The Final Days, Part Two

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"Cap'n Hernandez! Sir!" Cpl. Jake Winters was trying to get his company commander's attention, he had battalion on the radio and they were adamant, "Whatever he's doing, have him drop it and get on the horn, NOW!" Winters realized he was talking directly to Cpt. Jack Walker, the acting commander of 1st Battalion.

Hernandez had been talking with 1st Platoon's commander, 1st Lt. Nathaniel Gonzales, they were discussing whether or not to call in artillery on a suspected German position just ahead. The division was advancing to the outskirts of Karlovy Vary. While opposition was starting to fade, there were still small pockets of Germans who wanted to fight.

Hernandez spun on his heel and, uncharacteristically, barked at his radioman, "Damn it, Winters! Can't you see I'm f**king busy?" In the captain's defense, he had had virtually no sleep over the past 48 hours. Still, Winters flinched.

Hernandez saw that and immediately regretted his outburst, reaching for the radio handset he put a hand on Winters shoulder and said, "Sorry Jake, that was uncalled for." Then he spoke into the radio, "Charlie Leader here."

Hernandez listened for a few minutes, occasionally he would interject a "Yes Sir" or an "Understood Sir" into the conversation, mostly he listened. Winters heard a barked "Out" from the handset as Hernandez handed it back to him. The captain looked very thoughtful for a few seconds, then he looked at Winters.

"Radio all the platoons. We're to stand down. Defensive actions only, it seems the Krauts surrendered this morning. It's finally over..."

Oberstleutnant¹ Werner von Kleist was walking at the head of a column of approximately 2,000 Germans, a mixture of soldiers and civilians. The Red Army was advancing quickly into western Czechoslovakia, he did not wish to be a prisoner of the Soviets.

He had started to move west with the remnants of his regiment, roughly 500 men. As the march continued, more and more civilians joined the column. He had talked briefly with one of the civilian leaders, the man's family had lived in the region for generations. He was understandably distraught with having to leave his homeland.

"Herr Oberstleutnant, my family has lived in the Sudetenland since 1650, my ancestors served the Hapsburgs against Napoléon, I myself served the Emperor Franz-Joseph on the Italian front in the last war. Now my Czech neighbors are talking revenge. Revenge for what? I did nothing to them!"

"I know Opa, the world has gone insane. My family lands are in Prussia and have been overrun by the Red Army. I had a letter from a friend who said that the rape and the looting by the Red Army is out of control. Which is why I'm taking the remnants of my regiment west, to surrender to the Americans."

"Will they take us in? Can we expect mercy from the Americans?" The older man wanted to know.

"I don't know Opa, better them than the Reds I think."

1st Lt. Nate Paddock's 2nd Platoon was manning a roadblock on the Cheb - Karlovy Vary road. The men had been stunned by the sheer number of refugees on the road. Sgt. Melvin Katz was running the checkpoint because of his language skills, most of the refugees were Sudeten Germans.

Pfc. Bogdan Nowak walked up to the sergeant and said, "It looks like most of western Czechoslovakia is walking this way." Nowak was fluent in Polish, German, Russian, and English and, as it turned out, could have simple conversations in Czech. So he was a good man to have on the roadblock as well.

"Yes, I think you're right. Then there are those guys as well." Katz said this while pointing with his chin towards a bedraggled looking group of German POWs, soldiers who had dumped their weapons and joined the flock of refugees. As the columns passed, the men manning the road block pulled the soldiers aside.

"Wow, look at that." Nowak pointed down the road, where coming around a bend there was a battalion-sized group of German soldiers marching in formation. Their uniforms were dirty and worn, but their military discipline was still strong. Behind them was another group of civilian refugees.

"I wonder where Germany is going to put all of these people." Katz wondered aloud.

"They should have thought of that before starting a war." Nowak grumbled.

