Sommaire pour Issue 9 de Iron Cross

WAR IN THE AIR: SUBTERFUGE AND DECEPTION Swiss Shadowplay When a Luftwaffe night fighter was forced to land in neutral Switzerland during 1944, it was packed with the Luftwaffe’s latest secrets. As RobinSchäfer explains, the Swiss and the Germans fooled each other in negotiated arrangements intended to keep the secrets hidden. On 18 May 1944, at exactly 22:00 hours, the sound of three large explosions ripped through the night and flames briefly illuminated the sky above Dübendorf in the Uster district of the Zürich canton, Switzerland. So loud were the sounds of the detonations that they were clearly heard in Pfäffikon, more than 20 km away. The following morning, the local press initiated inquiries which ended without result. Soon afterwards, Territorial Army Command made clear that the phenomenon had not…

ORDERS, DECORATIONS AND AWARDS State Awards In this exclusive feature David Danner explains the somewhat mysterious and largely unknown state awards and decorations system of Germany during the First World War and how and why the awards were made. When it came to decorations for valour or meritorious service in wartime, for the common German soldier as opposed to the glamorous fighter pilots or well-positioned staff officers etc, then the most that could usually be expected was the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the basic German soldier’s award.1 Repeated acts of valour might subsequently lead to the award of the Iron Cross 1st Class, but less than one in twenty recipients of the 2nd class later received the 1st Class. However, the awards system was enriched by the federal nature of…

The Captured General’s Viewpoint Although his capture pre-dated events on the Somme, the taking prisoner of General Victor Williams at Mont Sorrel on 2 June 1916 resulted in the general’s somewhat surprisingly candid revelations to his captors. What he expressed of his views to his interrogators perhaps helped cement some of the German army’s opinions of their English opponents. In many aspects, his somewhat incendiary pronouncements were views that were later repeated in many of the German ‘Erfahrungsberichte’, including those reproduced above. History does not record, however, whether these documented views were ever later expressed by General Williams, post war, or whether his erstwhile colleagues on Field Marshal Sir John French’s General Staff ever became aware of his opinious about his comrades-in-arms, the English. The following, then, is a translation…

EYEWITNESS Fallen Eagles In an occasional series looking at eyewitness testimony relating to German military history, Andy Saunders examines the case of two senior Luftwaffe officers lost over Britain in 1940. All photos via author unless otherwise credited. The little RAF training airfield at Upavon, Wiltshire, made little sense as a target when singled out by the Luftwaffe for a daylight attack on 14 August 1940. In the air defence of the British Isles, Upavon was singularly insignificant. Nevertheless, three Heinkel 111-P aircraft from the Geschwaderstab of KG55 were detailed by their Kommodore for an attack on the airfield. What made even less sense than the target selection, however, was that two senior Luftwaffe officers were on board one of the aircraft. Both officers were of Oberst rank-roughly equivalent to…

The Manufacturing Process Behind those men on the front line who received the awards was another army toiling in workshops, small and large. The craftsmen who designed and manufactured this iconic award, under incredible pressure and deprivation, have become a forgotten part of the history of the Second World War. The Iron Cross of 1939 is a relatively simple award, seemingly identical to the Prussian awards of 1813, 1870, and the Imperial German version of 1914. Upon closer examination, however, it is clear the 1939 version had a different shape entirely and underwent a total redesign. Six parts made up the Iron Cross First Class: frame, core, backplate, hinge, catch, and pin. The Iron Cross Second Class, though, had only five component parts: two frame halves, the core, the ring…

THE FRONT PHOTOS FROM #7 Under new Management This RAF Mk I Hurricane, V7670, was captured in North Africa by the Luftwaffe at some point during 1941 and repainted in German markings. Several captured Hurricanes were flown by the Luftwaffe during the early part of the war, but in respect of V7670, however, it could have been the case that the aircraft was used as some sort of landing ground decoy by the Luftwaffe and that it was never intended for flight. What is known, though, is that V7670 was serving with 261 Squadron, RAF, in Malta until at least late April 1941, with Pilot Officer John ‘Tiger’ Pain damaging a Messerschmitt Bf 110 when flying this aircraft. With the disbandment of 261 Squadron in May 1941, the aircraft ended up…

Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer’s ‘Thirteenth’ COMBAT REPORT On 22 June at 00.54 I took off for a night operation in area ‘Meise’. At 01.20, as a result of the first attempt, we picked up a target-bound enemy aircraft which was flying on a bearing of 120°, height 4,300 metres, on FuG 202. At 01.26, at about 500 metres to the right and above, I recognised it as a Short Stirling. At 01.30m I succeeded in getting in an attack on the violently turning enemy aircraft. It caught fire in the fuselage and also the wings and the aircraft continued on, burning. Then it went into a dive. I followed the burning aircraft until it crashed at 01.30, 3 km NE Aerschot. The wreck has been found. Signed: Leutnant Schnaufer 22 June 1943 This…

ISSUE 10 Next Issue The next issue of Iron Cross (Issue No.10) will be on sale 29th September 2021 and the following features will be included as just some of the magazine’s exciting content. Panzer IV: Workhorse of theWehrmacht Originally conceived as a support tank, the Panzer IV proved its value in 1940, and then in Russia, where upgrades to its gun and armour saw a superior performance against Soviet armour, and later against British and American tanks in North Africa and Italy, as Thomas Anderson explains. The Panzer IV continued to face Allied armour until the war’s end.(1) Crossof Onyx Dietrich Maerz tells the fascinating history of the most extraordinary award of the Third Reich: the unique onyx-cored and platinum framed Grand Cross of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.(2) Hitler’sFlemish Lions…

UNLOCKING HISTORY Battle of Britain Souvenirs AndySaunders unlocks the story behind some fascinating artefacts taken as trophies from Luftwaffe aircraft brought down over the Sussex coast during 1940. All photos via author unless otherwise credited. When a selection of Luftwaffe cockpit instruments came into the hands of the editorial team in recent months, it inevitably raised the question: what was the story behind those objects? Fortunately, they came with some very definite clues which allowed the respective histories of the items to be unlocked and their provenance established beyond any doubt. CASE FILE NO. 1 Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 Cockpit Clock When the Consultant Editor (Historical) of Iron Cross magazine set out to acquire for himself a working example of the Luftwaffe’s early pattern Junghans FL 23885 cockpit clock, it…

COMPETITION Win a new book from Osprey Publishing! Luftwaffe Special Weapons 1942–45 WIN ONE OF FIVE COPIES ENTER ONLINE TODAY! This superb book is truly a masterpiece – and a copy can be won by five lucky readers of Iron Cross magazine. By Robert Forsyth, this is a fascinating work by one of the leading experts in his field and covers all the Luftwaffe’s significant special weapons between 1942 and 1945. During that period, German engineers and designers came up with a plethora of exotic and innovative pieces of equipment, the author covering them all in great detail. From a range of unique photographs, engineering drawings, coloured artwork and specially commissioned cut-away diagrams, Robert Forsyth provides the reader with what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive work ever published on this…

PRISONERS OF WAR Carry On Escaping While Allied Prisoner of War escape stories abound and are widely familiar, they are mostly told from the escapers’ viewpoint. RobinSchäfer and Andy Saunders delve into the archives to uncover some escape stories as viewed by the captors. Castle Tittmoning, perched on a rocky spur above the village of the same name, was built in the 12th century and owned by the powerful archdiocese of Salzburg to protect the border with neighbouring Bavaria. In the second half of the 15th century, it was turned into a Gothic fortress, naturally protected by the cut of an ancient river terrace on one side and a deep ditch on the other, the castle only accessible across a long, wooden bridge to the main gate or a narrow…

