entered the ranks of the Wiking and was later assigned to command the 7th Company of SS-Panzer-Regiment 5. Schneider participated in the breakout of Korsun-Cherkassy and was awarded the Knight's Cross on May 4 1944 in recognition of his command on April 5 1944 during the liberation of Kowel. Part of Schneider's Knight's Cross recommendation reads as follows: Schneider was exceedingly hard and tough, and led at the head of his Kompanie during the fighting. He showed a dogged determination in finding a way through and was a role model of bravery and operational readiness for his subordinates. During the course of the fighting his tank was knocked out. Nevertheless he immediately got up again, took command of a different tank, and continued to lead his Kompanie. Schneider's 7th Company destroyed or captured one anti-aircraft battery, 27 heavy anti-tank guns, five light anti-tank guns, one assault gun and four light anti-aircraft vehicles, thus enabling a successful breakthrough of the SS-Kampfgruppe Gille. In May 1945, he and several comrades escaped captivity on their own. After a shootout with the U.S. military near Steiermark in Austria, he was long considered missing. In fact, he settled under a different name in West Germany and graduated from the University of Agriculture and Forestry. He was successful in the field and was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit as a government adviser for hunting. Otto Schneider died aged 80 on Nov. 6 2001 in Bayerbach in Bayern. Credit: Florian Berger. Still from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Knight's Cross winner Schneider was succeeded as company commander by the Finland-Swede SS-Obersturmführer Ulf-Ola Olin. Olin was born in Helsinki in Finland 1918 and served in the Russo-Finnish Winter War as a 2nd Lieutenant. After the war ended, he was sent to Germany to join the Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS in 1941. The Finnish battalion fought in operation Edelweiß in which he participated. When the battalion disbanded in July 1943, Olin joined the SS-Panzer Regiment 5, where he commanded a Panther tank platoon in 7th Company under Schneider. His successful leadership in the fighting east of Warszawa on Aug. 10 1944 was rewarded with the German Cross in Gold on Feb. 28 1945. The recommendation for the DKiG was made by Adolf Hitler's former personal adjutant SS-Obersturmbannführer Fritz Darges. At Maciejow the Soviets launched a massive attack by a force of approx. 400 armoured vehicles and tanks in an east-west direction. The tanks advanced under a massive umbrella of fighter-bomber attacks. Olin, who had moved into a decoy position with several Panthers had the mission of opening fire first and drawing the enemy's attention. SS-Standartenführer Johannes Mühlenkamp ordered him to allow 10 tanks to pass before engaging the enemy. With nerves of steel, he allowed 10 tanks to move past before knocking out the lead vehicle, then the tail vehicle. In total, Olin destroyed 11 anti-tank guns and two T-34s. The engagement lasted half an hour and ended with 103 Soviet tanks knocked out or destroyed without the loss of a single Panther. Olin led his tanks in many famous battles against the Soviets and is credited with destroying 34 enemy tanks during the war. He stayed in West Germany after Germany's capitulation and was an active member in the postwar organization HIAG. Ola Olin died aged 77 on Jan. 11 1995 in Kassel in Hesse. Private Collection.