Oberstleutnant von Kleist had his sergeants form the men in columns of four by company. The men fell in naturally, most had been in the Army for at least two years, the younger ones followed the examples set by their sergeants and corporals. Once they had formed it was only natural that they marched in step.

The civilians fell back to follow the battalion into the American lines. Von Kleist wondered if they would be met by machine gun fire, then he saw the group of German soldiers off the side of the road. He felt confident that his men would be taken prisoner.

As the column approached the roadblock, von Kleist ordered the men to halt. He then walked up to the roadblock and noted that there was a sergeant on duty. He stopped, came to attention, saluted, and then in broken English indicated his desire to surrender.

He was somewhat surprised when the American soldier answered in perfect Viennese German.

Sgt. Katz was bemused at the idea of a lieutenant colonel saluting him, but he came to attention, returned the salute, and said, "Der Krieg ist vorbei, Oberstleutnant, Ihre Armee hat sich heute Morgen kapitulieren. Sie sind jetzt Kriegsgefangene der 1. Infanteriedivision der US-Armee.²"

"Ich verstehe Unteroffizier, wo wollen Sie meine Männer?³" von Kleist expected to be pointed to the roadside, but he had 500 men, surely they wouldn't fit.

Katz thought about it for a moment. As he was trying to figure out where to put a battalion of German POWs, Cpt. Hernandez and 1st Lt. Paddock joined him. After he explained what was going on, Paddock decided, with Hernandez' concurrence, that Katz' squad would escort the German soldiers back to regiment, where a proper POW cage was being set up.

Pointing to the bedraggled lot sitting off to the side Hernandez said, "Have this colonel take those guys with him."

Katz explained this to von Kleist who immediately detailed two of his sergeants to have those other men fall in behind his men.

Hauptfeldwebel Martin Benfeldt had been in the army nearly twenty years, like most professional non-commissioned officers, he despised disorder and sloppiness. The men sitting in dejection at the roadside were stunned into motion at Benfeldt's first words.

"ON YOUR FEET YOU DISGUSTING RABBLE!! YOU CALL YOURSELVES SOLDIERS? GO, GO, GO, FALL IN OVER THERE BEHIND THOSE REAL SOLDIERS!! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!"

As these men fell in behind von Kleist's, their own sergeants chivvied them into formation, which pleased Benfeldt immensely. Shortly thereafter, von Kleist gave the order to march.

And as they marched down the road, the men began to sing...

A little flower blooms on the heath,

And it's called: Erika.

Hot with a hundred thousand small bees

Swarming around it, Erika,

For her heart is full of sweetness –

Delicate fragrance wafts from her flowery dress.

A little flower blooms on the heath,

And it's called: Erika.

 

There's a little maid back home,

And she's called: Erika.

This girl is my true little treasure

And my happiness, Erika.

When the heath turns a purplish colour,

I greet her singing this song.

A little flower blooms on the heath,

And it's called: Erika.

 

A little flower also blooms in my room,

And it's called: Erika.

Already at first light and at sundown

It looks at me, the Erika.

And then it seems to me as if it speaks aloud:

"Do you also think of your little bride?

At home, a girl is weeping for you

And she's called: Erika."

(Source)

Erika, as it's known in German - heather in English.
We had this in our garden in Germany, I miss that garden.
(Source)

Hernandez and Paddock watched the Germans marching down the road to captivity and an uncertain future. Their heads were held high and every man was singing at the top of his lungs. Hernandez looked at Paddock and said, "I hope we never have to fight those bastards again. Defeated and they still look like soldiers."

"Amen to that Cap'n. Amen to that." Paddock nodded, the Krauts had nearly killed him, had killed men serving under him, had killed friends of his, but he understood. It was war. Perhaps in the future they should send the politicians out to fight their own battles.

If only...

The 7th of May 1945

After authorizing Patton to advance to the Karlovy Vary – Plzen – Ceske Budejovice line, General Eisenhower sent a message to the Soviet High Command informing them that he was considering an advance beyond that line to the west bank of the Vltava (Moldau) River.  This storied river flows north through the heartland of Bohemia and Prague before joining the Elbe River in Germany.

