The plan
It started all with an phone-call. In the KTB of the
OKM, with the date of 24th April of 1945 at 24:00 hrs, it is recorded as
follows:
Kpt z.S. ASSMANN informed the OKM via phone about a
Führerbefehl. HITLER had given the order to VAdm VOß to transport some
battalions of the Kriegsmarine, fully equipped with all kind of infantry
weapons, to Berlin. He wished the sailors to join the defense of
Berlin.
The plan was for two battalions of sailors from 1. SStR to
be air-lifted into Berlin already the next night(25th/26th of April).
The units thus had to march immediately to distant air-fields.
-
The so-called alarm battalion from Stralsund had to march to the
seaplane base at Pütnitz near of Ribnitz, from where 175 men were to be
flown with the 3./I./TG 1, which was equipped with a floatplane version
of the Ju 52, and to Tutow, from where another 288 men were to be flown
with Ju 352‘s of the Squadron „Mauß".
- Another alarm battalion from Rostock, with 476 men, had to march to the local air-field (this navy unit is unknown).
The
following night (26th/27th of April), it was planned to transport a
regiment from the island of Fehmarn, with some 1000 men, to Berlin from
the airport of Rerik (sailors were part of the 1.FuMLAbt).
It
seems, as GrAdm DÖNITZ wished to co-operate. He mobilized the 1.SStR in
Stralsund and the 1.FuMLAbt on Fehmarn. These were also the „bravest" of
his men, he would send to Berlin for the personal protection of the
„beloved" Führer. The highest elite of a supreme-commander, was the
impression of HITLER in his bunker under the Reichskanzlei.
1. SStR in Berlin
1.SStR
(1. Schiffstamm-Regiment), which was the 1st naval instruction
regiment, CO was Kpt z.S. Herbert ZOLLENKOPF, consisted of:
- 1.SStA (1. Schiffstamm-Abteilung), the 1st naval instruction battalion, CO was KKpt Wolfgang DITTMERS, stationed on Dänholm
-
2.SStA (2. Schiffstamm-Abteilung), the 2nd naval instruction battalion,
CO was KKpt Franz MAYERHOEFFE, stationed in Flensburg-Mürwick
-
3.SStA (3. Schiffstamm-Abteilung), the 3rd naval instruction battalion,
CO was FKpt Richard STEFFEN, stationed on the Schwedenschanze. At this
time, this batallion was already mobilized as MarSchB 903(903rd naval
infantry batallion). It was almost completely unarmed, except some
carbines for the ranks, and very few submachine-guns for some officers.
More about this battalion later.
- 4.SStA (4th
Schiffstamm-Abteilung), the 4th naval instruction batallion, CO was KKpt
Herbert BANZHAF, stationed from February of 1945 in Flensburg-Mürwick.
- SSS „Gorch Fock", CO was Kptl Wilhelm KAHLE.
The
1.SStR was augmented in manpower, as it wasn‘t only the Crew I/45
drafted, but also the Crew IV/45 was called to equip. It seems the
Kriegsmarine had drafted these men to prevent them from being mowed down
at the front, a process commonly known as „Heldenklau"
(Heldenklau/Operation Heldenklau was catchy black humor Landser slang to
describe the efforts by the High Command to replace the enormous and
steadily increasing losses suffered by the Heer, especially on the
Eastern front, during the last year of the war by combing the personnel
of the rear (also derisively called Etappenhengste, or Home Front Studs,
by the frontline soldiers) for men capable of carrying and firing a
rifle or Panzerfaust. Literally translated, the word means something
like 'grabbing the heroes' (Held = hero, klauen = slang word for
stehlen, meaning to steal)).
Around noon on 25th April of 1945,
there was the issuing of orders for the Operation „Berlin" or
„Reichskanzlei". There they stood, not veterans with fighting experience
of some years, but young, untrained soldiers of the 1927 – 1929 age
group.
After the distribution of food, ammunition and weapons
(mostly captured guns), hand-grenades, Panzerfäuste and some
Panzerschrecks, they had to wait for transport. Many of them were from
the special navy training course for HF-technology „Tegetthoff".
CO
of this alarm-battalion was the recently decorated Kptlt Franz
KUHLMANN. The officer corps of this battalion was a mix of officers of
the entire 1.SStR. On the evening some busses and lorries transported
part of them to Pütnitz. It remains unknown if they were transported to
Berlin by the floatplane versions of the Ju-52 aircraft.
The rest
of the unit arrived at the Tutow air-field at 22:00 hrs. Due to attacks
of the Russian „Nähmaschinen" ('Sewing machines' – Landser slang for the
slow-flying Soviet observation plane (max. speed 93 MPH), the
Polikarpov Po-2 bi-plane, whose motor sounded like a sewing machine from
the distance; it was regarded as a real nuisance, because it would
sometimes also drop small fragmentation bombs that caused death or
injury to the Landsers on the ground. To get even, they would fire their
rifles at them, often bringing one down in the process) it looked like
the transport flights would have to be postponed.
