Unknown veterans

Oberleutnant Otto Carius

The most successful single German Panzer commander of World War 2, Otto Carius claimed between 170 - 200 Soviet fighting vehicles during his four and a half years on the Eastern Front. His most successful operation was a raid on a Russian village called Malinava, which at the time was occupied by strong Soviet armoured units. With the aid of only two out of the six Tigers VI's under Lt. Carius command, he and Sgt. Kerscher launched the attack down the single road to the entrance of the village where they began to engage enemy armour as close as 150m's. It was here also that Lt. Carius encountered the new Russian IS-2 for the first time, however, these were not a problem for the Tiger ace. Afterwards, Carius recalls that the battle did not last more than 20 minutes. In such short time the two Tigers had killed 17 Russian tanks including T34/85's and IS-2's, the most powerful tank of that period. Later reporters spoke to the loader of Otto's Tiger asking him about the atmosphere inside the vehicle and Otto's commander of the situation as a whole. He recalls Otto giving orders to the gunner to move the turret and fire without the gunner even looking through his gun sights and aiming. The loader recalls Otto shouting:

Otto Carius: "TARGET 2'OCLOCK, 100METRES ENGAGE!!" and that was that, scratch one kill.

Lt. Otto Carius achievement at Malinava is equally, if not superior, to the outstanding achievement by Michael Wittmann at Villers-Bocage, due to the fact that these enemy tanks had the armour and firepower to kill a Tiger whole. In August 1944 Otto was transferred from the front to Paderbornto where he began to train the crews of the new and deadly German JagdPanthers and later JagdTigers becoming commander 2nd Company sPzJagAbt 512.

Note: Otto Carius only wore his Knight's Cross at the front in which he used is high honourable award to receive extra amounts of food, ammunition, fuel etc.

By Pz_J_Dietrich

SS-Obersturmbannführer Christian Tychsen

Commander of the heavy Tiger battalions in the 'Das Reich' Division, Christian Tychsen achieved outstanding success on all fronts and major campaigns including Kharkov and Kursk during his combat service in World War Two. Tychsen was an inspirational leader preferring to command his units from the front line in the thick of the action adapting powerful and fierce tactics with great speed as soon as the situation had called for, ripping enemy position apart in the process. However, this style of leadership often lead to Tychsen being wounded by such elements as fire, metal splinters from non-penetrating shells, and also gun fire. He was severely wounded more than nine times in his career and was finally killed while commanding the 'Das Reich' Division in Normandy, when his staff car was ambushed by Allied forces. He received two gun shot wounds to his chest and was taken to an Allied hospital but later died of his fatal wounds. It was at this point that souvenir hunters took his tunic with all decorations plus all other identification tags. Christian Tychsen was then buried as an unknown soldier, but, later after the Allies had realized who they had killed he was dug-up and reburied with full military honours.

By Pz_J_Dietrich

SS-Unterscharfuhrer Fritz Christen

Fritz Christen was a gunner with the 2nd Company SS-Anti-Tank Detachment of the 'Totenkopf' Division. During the fierce battles in the Demyansk pocket his battery, located just north of Lushno, took the full brunt of the first Soviet armoured assault on the morning of 24th September 1941. Christen was the only member of the battery to survive, but he stayed at his post firing feverishly until he had driven off the attacking tanks, and destroyed six. Christen remained alone in the emplacement for the next three days. He repeatedly repulsed Russian infantry and tank attacks with his 50mm cannon while exposed to a continual hail of artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire. Christen hung on grimly, cut off completely from the rest of his unit and the division. He refused to abandon his post, carrying shells to his gun from disabled batteries around him during the hours of darkness, and blazing away at enemy infantry and tanks at dawn. On 27th September the Russians were finally driven out of Lushno, and his astonished SS comrades found him still crouched behind his anti-tank cannon. In 72 hours he had killed nearly 100 enemy soldiers and knocked out 13 Soviet tanks. He was awarded the Knight's Cross from Hitler himself. Fritz Christen was the first and youngest enlisted man from the ranks of the Waffen-SS to be so honoured. The fate of Fritz Christen during or after the war is unknown.

By Pz_J_Dietrich

SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Vincenz Kaiser

Vincenz Kaiser of the 'Der Fuhre'r Regiment of 'Das Reich'. A tank killer par excellence, note the tank destruction badges on his arm. These special badges were introduced in March 1942 and were awarded for the destruction of an enemy tank single-handed. It was not awarded for anti-tank troops but for regular soldiers who destroyed an enemy fighting vehicles by means of charge, rocket propelled weapons or climbing aboard and using grenades and machine-gun fire to eliminate the crew. Vinscenz Kaiser fought on the all fronts, being killed in action on April 1945 near Nuremberg.

By Pz_J_Dietrich