CONFLICT ARCHAEOLOGY V2 - The Human Cost 17/18 August 1943: RAF bombing of Peenemünde. 735 killed including 557 foreign workers, mostly Polish. 1943/1945: Construction of Mittelwerk and the assembly of V2s’ estimated to have cost the lives of 20,000 slave labourers, although the movement of many prisoners from concentration camps in 1945 to the area has added to the figures. 3 March 1945: RAF bombing of Bezuidenhout, Netherlands. 511 killed, 344 injured, 20,000 made homeless. Target was V2 assembly and storage, but a residential area was hit. 3/4 April 1945: RAF Bombing of Nordhausen killed 1,500 sick prisoners from Camp Dora who had been left to die at the Boelcke Kaserne barracks. (Over 7,000 people were killed in Nordhausen town). V2 campaign against London: In total, 2,754 people were killed…

WAR AFTER WAR: FIRST BATTLES OF BERLIN AND THE GERMAN REVOLUTION The Seething Cauldron As Germany tried to come to terms with defeat in 1918 and 1919, so the aftershock reverberated throughout the Reich – from the Kaiser and ruling classes down to ordinary citizens. DrImmanuel Voigt charts Germany’s bloody post-war revolution and the battles which raged on Berlin’s streets. It was a mild but rainy November morning during 1918. The rain, however, didn’t bother anyone and people came to the streets and squares of German cities in large numbers. That the war had to end immediately was the popular opinion. For too long, the people had watched the insufficient efforts of heads of state. For too long, slogans of the ‘final strike’ and the ‘decisive blow’ had been heard.…

WAR IN THE AIR: DEFENDING THE REICH The Baker’s Boy Although the successes of Luftwaffe night fighters against RAF bombing attacks on the Reich were extraordinary, the fighter crews themselves also suffered grievous losses. Andy Saunders spotlights just one ‘unknown’ casualty. Although Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer is said to have felt he had a higher chance of survival as a night fighter pilot than he would have had in any other frontline role, the fact of the matter is that very many hundreds of Luftwaffe Nachtjagd pilots and crew members were killed on operational flights between 1941 and 1945. However, Schnaufer’s view held good for him in that he had at least survived the war. But that was as much down to luck than to anything else. And it was certainly the…

FROM THE ARCHIVES Perceptions from the Battlefield In a new occasional series we look at military archives which reveal hidden stories of German military forces. Here, Robin Schäfer examines some reports on how the German army viewed its opponents during the Battle of the Somme. Throughout history, the world’s militaries have attempted to learn from experience. For the most part, however, they have tended to extract from those experiences only what supported their preconceived notions. Without doubt, the most self-critical military force during the World Wars was the German Army. Its willingness to be self-critical, and to strive to learn from experience, was a major factor in its battlefield performance and resilience. Throughout the First World War, German military formations (often down to company and platoon level) compiled ‘Erfahrungsberichte’, or…

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE The Iron Cross In the first of an occasional series on the manufacture of arms, weapons, equipment, uniforms, and decorations, JamesDempster looks at the process for the manufacture of the Iron Cross 2nd Class of 1939. All images via the author. The Iron Cross was reinstituted on 1 September 1939, with the first crosses awarded in early September for fighting in Poland. However, the order for the reinstitution had already been written months beforehand and was held in a safe in the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht awaiting the date of the invasion. The time between the order being written and 1 September 1939 was used by Germany to develop the design for the new crosses and manufacture enough to be ready for ‘Fall Weiß’, the invasion…

CONFLICT ARCHAEOLOGY ‘Big Ben’ 973 An unusual project to archaeologically investigate the impact points of V1 and V2 weapons in the UK is ongoing by brothers Seanand Colin Welch of the ‘Crater Locator’ team. Here, they look at a 1945 V2 rocket impact site in Kent. COVER STORY All images via the author unless otherwise credited. There was no warning of the approaching V2 missile. Travelling at 1,100 metres per second, it plunged into an orchard at Chainhurst Farm, Marden, Kent, and exploded leaving a crater 37 feet across and 10 feet deep. It was 02:19 hours on Friday morning, 9 March 1945. The target was London, but this missile was a long way off-course. Despite the inexorable course of the war at this-point-in-time, the V2 campaign against London was…