My order was to stay with the Medical Service. Over the loudspeakers the Russians tried to
encourage us to throw our weapons away and come forward, and they indicated to us that they
had womenfolk among them. They wanted to know which of the German divisions they had encircled
and which unit we belonged too, and also announced that all our higher officers had already fled
and that only our captain was still with us. That was all true, because with our commando we only
had a Warrant Officer who was the leader of our unit. From the firing of the machine guns and
grenades at night, we could tell that the circle around us had just about closed. We still had
not received the order to retreat or to blow up the camp. This was a lodging camp and a clothing
depot, as well as a warehouse for army material and vehicles. It was drilled into us that if we
were taken prisoner and ended up in a Russian POW camp, we would be shot, and that also the
promises of the Russians were all lies. We then saw for the first time some Russian planes.
At first we thought they were German planes, until they shot at us with their machine guns.
The Russian civilians told us to hide in their basements, but this seemed very risky to us;
we probably would have been killed there. We were quite worried about the Russians and one
day we finally decided to free ourselves from their encirclement. With a lot of luck we were
able to get out, except for a small flurry of bombardment. In the next town there was a truck
which was waiting for us, and which brought us towards the west. It took us about eight weeks
to catch up with our unit. There were a few small mishaps on the way there. The roads and
streets were filled with vehicles abandoned by the retreating German army. Vehicles had been
pushed into the ditches, or were left on the roadside. There was a lot of food in some of the
trucks. The roads were filled with soldiers on foot, fleeing back towards Germany. We all had
to fend for ourselves, and if anyone was not able to make it any further, he was just left
behind. This was the distress and defeat we saw in the Germans, which was not so long after
they all had been full of victory.
In one town we made a stop, because we did not have any more gas for or truck. We had to get
fuel, and in doing so we lost a few days. We also had to find lodging, and we searched the
whole village before we found a place. Two older people who lived in the house alone, allowed us
to stay, after a lot of difficulty. We had brought our own food and drink. We were four men
in one room. I decided to go for a walk and look around the village. When it was starting to
get dark, I ran into Russian patrol, which I did not realize were there, and quickly jumped
into the ditch by the roadside. They passed me by, but later when I climbed out of the ditch,
I suddenly heard the firing of a gun, and a call from the patrol leader of that Commando. I
raised my hands up into the air because I thought they are Russian soldiers and my life has
come to an end. I was terrified, my hair stood on edge as I heard another repetition of the
firing of the gun. However, I soon realized that these were Hungarian soldiers on patrol.
After identifying myself to them I was able to get a better hold of myself and went back
to my quarters. It took me a long time to get over my fright. After a few days in that
village, we had found enough gas to continue with our trip towards the west. Several days
later two of our comrades were wounded, and another one had a nervous breakdown. He ended
up in a field hospital, which was soon thereafter moved because the front line was getting
too close to the hospital. After a few days we arrived in Kiev, where we found part of
our unit. We did not know where the Russians were, but were told they could be
anywhere in Kiev. After a couple of days, we retreated further to Zhitomier where we
stayed for quite a while.
I had to take someone with eye injuries to a specialist in a place called Cowell. There
I saw how the gentlemen within the upper class of Hitler's clique lived. I had to give a document
to the Commandant. Women were running around half nude with the higher Officers. It
probably was some big celebration because the majority had glasses of wine in their hands.
They were surprised that I, as a Lead Corporal, stood in front of them in a dirty uniform.
I was therefore sent to a soldiers lodging, where I had to wait two days for an answer
from the chief. I also was told to take the man with the injured eyes back to the troupe,
which I did. That man was quite upset, and thought I was the one requesting this. On the
way home we stopped in a soldiers lodging, where the soldiers were all upset and
badmouthing the war and Hitler, and where I also injected a few words. When we came back
to the troupe, the man with the injured eye notified authorities out of revenge, and
informed them that I had caused a military disruptiveness. It made things very uncomfortable
for me. The captain of the company reprimanded me, and my papers were marked with a
"political undependable" note.
During that time dysentery broke out in our unit. We had to send many soldiers home.
I was also sent to Ulm in Germany for recovery and was able from there to go home for a
few days. At home victory was still a certainty for all the Hitler followers. The
victory call of "Sieg Heil" was still heard everywhere, even after families received
the sad news of fallen soldiers. The acceptance of war was still widespread and
applauded by many. Goebels gave a speech in Berlin, where the acceptance of the
war was answered with a loud "Yes". But now, the war had arrived home in Germany.
Bombs came down everywhere; women and children were killed because of this. When
I arrived in Ulm the barrack drills started again. The Corporal from the unit on
the front line in Russia visited me on the return of his holidays. His home was
close to Ulm. He thought I was able to go back with him, but I had been allocated
to another field unit, the 171 medical unit of the 10th Infantry Division, and had
to stay in Ulm. My wife and children came to visit me while I was in Ulm. We had a
few nice days together before I had to go back to our force.
My wife and children were still in Ulm, when I heard that I was supposed to go back
to Russia with the new field unit. However on the way to Russia we were re-directed
and instead went south. Close to Paris, we had a short stop-over and we were able to
visit Paris. I enjoyed this city very much. We were loaded on to the train again and
sent to Bouceson, France. After a short stay there we went to Turin in upper Italy
where we were not allowed to get off the train. From there we were sent back to France
again, then to Belgium, and then ended up on a small island in Holland called Vlissingen.
