Ernst Barkmann
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Ernst Barkmann (born 25 August 1919) is a German former Waffen-SS soldier and panzer ace. Barkmann fought rose to fame during World War II for his actions in command of Panther tanks.
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[edit] Early life
Barkmann was born in the town of Kisdorf in the kreis of Segeberg in Holstein. His father was a farmer, and after attending school, Barkmann followed in his father's footsteps and began working on the family farm.
Barkmann closely followed rise of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler, and like most Germans, was soon a supporter of the new leadership. In late 1935, he applied for service in the élite Waffen-SS. On 1 April 1936, Barkmann was inducted into the SS and posted to SS-Standarte Germania for training. After several months of training, Barkmann was given the rank of SS-Mann and joined the Standarte's III.Bataillon, based at Radolfzell.
[edit] Early War Campaigns
The standarte was posted to East Prussia where it was to act as a part of 14.Armee. With the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939, Barkmann saw action with this formation in the Invasion of Poland, serving as a machine gunner with the 9./III.Bataillon. He fought well during the campaign, receiving a promotion to Rottenführer. He was wounded during the campaign, and received the Wound Badge in black.
In October 1939, the Germania was used to form a part of the SS-Division (mot) Verfügungstruppe. In May 1940, Barkmann took part in the Invasion of France as a part of the division, earning the Infantry Assault Badge during this campaign. In late 1940, the Germania was detached from the division to form a cadre for a new division, the SS-Division (mot) Germania. The division was to comprise a large number of european volunteers.
Barkmann served with the division during Operation Barbarossa, before being seriously wounded near Dnieprpetrovksk in July, 1941. He spent the remainder of 1941 convalescing, and received the Wound Badge in silver. In early 1942, Barkmann was posted as an instructor to a unit in The Netherlands tasked with training European SS volunteers.
[edit] Kharkov - Kursk
Barkmann requested a transfer to the newly formed Waffen-SS panzer arm. In winter 1942/43 he was sent back to the Eastern Front to join the second company of I./SS-Panzer-Regiment Das Reich, a part of 2.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich. Upon arrival at the front, Barkmann was posted as gunner to SS-Rottenführer Alfred Hargesheimer's PzKpfw III ausf J/1 tank.
The Das Reich was attached to Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps, under the overall command of Generaloberst Manstein's Army Group South. The SS-Panzerkorps was to form the vanguard of Manstein's efforts to halt the Soviet advance near Kharkov.
Barkmann served with the regiment during the large-scale mobile operations to annihilate Mobile Group Popov. During these battles Barkmann proved to be an excellent gunner. He was promoted to Unterscharführer and given command of his own Panzer III, in time to take part in the ensuing Third Battle of Kharkov, scoring several kills.
In July 1943, division next took part in Operation Citadel, the operation to destroy the Kursk salient. Barkmann, saw action during the mammoth tank battles around Prokhorovka. During the offensive, the Heer's Grossdeutschland Panzer Division had been equipped with the state-of-the-art Panther ausf D tanks. Their combat debut was poor, with many vehicles suffering mechanical probems before entering combat.
After the failure of the offensive, as the division fell back towards the Mius river line, where along with 3.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf it was engaged in ferocious defensive battles. In August, Barkmann was transferred to the fourth company, equipped with the new Panther D's which had by now overcome their early mechanical problems. As a commander in 4./I./2.SS-Panzer-Regiment Das Reich, Barkmann was responsible for the destruction of many enemy tanks. In the course of these operations, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross.
[edit] Normandy
The Das Reich division remained on the Eastern front until January 1944. Early in February, the division was ordered to France to refit and to form a part of Panzergruppe West, the armoured reserve for the expected allied invasion. Leaving its remaining armour behind for other divisions to use, the Das Reich was posted to the Bordeaux region. With the exception of several skirmishes with partisans, the refit was uneventful. Barkmann, along with the rest of the division's panzer regiment, was equipped with new model Panthers.
