From
Chapter 1:
To the Russians and French
belongs the land,
To the British belongs the sea
But the vast empire of dreams,
belongs to Germany.
-- Heinrich Heine
Chapter 1: The Making of a German Officer 1899 - 1938
Surrender to Freedom
After thirty long years Fritz Bayerlein was at last at peace. His long career spanned twenty-eight years
with the German Army during the most tumultuous conflict in world history, culminating in two hard bitter years in an American
prisoner of war camp. The man who was once the chief of staff to the legendary Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was now working
as a mechanic ─ changing tires, pulling wrenches; his blackened hands soiled in common labor. But Fritz Bayerlein was
free in his oily workshop ─ a freedom unknown in a fragmented personal and professional life.
Now, in the spring of 1947, Bayerlein allowed himself a diversion, a radical change from the responsibilities of command
to the work of a common mechanic. Working in the motor pool, Bayerlein distanced himself from the contemptuous glances of
some of the old-line German officers. Bayerlein had “sold out” to the Americans, they believed. The U.S. Army’s mechanic utilities clothed him well and were a welcome change from a German corps
commander’s wool coat. Bayerlein was comfortable—he made the Americans
happy, and he was surviving quite well. The former German general worked quietly in the prison camp motor pool, grease staining
his hands and clothes. For the first time in many years, Fritz Bayerlein was free.
The Great
War, the post-war German economic collapse of the 1920’s, the rise of Adolph Hitler, and the racial and political ideologies
of the National Socialists set the stage on which Bayerlein’s life would unfold. Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein
rose from a brilliant young officer cadet during the First World War to a cynical and jaded German Army corps commander in
the dying days of World War II. What separates this man from the stories and legends of others whose histories and biographies
over-shadow him? Bayerlein’s deeds, cited in a few lines or footnotes in books of the more famous and publicized soldiers
of his time, have been severely criticized by some and strongly praised by others. Was Bayerlein a negligent commander, a
bad leader? Or was he a wiser man, a general who realistically foresaw the ultimate outcome of the war?
And another excerpt from Chapter 1:
Romance
and Change
.....Blumenstrasse was a world apart from the hustle of the main town. Streets
curved along the riverbanks of the Main. Lumber, logs, carts, and boxes of all sizes stood next to the water’s edge,
unloaded from the barges and small boats tied to the wharves. The Main River’s breeze cooled the streets, and after
the hustle of the boat and barge traffic quieted in the evening, people walked along the riverside, or sat on the stone of
the river wall.
Here in the Blumenstrasse neighborhood a young woman discreetly surveyed
a handsome young army officer. Fraulein Hanna Huber and her parents lived a few apartments down from their new neighbors,
Donat and Louise Bayerlein, and their adult children, a pretty and petite nineteen-year-old daughter, Ellen, and a son, Fritz,
a 21-year-old army officer --attractive and athletic. Hanna had an instant attraction to the man. The new neighbor’s
son was worth watching. Fritz, usually self-absorbed with his studies, was doing his own surveillance. Hanna had caught his
eye, and the fleeting interest was mutual.
Each day, Bayerlein rode his bicycle over to the Würzburg garrison for his duties and studies. Industrious like his
father, he worked and studied hard. Born the same year of 1901, Hanna and Fritz’ sister, Ellen, became good friends.
Hanna became a close friend of the entire Bayerlein family, spending many hours visiting them. She was, however, interested
in a romance with Fritz; and her friendship with his sister gave her an advantage over the female competition.
Physically, Bayerlein was a handsome man, and the response of the opposite sex was as expected. “He didn’t
really seem to realize this,” his fellow officers would recall of his effect on women. “Bayerlein just didn’t
notice these things. Women would flirt with him. It didn’t matter whether they were French, Hungarian, Belgian or German;
the women liked him.”
At five feet nine inches Fritz was about medium height, but he had powerful broad shoulders and a wide chest, a feature
that “made the women wild for him.” He carried himself well and was an impressive man whether in uniform or wearing
civilian clothing. He shrugged away their attentions. He was not vain and curiously nonchalant. Bayerlein always had a ready
smile and an easy-going Bavarian spirit.
In spite of his experiences in the Great War, Bayerlein retained his good nature. He was an expressive man, and his eyes often
revealed his feelings. Large and black, they glinted in amusement when he joked, or if displeased, a warning flash of fire. He regretted his rare, irritated outbursts against subordinates and apologized for
them. When confronted with adversity or accusations that he believed unfounded,
he would not give up, rather he would continue to belabor his point. Although he possessed his mother’s intelligence
and calm nature, Fritz could also be tenacious.
****
From
Chapter 6:
“You
cannot imagine how sick and tired we are of war. You can never know how it felt to fight for three years knowing all the time
that your side had already lost.” Oberstgruppenführer ‘ Sepp Dietrich
CHAPTER 6 – Panzer Lehr Division
in the Ardennes Offensive
The
Battering, Bayerlein and a Blonde at Bastogne
Bayerlein's
narrative...
