Karl Koenig Gefreiter (lance corporal)
Panzer regiment 5
Born in Saxony and brought up in Hamburg, Koenig came from a military family. His father received Saxony’s highest decoration during WWI, while his grandfather received the same award during the Franco-prussian War.
Koenig served in the 21st Panzer Division and was a candidate for officer training in the Afrika Korps. He first experienced combat in a Panzer IV tank at the Tebega Gap and went on to fight in the Tunisian mountains against US forces. Koenig was captured near the coast in May 1943 and was a POW in the USA and England until 1947.
A KEEN VOLUNTEER WHEN DID YOU JOIN THE WEHRMACHT?
It was in March 1942. I was afraid of not being able to participate because I was so young, and even went down into the city twice a week to talk to army officials.
We were all volunteers, and it was a question of conviction, honour or whatever you might call it. Before we went into the Wehrmacht we had been in the Hitler Youth. We were trained to be honest, chivalrous and brave, and we took lessons once a week where we learned about Frederick the Great and German history. The other day was for sports, and we did a lot of those, which was very good because I benefitted from this hard training.
We volunteered because we thought it was our duty. We did not believe that we were guilty for 1914-18. We thought the verdict of Versailles was a real crime and the root of all evil. When we got into the second war we were all convinced that we were right in defending our interests and country.
You could apply to be a fighter pilot, tank man, paratrooper, submariner, anything. I wanted to go into the cavalry at first but realised it was not right to use animals to fight our cause. I also thought they were not decisive anymore in mechanised war, so I immediately applied for tanks.
My mother was strictly against it. She wrote many letters and tried to persuade me not to do it. I even remember that she wrote, “Why don’t you go into the coastal artillery?” That would have been shameful for me to remain in the rear. It was not for me or anyone else. We were not built or educated like that.
HOW DID YOU JOIN THE AFRIKA KORPS?
We were told that the British and Russians were tough opponents and that the Russians were cruel towards prisoners. These thoughts played a role in how people decided what front they wanted to be on. Of course, to go to Africa sounded like an adventure. We had never been travelling and Africa sounded very attractive.
However, we had no say in the matter because our medical examinations dictated whether that you were capable of fighting in the tropics. We had one regiment, which was Panzer Regiment 5, in Africa, and our counterpart, Panzer Regiment 6, was in Russia.
One aristocratic friend was the great-nephew of the [former] chancellor Leo von Caprivi and he was my buddy in Africa. His great-uncle was not quite as successful as Bismarck, but he was a good fellow. Ultimately, it did not matter if you were nobility or not. All that counted was efficiency, performance and loyalty. We were all given the same chance.
WHEN DID YOU ARRIVE IN NORTH AFRICA?
On 14 March 1943 we finally got the possibility to go in a Junkers 52 over the Mediterranean. We went by train through Italy and were not able to fly across immediately and had to wait in a camp, which was next to an aerodrome. It was attacked by British bombers, but we knew exactly when they were coming.
The Italian fighters left the airport and flew to the left, which meant that the British were
“WE THOUGHT THE VERDICT OF VERSAILLES WAS A REAL CRIME AND THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. WHEN WE GOT INTO THE SECOND WAR WE WERE ALL CONVINCED THAT WE WERE RIGHT IN DEFENDING OUR INTERESTS AND COUNTRY”
“MY MOTHER WAS STRICTLY AGAINST IT. SHE WROTE MANY LETTERS AND TRIED TO PERSUADE ME NOT TO DO IT. I EVEN REMEMBER THAT SHE WROTE, ‘WHY DON’T YOU GO INTO THE COASTAL ARTILLERY?’ THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SHAMEFUL FOR ME TO REMAIN IN THE REAR”
attacking from the right side. When they had bombed the field and went away the Italian fighters returned to the airfield!
The Italians even sabotaged us. When I was at Palermo waiting for the air transport we were ordered to go down to the beach, because German Junkers aircraft had come down with water in the gasoline. There were three over the sea and one on the beach. We helped to build a stretch from where they could start again.
Can you imagine? We were sent to Italy to defend the Italian colonies and to fight for them. At the same time they sabotaged us by putting water in the petrol. That was incredible.
WHAT WAS YOUR OPINION OF THE ITALIAN SOLDIERS?
I’m not saying they were all cowards, but unfortunately I have to say so about a good part of the Italians. They had some good units like the Trieste tank division, which had a good reputation. In fact, I admired those Italian tankers because they had to fight in tanks that were no good at all.
On the other hand, a lot of them did not want to fight and they perhaps saw no reason to.
For example, the enlisted men didn’t have the same food as the NCOS or the officers. Such a thing would not have been possible in Germany.
On one occasion in North Africa I met some Italian infantry with an Italian machine gun.
I was interested in arms and asked one to show me how it worked. The bridge was rusted and he couldn’t even use it. They were supposed to fight for themselves but they were not even able to look after their weapons. Maybe this was one isolated incident, but I shall never forget that.
PANZERS, HURRICANES AND THE TEBEGA GAP WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN THE PANZER IV TANK?
