On page 465 of Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger Ausf. B Konigstiger Technical and Operational History by Waldemar Trojca there is a photo of an abandoned King Tiger in what looks to be the street of a small village. The caption reads “This Tiger Ausf. B of the s.H.Pz.Abt.507 was lost to mechanical breakdown in the area of a farm at Osterode. The crew was captured by Americans and executed in the farmyard, April 11, 1945.”
Does anyone know if this actually happened and, if it did, why the crew was executed?
Ever hear of Malmedy?
I have heard of Malmedy.
Very helpful.
Thank you.
I’ve never heard or read about the incident.
It’s possible that the crew may have been captured in civilian clothes, which would have giving the GI’s a reason to shoot them. Now on the other hand if they had been captured by the Russians…
I read a report detailing the execution of many SS at a concentration camp by Americans
The GIs could’ve assumed the tiger crew would yell out for reilforcments and give away their position or something like that, or they could’ve not wanted to take 'em all the way back to HQ. There are quite a lot of reasons this would happen as it happened quite a lot sadly, But hey that’s war.
Yeah, let’s face it. If we dig deep enough, there are plenty of incidents in which Americans (and our Allies), despite being the so-called ‘good guys’, committed war crimes and atrocities. It is, unfortunately, the nature of warfare…
Here is a link
CAUTION: Not for those of weak constitution
The reasons are myriad and there is no telling why. The Americans did their share of war crimes but the winners write the books so it goes largely unnoticed. Omar Bradley issued orders to shoot surrendering Germans suspected of sniping. This became pretty common by the end of the war.Canicatti Italy was the scene of American troops firing into a crowd of Italian civilians that were “looting” (taking food) a bombed factory, that the Germans had destroyed during their retreat. The town had already surrendered to the Americans. Several were killed including an 11 year old girl. Chenogne, France, in retaliaition for the incident at Malmedy, American unit orders were issued to shoot on site all SS and paratrooper soldiers. 60 POWs were lined up and executed the way the Germans committed the atrocites at Malmedy. Also, 25 SS soldiers that had surrendered in a Belgian village after the Malmedy incident were executed as an act of revenge. Surrendering SS guards at the captured Dachau camp were executed on the spot. Biscari Airfield Massacre, Italy 1943, American troops executed 70 Italian prisoners in two different incidents in July and August. Bradley reports this to Patton since they were under his command and Patton makes a note of it in his diary. “I told Bradley that it was probably an exaggeration, but in any case to tell the officer to certify that the dead men were snipers or had attempted to escape or something, as it would make a stink in the press and also would make the civilians mad. Anyhow, they are dead, so nothing can be done about it.”
War is a stupid and violent thing and there are no “higher causes” or “greater moralities” involved. Just who can be meaner than who. As was said…it happens.
Suffice to say that there are no innocents in war.
This is not an isolated incident, it happened in all theatres by all forces in WW2. The vast majority of soldiers serving wouldn’t shoot the surrendering enemy, but all it takes is one guy who just watched his buddy blown to bits gun down the surrendering enemy…
I’m reading a book about Monte Cassino and they had a British veterans account of one guy in his unit who wouldn’t take prisoners, no matter what, to avenge the deaths of his friends.
Then there’s the account of another vet who told the story of his unit leader (a Sergeant I think, after the two Lieutentants were killed) who led the charge against a pillbox and afterwards an artillery emplacement and captured both who was then shot in the head by one of the captured Germans.
I don’t condone shooting prisoners, but I can’t condemn these guys either, whomever they are, before reading more info other than a picture caption.
you would if you were the prisioner.
That is also why the vast majority treated prisoners with their due respect…
After Malmedy US troops did not take many SS prisoners has retaliation, also German troops often faked surrender to lure troops intp ambushes. Has for US not takeing prisoner, look at the Pacific
I started digging around for more information on this and found in the book “Fighting Vehicles, Military Photo Journal 1” a captioned photo (no. 189) reads:- Tiger II knocked out by a bazooka shot which killed the crew of the vehicle, Osterode, Germany, 12 April 1945
Is it possible that the caption is misinterpreted in the Trojca book and the crew was killed and the americans buried them in the farmyard?
If someone has the book they may identify the tank, do the match up and see if this may be the case.
I have to agree. Lets face it, countries ask their young of 18, 19, 20 or so to go off and kill. The emotional strain on the combatants is enough to make even full grown 40 year olds “lose it” from time to time. As has been pointed out, in general prisoners of war on most sides (well, the glaring exception the Japanese in WW2) with at least a modicum of decency. To expect 100% compliance would simply fly in the face of the nature of war.
Brian
And who could blame them?
You hear of things liek this coming out of Iraq all too often … funny thing is, it’s not like Iraq was the first time that this stuff has ever happened. It’s just more televised.
I had a cuffed prisoner head-butt me which subsequently broke my nose. One of my Soldier shot him. Closed case as far as he and I were concerned. But, even after doing a full report on the matter, someone … higher up thought that they should put him in for a courts martial … I put him in for a medal. (Courts Martial never happened BTW.)
As a current Soldier, I can never condone such behavior. However, as a veteran I CAN understand the feelings and emotions that come out of war.
… Isn’t this a modeling forum?
according to military law: If said party is captured wearing another uniform other than their own they are (or can be) treated as spys. But as long as they are carrying the correct ID they are not out of uniform (be it dog tags or ID card). And even then they cannot be summerly exicuted. Been more than one person goto jail for doing this over the years
gary
Anthony Herbert (U.S. military’s most decorated person ever) once made a statement that “The world’s most dangerous weapon was a 19 year old kid with a full automatic rifle.” Reason why? He does what his commander tells him to do without question, and never thinks about it.
gary
Command decisions are made in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately, on occasion it’s just not expedient to take prisoners.
I had a late uncle who served with the 1st Canadian Para Btn during the Normandy invasion. He told me a story which bothered him for many years after the war. During a night operation (might have been the initial landing, I don’t remember), his unit took a prisoner.
He claimed they captured a very young SS nco who was virtually hysterical. They tried to silence him, but to no avail. As stealth and surprise were (obviously) of the highest importance, my uncle cut the fellow’s throat rather than risk allowing him to give away their position.
Brutal story, yes. But given the situation, I don’t think anyone would accuse them of a war crime.