........At once I blocked the road on the northeastern end of Mageret
with mines and tanks. I myself was in Mageret. Still more US armored units and motor vehicles came from Bastogne, as it was
known that the Germans were already in Mageret. But we did not know either that Mageret was occupied by US troops. Only during
the search of the place did an engagement take place; then the search went on until dawn. A US Dispensary in the Bois St.
Lambert was left to carry on and treated wounded American and German men.”
"At about 0200 on the 19th a house in Mageret which had been insufficiently searched turned
out to be full of Americans, who opened fire; and there was a terrific row and confusion before the houses were cleared."
Post war rumors about Bayerlein suggest that at Mageret, instead of attacking Bastogne, he was flirting
most of the day away with a “young American nurse, ‘blonde and beautiful’ who held him spellbound in a village
his troops had overrun.”
Bayerlein himself recalled the event of December 19th:
“At 0700 my panzers returned to the Neffe station. I gave them an order to continue the attack.
We got only a little distance and met fire. I thought it was tank fire. But it stopped us. We lost about 80 men, mostly from
artillery. I went to a cave near the Neffe station. At noon I got the impression the American battalion was attacking in both
places and closing up my northern side. So I returned to Mageret. There was a US Army aid station there. I went to the doctor
and asked if he would help me care for my wounded. There was a nurse there, and she was very beautiful.” However, Bayerlein
did not state whether the particular nurse was a US Army nurse, as he probably had never seen one. According to all reports
all US Army nurses had been evacuated in the early hours of the offensive.
Bayerlein was rumored to be, according to one account, “walking among them, and he noticed a very
attractive young lady, shapely in her nurse’s uniform with a small white cap balanced on her blonde hair. He began flirting
with her, but she did not reciprocate at all. Realizing that he was not getting anywhere – the circumstances were not
in his favor – he quickly returned to the reason why he was there: the capture of Bastogne.” Since the US Army
Nurse Corps uniforms were olive drab and did not include the wearing of white caps, then the helpful but aloof nurse was perhaps
Belgian and happened to be lending a hand at the dispensary. Another account confirms the nurse was an American and that “Bayerlein’s
somewhat lackluster performance may have a relatively simple explanation. According to several accounts, he spent much of December 19th romancing an attractive blond
American nurse captured near Magaret.”
“General Bayerlein was slightly wounded
by a shell fragment. He was well treated at the American Mageret first aid station, which had been captured, and soon returned
somewhat recovered." The young officer noticed the disappearance of his commanding officer for several hours on the morning
of December 19th: “Bayerlein at this time was like a tired old battle-horse. During the D-Day landings
and the bombing at St. Lo he became battle-fatigued. Bayerlein was a middle-aged man. Here in the Ardennes he wearied easily
from the almost six years of war, and his treatment and rest at the aid station seemed to refresh him. What Bayerlein did
there, who knows? I believe the story of the nurse, and believe she was an American Army nurse.” At any rate, while
Bayerlein was sleeping, dallying or carousing, he certainly wasn’t fighting.
*****
From Chapter 7:
“Tomorrow
we will have breakfast with the Americans.”
Generallt.
Fritz Bayerlein
From: Chapter 7: From Remagen to the Ruhr
Early in the day on April 3rd a series of reverses had already forced Bayerlein to move his command post
back to Lenneplätz, west of Winterberg, and later in the day to a wood northwest of the town. Here Model came again, raved
at him for having lost Winterberg, and ordered the town retaken. Bayerlein said he called attention to the large hospitals
there filled with war wounded, but that Model said it made no difference to him; it must be retaken. Bayerlein was completely
disgusted and merely answered, “Wird genommen” (it shall be taken); but on the night of the 4th,
when he was supposed to attack, he simply failed to order the attack at all and sent in a report that the attack had been
attempted but had failed.
“By command of the Corps, Winterberg was not defended. In the night the enemy marched into the town without being
disturbed,” said Bayerlein, emphasizing his orders as LIII Corps Commander. “The Panzer Lehr Division occupied
the positions in the hills west of the town. The Corps gave strict orders not to shell the enemy in the town of Winterburg.
Not one shot was allowed to be fired in the town. The Corps put up with the disadvantages which this measure involved.”
With this order Bayerlein knew he was at risk considering Field Marshal Model’s blackening mood and erratic temper.
Bayerlein knew he was insubordinate. Saving Winterberg and the lives of the people, as well as wounded soldiers in the many
military hospitals, were nonetheless the more important decision. What the outcome of disobeying Model’s direct order
would be if the Field Marshal discovered his disobedience, Bayerlein could only surmise. Model had ordered a similar court
martial for General von Choltitz, who had effectually surrendered Paris. Bayerlein’s own fate could entail a quick trial
by Hitler’s special court-martial and either hanging or execution by firing squad. He staked his own life on the line
and sent Model the false Winterberg report.
****
Above
narrative is copyrighted, please cite all sources - available in the Biography. The reference footnotes are deleted here
for illustation purposes only -- the Author.