Once again there
was a phone call from Berlin, GFM KEITEL pointed out the importance of
this airlift. So, Mjr MAUß, CO of the „Großraumtransportstaffel" (large
capacity transport squadron) , made all clearance for the commencement
of the airlift. With great difficulty 5 or 6 Ju 352‘s were cleared to
take-off. There had been a of loss of 5 planes (4 Ju 352‘s and 1 Ar 232)
the night before(24th/25th of April) on a supply operation for the
encircled 9th Army.
Between 01:35 hrs and 02:35 hrs on 26th of
April all left Tutow. The aim was to land at the Berlin airport Gatow,
as the Tempelhof airport wasn‘t available as of 23rd of April, due to
heavy Russian attacks, and it fell to them the following night.
It
seems each Ju 352 carried 40 soldiers, which is their maximum troop
capacity. At least one Ju 352 had in addition 4 t of Panzerfäuste and
Panzerschrecks. 40 soldiers and 4 t of ammunition means, that the
aircraft was close to the maximum load of this type of plane.
OFw
Herbert SCHULZ (G6 + .X) was the first to take-off from Tutow, as he
received the landing permission in Gatow. His plane came under heavy
attack from all types of weapons. With only one engine it was not
possible to fly a full loaden Ju 352. OFw SCHULZ tried to make an
emergency landing, but crash-landed. Somehow, the entire crew managed to
escape the explosion of 4 of the Panzerfäuste. On 29th of April they
returned to their squadron, which was stationed in Großenbrode at this
time. Nothing is known about the fate of the 40 soldiers from this Ju
352.
StFw Kurt BECKER (G6 + RX) wasn‘t succesfull in landing at
the Gatow airport, because of heavy anti-aircraft fire, he decided to
return to Tutow, where he landed a 03:00 hrs. These soldiers, including
the acting CO of the 1st coy, Kptlt BRANDT, were relieved of the fights
in Berlin.
A further Ju 352 (G6 + .X) couldn‘t land in Gatow, due
to heavy machine gun fire from the ground. The plane was hit in the
landing gear and in the cockpit, however no crew or troops were wounded.
To avoid an emergency landing on the small airport of Tutow – which
could have lead to a stoppage of all air-lifts in Tutow- he made an
emergency landing near Barth. The plane was destroyed, but again no one
was injured.
OFw Paul KÖHLER (G6 + EX) left Tutow at 02:35 hrs,
but needed almost two hours to land in Berlin-Gatow at 04:25 hrs. Maybe
he had tried to land in Berlin-Staaken, according to an officer of the
navy. After 20 minutes on ground he took off for Tutow, where he landed a
05:40.
In the literature about the battle of Berlin, whenever
some reference is written about the German Kriegsmarine-sailors in
Berlin, the numbers mentioned are far too high. According to a NCO, his
plane was the last one landing in Gatow. In a wood near the airport his
group of sailors joined up with another 40 sailors.
According to
Olt z.S. Clemens ZUBORG, an Olt of the reserve and then adjutant in the
staff of the alarm-battalion, mentioned the landing of 2 Ju 352‘s and
the arrival of about 80, maybe 100 sailors, in the Reichskanzlei, which
they had to defend.Kptl Franz KUHLMANN wrote in his memoirs about his
meeting with Adolf HITLER: „At this date, I didn‘t know in which bad
health HITLER was. I never thought that the signs of breaking up and the
feelings of doom would led to such a chaos to the hierarchy of orders."
All
officers of the unit survived the Battle of Berlin, except one, Lt z.S.
BÖING who was killed in the garden of the Reichskanzlei by a mortar
grenade.
There are many hints, of the landing of sailors (and
other soldiers) on the so called „Ost-West-Achse". However no exact
confirming source is available.
1. FuMLAbt in Berlin
On 25th
April 1945 there was a issuing of an order, in which the CO of the
1.FuMLAbt, FKpt BORMANN (a brother of the Reichsleiter) tried to enlist
volunteers for Berlin. He stressed that they had the duty of the close,
personal protection of the Führer.
During the 26th April 1945 the
first soldiers of the FuMLAbt were transported by MFP (German LTC‘s)
from Puttgarden/Isle of Fehmarn to near the airport Rerik. On arriving
at Rerik, they found that there were no aircraft available. They were
ordered to sleep in a nearby hangar/shed. However at 22:00 hrs new
orders were given. New groups of sailors were created at random. One
witness said, one reduced coy marched to the airport. At the airport no
„normal" transport planes were waiting for them, however there were
aircraft of the F.d.F. (personal squadron of the Führer).