I was sent to Company 8, which was the heavy company with a 75mm long-range, longbarrelled gun. As a newcomer, and therefore the weakest link in the crew, I was a loader and had to replace my predecessor. When you are on the way to becoming an officer you have to start at the bottom.
You had to load the gun and see that you had the right sort of ammunition and replenish it. The armament of the Panzer IV was an MG 34 machine gun in the turret, a 75mm cannon, and the wireless operator had a machine gun in the front. I had to see that we had the right ammunition at the right moment, because you had high explosives against lorries, infantry etc. and you had the armour-piercing ammunition to fight tanks.
WHAT WAS YOUR OPINION OF THE PANZER IV AS A FIGHTING VEHICLE?
I was glad to be in it because at that time it was the best we had in Africa. They did have some Tigers at the end but I never saw them, and I would have welcomed to be in them. It had an 88mm gun and thick armour. We had 14mm armour at the front, and that’s nothing compared to what you use nowadays.
In North Africa we even used the Panzer III with a 50mm gun because it had better armour, and some would have preferred to be in the Panzer III. However, the penetration of the 50mm gun was not to be compared at all with the 75mm.
WHAT WERE THE GERMAN OBJECTIVES AT THE TEBEGA GAP?
We had to hold this gap if possible because the British had done a clever move. They came using a left hook manoeuvre and we wanted to hold the Mareth Line. It was not a line as such but a series of fortifications. However, the
Tebega Gap was a natural defence with some trenches. There were some hills where you could hide a little bit, but you had to go up the hill to see the enemy and shoot.
It was quite open country and there was no way to hide, except for a little while behind a little slope. On the right side there were mountains, but we were not there, we were in the opening of this gap.
WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE BATTLE?
The first days were my baptism of fire. At first we fought against the Sherwoods, tank against tank. Then our engines had trouble and the next day we heard a radio message that said we were going to be attacked by planes.
They came from three directions. First, we took cover: we were rushing around the tank to get into a lee that was covered. I was green and wanted to prove myself but nobody was fighting then. I said, “God damn it, I have to do something!” so I took out a machine gun.
The rear of the tank was facing the Hurricanes at that stage so I went up onto the cupola and starting firing. The angle was different the closer the Hurricanes came so I stood up and fired with the machine gun on my hip until I stumbled and fell off. I fell off the tank with the gun in my arms and let the trigger go so I wouldn’t hit any of my people.
On the ground there was a small heap of sand right next to the tank. I fired the gun from there and the driver was feeding me ammunition. I couldn’t get the damn planes down because they were so many and they kept coming in waves.
At one time I was standing up, and the plane that had fired at us was passing by and I could see the pilot’s face because he was so low. None of them came down, and I later learned that these Hurricanes were armour-plated underneath, so it would have been a miracle if I had shot him down with a machine gun.
It was a bit of a stupid idea of mine to try it, but I wanted to prove myself and do something to stop them.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE ATTACKED BY HURRICANES?
It was very intense. After I had been firing at the plane our lieutenant gave us the order to get underneath the tank. We jumped under and he somehow sensed that there were two artillery shots coming in our direction. One landed directly on the engine deck and we were all underneath our tank. When we were hit I could feel that the tank was coming a little bit down on me.
After this we went out to look at the damage. The engine was burning and the trouble was we had some stacks of ammunition in the rear. They could have exploded, but our driver got a fire extinguisher out and managed to extinguish it.
WHERE WERE YOU DURING THE BATTLE IN RELATION TO GRAHAM STEVENSON?
Graham was on the other side of this hill. He cannot have seen our position because we were in the rear of a little slope. He must have been informed about the air attack that we were under, but he and the others broke through. The Sherwood Rangers were on their right side while my company was on our left side, so they were directly opposite us. At that time my tank had been towed away to the repair shop, so when they came through I had already gone. There was another time when my regiment fought the Sherwoods, but I could not participate because the damn tank wasn’t working. It was pure fate.
WHAT WERE FIGHTING CONDITIONS LIKE INSIDE A PANZER DURING A BATTLE?
It had a crew of five: commander, gunner, loader, radio operator and driver. It would get hot, especially when you fired the cannon because there was some heat generated by the gun.
When you are a loader you only have a small slit on the right side of the turret, through which you can see a little bit to the right but not to the front. You just waited for what would happen. You heard the shells go by and they made a funny gurgling sound.
It was not a pleasant feeling if you couldn’t see, but that is the fate of the loader. All the others could see and look out, but you were almost blind. It was an unpleasant mission.
I heard swishing noises and you had to wait for fate – whether you were going to be hit, die or not. That’s it. You were exposed because the Panzers were up front. In the desert it was open country most of the time and there was no cover.
From the beginning it depended who was quicker: their gunner or your own. Nowadays you can’t miss anymore. Today it is incredible because it is so accurate and computerised, but in those days the gunner had to be damned
“I WAS GREEN AND WANTED TO PROVE MYSELF BUT NOBODY WAS FIGHTING THEN. I SAID, ‘GOD DAMN IT, I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!’”
good and fast. It all depended on him and some depended on the commander directing him quickly enough and in the right direction.