We did not know where we were going until we arrived on the island. During that same
time the invasion of Normandy took place. I was required to give a medical course to
corporals at my Captain's request. This captain was also not a friend of Hitler's
regime. He had information about a plan to overpower Hitler. He secretly told me of
this, and we waited for the hour when we would be freed. To our disappointment it
did not happen and we had to continue on. I received many awards (medals) from when
I was in the east, in Russia. The Russian EKII badge, the Combat badge, the Wounded
badge II and III. I was sent to Reichenberg to get a replacement crew. I also was
required to take some things to the Lead Doctor's family, as well as a document to
the commando division in Reichenberg. They gave me permission for a short visit
home to Füllerdörfel in Sudetenland. When I returned, I received another medal
for the Order of Merit Cross II Class, and was promoted to Lead Corporal. I did
not want to accept this medal but my Captain talked me into it. Often I sent ˝
kilogram gift packages home to my wife. After my return from Reichenberg, it did
not take long before we were surrounded by the enemy on the island. Nothing could
move in or out; only on camouflaged ships, were we able to send the wounded back to
Germany.
A special commando was put together for a field hospital, where I was also included.
We were freighted to the mainland of Holland. There, we set up a main supply depot
for First Aid and had four medical vehicles. One week later however, we had to quit.
We only had one medical vehicle left that we could use to go back with to the island.
The other three medical vehicles did not work. With only one vehicle available we had
to stop, because it was overloaded and it was shot at too much. A fire started on the
vehicle, and we had to get out of the vehicle. They had difficulty getting the fire
extinguished but it was still drivable, but eight of us men had to stay behind,
including me. So we went back to the location where we originally started from and
where we had seen a few bikes standing. We all eventually found a bike and made our
way back to the embankment location, while being shot at, having grenades thrown at
us, and being attacked at by planes. It got dark and we had to look for a place to
sleep. We found an abandoned house and stayed there. The thunder of the canons did
bother us. We had our destination in front of our eyes, and that was to go back to
our unit, which we were able to do the next morning. Together we all wanted to go
into captivity (prison). Not too long after we had reached the island, the planes
destroyed the ship on which we had been on. We saw it burning. It was the only ship
that was left for us to get off the island with. When we arrived back with our unit,
we found out that the medical vehicle and the crew, of which we had to get when it
was damaged, also had arrived safely. As the medical unit we carried no weapons and
we were under protection of the Swiss Convention, which however was not being acknowledged.
On the island, we were still being shot at, apparently because we were in a combat zone.
We were moved to another location on the island and we were put on another assignment.
If the canons got too close, we were to move one kilometer back. We set up a new First
Aid station in a town. From the very few people that were left in the Medical Service,
we lost even more. Our unit was getting smaller and smaller, and we often had to leave
wounded men back with the crew, and could not take them back to the First Aid station.
Often we had received an order that the area where the First Aid station was located
had to be cleared within 4 hours. One day at 8:00 p.m., we were to meet in the middle of
the town to retreat. However at 8:00 p.m., I arrived at a different location from where we
were supposed to meet, and when I eventually arrived everyone had already left. I
decided to go back to the wounded and be taken captive, but fate wanted it differently.
On my return to the wounded, another straggler from my unit came along. I knew him very
well. He was a civilian lawyer from Berlin. I told him that everyone had already left,
and that I would be going back to the wounded. But he talked me out of going back to the
wounded. I said to him that if we could find bikes, I would go with him, which we did. During
that time it was getting dark, and we knew that we had less than one hour before the enemy would
arrive. We had already been riding our bikes for a while when the lawyer remembered that he
had forgotten his razor and shaving case, and said that he wanted to go back to get it. I
told him that the enemy probably already occupied the town. He spoke with me until he
convinced me to go back with him, and without any difficulty we got back to the town
outskirts. I told him I would wait there for a half hour, and if he would not return
by then, that I would leave. However he came back and we made it through all the enemy's
lines. I am still surprised about this because the enemy already occupied the town. On
our way back to our unit, we often had to go undercover because the planes were shooting
at us. However we got through, and our sergeant discussed the issue with us for a few hours
after we got back, because he wanted to know where we really came from. We told him that we
came from the town that was just occupied by the enemy. He just shook his head and wondered
how we made it through all the shelling and bombardment. Later on, the night turned into
daylight, because many bombs were being dropped on us. We retreated during the night, and
by dawn, arrived at the town where our main unit was. It was also the main First Aid
location. I wanted to lie down but all of a sudden, all hell broke loose. We were being
bombed by planes, from the water by ships, from field units including our own unit, even
though everything was clearly identified that we were a field hospital and not a combat unit.
We had no weapons, and the enemy was informed of this by radio. We also had some wounded
soldiers from the opposition. The wounded were treated, no matter which uniform they had on.
The dead and wounded lay around on the streets; we were able to venture out in the open to
clean up only after the shelling stopped. However we were not able to work properly because
of the continuous shelling. Later, the enemy made radio contact, and the shooting was stopped.
From our unit there was always some shooting going on; they fired too quickly, often even at
their own people. We heard the rolling of the tanks and the shots that came from them.
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