The following day on 5 May 1945, the Soviet High Command strenuously objected to Eisenhower’s proposal, as doing so would enable Patton’s army to liberate as least part of the Czechoslovak capital.  With German resistance melting away before the Americans and Czechs partisans rising up against the Germans in Prague and numerous towns, Third U.S. Army could easily have reached Prague before the Soviets.  As the Soviets were intent on imposing a Communist government in the post-war Czechoslovakia, the U.S. Army could not be permitted to liberate Prague.  Accordingly, they prevailed upon Eisenhower to halt Patton at the Karlovy Vary – Plzen – Ceske Budejovice line.

In responding to Eisenhower’s proposal, the Soviets falsely claimed a quid pro quo with Denmark. They insisted that they had allowed Eisenhower’s forces to liberate Denmark earlier that week.  The fact was Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery’s 21st Army Group had successfully raced the Soviets to the Baltic Sea and thus prevented the Soviets from seizing Denmark.  Even with Czech partisans in Prague desperately crying out for American help via radio and courier, Eisenhower would not permit Third Army to advance any farther east.

On the morning of 7 May, Third U.S. Army was well positioned to resume the advance on Prague.  In the north, CCA 9th Armored Division was just a few miles west of Karlovy Vary.  In the center, 16th Armored Division had liberated Plzen and pushed several miles east.  The 4th Armored Division had similarly advanced beyond the restraining line.  In the south, the 5th Infantry Division was west of Ceske Budejovice.  More importantly, only scattered organized resistance was being encountered.   Rather, torrents of German soldiers and civilians were rushing westward to surrender to the Americans and thus escape being captured by the Soviets.  That morning, many of Third Army’s units resumed their advance up to the restraining line.  The orders to halt the eastward advance did not reach many of the units until late morning of 7 May.

On the morning of 7 May 1945, the units of 1st Infantry Division and its attached Combat Command A, 9th Armored Division resumed their attacks eastward.  Their attacks had not proceeded far when word was received to halt.  In mid-morning, CCA was ordered to halt just short of Karlovy Vary.

Later that morning, the 1st Infantry Division and other Third U.S. Army units received the official word from General Eisenhower’s headquarters informing them the German High Command had surrendered early in the morning of 7 May.  The provisions of the surrender agreement would take effect at 0001 on 9 May 1945.  All offensive operations were to cease immediately.

Also that morning, senior leaders of the German XII Corps surrendered not once but twice to the combined 1st Infantry Division / CCA 9th Armored Division force.  In the first surrender ceremony, Major Henry T. Mortimer and Captain Cecil Roberts of CCA and a major from the 1st Infantry Division accepted the surrender of General Herbert Osterkamp and his corps at his headquarters with Captain Roberts formally accepting Osterkamp’s sword.

Subsequent to Capt. Robert’s acceptance of that German corps’s surrender, Gen.Osterkamp surrendered his XII Corps again.  This time, Gen. Osterkamp surrendered his corps to Brigadier General George A. Taylor, the Assistant Commander of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Also present were Major Mortimer, Brig. Gen. Thomas Harrold - commander of CCA, 9th Armored, and several other 1st Infantry Division officers. Under interrogation, Osterkamp revealed that his corps had only about 2,200 soldiers in its three depleted divisions, and that altogether there were some 17,000 Germans in his area of responsibility. There was some difference of opinion over the exact terms of the German surrender but Gen. Taylor quickly prevailed. With little choice, Osterkamp accepted Taylor’s precise terms and surrendered his corps for the second time. (Source)

¹ Lieutenant colonel

² The war is over, Lieutenant Colonel, your army surrendered this morning. You are now prisoners of the US Army's 1st Infantry Division.

³ I understand, sergeant, where do you want my men?

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