CAPTURE WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR CAPTURE?
We got to a small place near Raf Raf and our captain dismissed us and said, “It’s over. You are free to do whatever, to escape or wait.” We must have spent three days waiting on the coast for E-boats but nothing came. I did see two E-boats in the distance coming towards the shore and I tried to reach them, but they went out to sea again. That was the greatest disappointment.
Suddenly a formation of British bombers came over just after we took our pistols apart. I ran into a little olive grove and threw myself in a small fold so I was covered on one side. The bombers came towards me and there was a ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ just before me and after, but I was unscathed. I cursed and said, “God damn it!” I thought the war was over for me, but they were still operating.
The next morning an American truck came to pick up prisoners. It was before 13 May 1943, but the war was over.
A ‘GENTLEMAN’S WAR’ WHAT WAS YOUR OPINION OF ROMMEL AND MONTGOMERY AS COMMANDERS?
I held Rommel in the highest esteem. He was always up front and not hiding behind like many other generals. I never saw him unfortunately, but he was always with his men and was very brave. It was such a crime that Hitler compelled him to be poisoned or be tried because he was on the side of those who wanted to end the war.
I can’t judge Montgomery, but he must have been a capable man. Of course, for him it was much easier to win against the Afrika Korps because we didn’t have enough supplies. There was also the American-british alliance coming in from two sides that enormously outnumbered us. They had all the necessary petrol, ammunition, food etc. that we couldn’t even dream of.
TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK THE NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN WAS A ‘GENTLEMAN’S WAR’?
The war between the Afrika Korps and the Eighth Army was a very unusual thing. We came to a gentlemen’s agreement with the British, which sounds strange, that we were not going to shoot crews while they were bailing out of tanks.
You might say, ‘What a stupid thing’ because if they were not wounded they would go into the next tank and fire against their opponents, but that’s how it was. However, the Americans had no such agreements with us and they fired with everything they had.
We never wanted to fight the British. In Hamburg we were called ‘Anglophiles’ because we were a well-connected port and the British were like cousins.
HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THE NAZIS’ CRIMES IN EUROPE DURING YOUR CAPTIVITY?
In North Africa we didn’t know what they had done with the Jews in the concentration camps. It was hushed up of course, because otherwise we wouldn’t have fought. I was so disgusted. I was lucky to have been in the Afrika Korps because nobody pointed a finger at them. However, for the Germans, what had happened in the concentration camps was our guilt.
When I was younger I had a photo of Hitler as a soldier with the Iron Cross. I said, “Yes, you are going to free us of the shame of Versailles, when they humiliated us and took away part of my country.” Hitler was the man who would save us from this. That is why we all believed in him and fought with full conviction. This was done not knowing what was happening to the Jews. When I heard it I got so f***ing mad and it ended my youth. We are a proud country and he ruined it.
I felt so betrayed. I had fought for the man, was ready to die for him and was on the brink of it several times. Everything had been in vain and my comrades were dead.
I don’t feel personally guilty for it though. My family had Jewish friends and we even took in the wife of a Jewish friend who had committed suicide. I am a cosmopolitan. The only matter is whether a person has a good, conscientious heart. Their race or position in life matters not.
BEFRIENDING THE BRITISH WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO CONTACT THE SHERWOOD RANGERS YEOMANRY REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION IN 1991?
I reached out to find the Sherwood Rangers because when I came back to Germany we [German soldiers] were considered as scum. I then said that I would find those British who fought against me because I thought they were honourable. I found them and they became my closest friends, especially Ken Ewing, who was in the same tank as Graham. Ken became like a brother.
When I was invited for the first time I went to Bayeux in my German tank beret. I was standing there, a bit unclear as to what would happen, and said, “What am I going to do?” but they said, “You’re one of us.” So I joined their ranks. I was on the parade with the Sherwood Rangers and Canadian pilots, so that was my first meeting. After that I became a member of their association without making a declaration, but it was set. It was an honour to be accepted and I was proud of it.
The papers wrote about us and the title was “Respect and Honour”. After that I went to England every year, where I was at regimental dinners, and in London when they had a memorial day.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST MEET GRAHAM?
He came a bit later because he had not known about the association. I liked him and he was a mate of my buddy Ken so it was a clear thing. I was with Graham when we went to the German cemetery in England.
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH YOUR FORMER ENEMIES CAN TEACH FUTURE GENERATIONS?
That is an important question. I hope that setting an example like this might make people approach others with mutual respect and try to understand them. It is so important for peace. It is possible between former enemies or opponents to become friends and to reconsider everything. We are all human beings.
It is understandable that a soldier must obey an order, whether he likes it or not. But I will not accept that we must do something against the law, against human behaviour. That is what I want to convey to the next generations: to be respectful, decent and honest. Graham and I are the last ones in our group but we must pass on the message for as long as possible.
“I FELT SO BETRAYED. I HAD FOUGHT FOR THE MAN, WAS READY TO DIE FOR HIM AND WAS ON THE BRINK OF IT SEVERAL TIMES. EVERYTHING HAD BEEN IN VAIN AND MY COMRADES WERE DEAD”