Operation Overlord, the expected allied invasion, was launched on 6 June 1944. When the division was released for action by Führer headquarters, it was placed on high alert and remained in Southern France in case of secondary invasions there. When it became clear that the Normandy invasion was the major allied effort, the Division was ordered north to the front. The division's transit to the front was marked by heavy Jabo and partisan attacks. Barkmann and the panzer regiment were not involved with the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane, perpetrated by a Panzergrenadier unit of the division.
The division finally reached the front in early July and was thrown into action against the American forces near St. Lô. Barkmann, in his Panther (Nr. 424) saw heavy fighting against American M4 Shermans and M5A1 Stuarts in the Bocage. The narrow sunken roads and impassable hedgerows of the bocage meant that the German could establish a deadly defensive line and that the American matériel advantage could not be exploited.
Barkmann, operating with his platoon or even as a lone panther, caused heavy casualties to the advancing Americans, destroying many tanks and armoured vehicles. On the morning of July 27, Barkmann found himself in his Panther cut off from the rest of his company. While attempting to reach his unit, he was stopped near the village of Le Lorey where he was told by German infantrymen that the Americans were closing in with a large armoured column. Barkmann positioned his Panther under a stand of oaks near the crossroads where the American tanks would have to pass.
As the column came into sight, Barkmann knocked out the two lead Shermans and a fuel tanker truck. Next he destroyed two Shermans which had attempted to bypass the burning tanker. The Americans called in fighter-bombers, which damaged Barkmann's Panther and wounded two of his crewmen. Barkmann's next victims were two Shermans that had used the noise of the fighter-bombers as cover to sneak up on the damaged Panther's flank. As Barkmann's crew repaired the Panther, two more Shermans were knocked out. Finally, before leaving, Barkmann destroyed one last Sherman.
During the engagement, which has come to be known as Barkmann's Corner, Barkmann knocked out nine Shermans and several other American vehicles and halted an American armoured attack. For his actions, he was awarded the Knight's Cross. After the launch of Operation Cobra, the Das Reich avoided encirclement in the Falaise Pocket and, alongside the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, fought to hold open an escape route for the trapped German forces. After the collapse of the Pocket, the Das Reich fell back towards the West Wall. During the retreat, Barkmann was involved in many desperate rearguard actions, destroying many American vehicles.
[edit] Ardennes offensive
Promoted to Oberscharführer, the rank he would hold to the end of the war, Barkmann continued his successful career and took part in the Ardennes Offensive in December of 1944, where on December 25th he was seriously wounded. During the Ardennes Offensive, Barkmann's Panther drove into the group of American tanks from the 2nd Armored Division. Despite being outnumbered, Barkmann managed to knock out few Sherman tanks. One Sherman rammed Barkmann's Panther but didn't cause much damage although both tanks got stuck and the Panther's engine stalled. After few minutes, Barkmann's mechanic managed to restart the engine and Panther retreated with a blocked turret. Despite the damage, Barkmann knocked out a pursuing Sherman and retreated to safety, although his Panther was beyond the point of repair.
[edit] Final engagements
In March of 1945, Barkmann was once again fighting with Soviets, near Stuhlweissenburg, where he knocked out four T-34s and brought the total score of the Das Reich Division for the war so far to 3000 enemy tanks destroyed. At the time Das Reich was exhausted by non-stop fighting and lack of replacement tanks. Barkmann's unit alone had only nine fully operational vehicles, of which three were soon lost to Soviet Josef Stalin tanks. The remaining six Panthers were ordered to link up with the remnants of the Panzer Regiment of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler commanded by Standartenführer Jochen Peiper. By April of 1945, Barkmann saw action south of Vienna during the fighting in Austria. There his Panther was hit by mistake from friendly fire and Barkmann along with most of his crew members was wounded. Later on his Panther became disabled in a huge bomb crater and was destroyed by its crew. Ernst Barkmann was able to reach British zone of operation where he was taken into captivity as a prisoner of war.
[edit] Post-war
Following the war, Barkmann settled in Kisdorf, Germany, where he was the long-time fire chief. He still resides there today.
[edit] Awards and decorations
At the time of his capture in 1945, Barkmann was authorized the following awards:
- Wound Badge in Silver
- Infantry Assault Badge
- Panzer Assault Badge
- Iron Cross 2nd Class
- Iron Cross 1st Class
- Knight's Cross