At least 3 planes were waiting:
- a Fw-200 „Condor" (CE + IC), the pilot was Hptm Joachim HÜBNER,
- a Ju-290 (9V + BK), the pilot was Lt WAGNER,
- a Ju-352 (KT + VJ), piloted by Olt SCHULTZE
Some sources say there could have been one other planes involved in this operation:
- a second Fw-200 „CONDOR", the pilot was Hptm Kurt HERZOG or Fw BAUER
HÜBNER‘s
Fw-200 was the first to be loaded and to be clear to take-off. In his
aircraft were 17 sailors. The 14 leather-chairs inside the aircraft were
covered for protection by strips of canvas. The last 3 sailors sat on
boxes of Panzerfäuste. The highest rank among the sailors was a NCO,
OFm(~OBtsM) Julius LANGHALS.
The „Condor" was in a height of 120
meters, as it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. One of the right engines
was burning, the pilot tried to make an emergency landing, but crashed
into a house in Wilhelmshorst. 12 of the 17 survived, two because
Russians transported them into a hospital, another two were hidden in
Wilhelmshorst by civilians, and eight hid themselves in a nearby wood.
Coming
near to Berlin, the surviving soldiers saw red flares, so another plane
was hit by heavy anti-air fire and had to fly away for an emergency
landing. A sailor of this unknown plane, said after the war, that they
landed in Rerik again after 1 hour, because two engines stopped working,
after these were hit by anti-aircraft fire.
But Lt WAGNER wrote
in his after-flight report, he had to abort his flight with his Ju-290
after 15 minutes due a malfunction of engine No. 3. He landed back again
in Rerik at 23:30 hrs, with 50 sailors on board. Also two sailors on
board of WAGNER‘s Ju-290 mentioned, they were never hit by anti-aircraft
fire, and returned with three engines to Rerik after a short time.
So another plane with four engines (maybe the Fw-200 of Hptm HERZOG/Fw BAUER)
was involved in this operation.
Olt
SCHULTZE started with his Ju-352 at 23:40 hrs from Rerik. The airport
Berlin-Gatow was under heavy Russian artillery fire, as he tried to
land. At 01:00 hrs, after two attempts to land in vain, he succeeded in
his third try. On board were some 40 sailors. They were used to defend
the airport just a few minutes after landing. One officer, Lt z.S. Horst
THIELE, was last seen in a machine-gun position.
SCHULTZE had to
wait for about 36 minutes in Gatow, as he got the order to transport 25
wounded soldiers out of Berlin. His plane was the last to leave Gatow,
as all other planes (maybe II./TG 4) didn‘t wait for wounded soldiers.
The MarSchB 903
As
earlier mentioned, 3. SStA of the 1. SStR had already been mobilized by
late April, and was known as MarSchB 903. CO was FKpt Richard STEFFEN.
It was organized into 4 – 5 coys with 500 petty officers, and almost
unarmed (except carbines for ranks and NCO‘s and some sub machine-guns
for the officers).
On 24th April 1945 in Nauen, just a few
kilometers from the Russian forces, FKpt STEFFEN was ordered by an
unknown Kpt z.S. (maybe Kpt z.S. ASSMANN?) to wait for coming trucks, to
be transported to Berlin. The trucks didn‘t come, so the battalion
marched to Wustershausen, as Döberitz had just been occupied by the Red
Army. On the next day in Wustershausen, they were stopped by a General
and military police. STEFFEN was – this times in very harsh words –
ordered back again to Berlin. He refused to lead his almost unarmed
battalion to Berlin, as well armed Russian forces were on the route back
to Berlin.
So, in Wustershausen 50 or 60 petty officers of the
MarSchB 903, which volunteered to fight in Berlin – mostly coming from
Berlin themselves – got properly armed with the help of the military
police. With them, a platoon of recruits of the 3.MarInfDiv, were
transported in the direction of Berlin. CO of this reduced coy with two
platoons was an unknown Olt z.S..
On the way to Berlin they came
under heavy Russian artillery fire. They dug in, and held their position
for 3 days until the 28th April. Then they got the order to retreat to
Strodehne. The CO of the recruit platoon, OFhr z.S. Walter NORTHOFF
wrote in his memoirs: "The village was full of a small rest of an
Wehrmacht‘s unit. This unit had only sub-altern officers (Lt‘s and
Olt‘s) and NCO‘s, CO was Obstlt v.d. BOTTLEMBERG. He was a very
impressive man, commanding a Regimental group within the Divisional
group "von HAKE". He issued our coy the order to hold a bridgehead on
the eastside of the Havel, as a corps and several thousands of refugees
were retreating in our rear. He promised we would be rescued by
pioneer‘s boats. In the next morning (30th April), we were transported
back. After that, our coy became part of the vortex of general
dissolving."
On 27th April the other 450 sailors of this battalion
got more weapons and closed the road leading from Waren to Güstrow for
one day. After this day this battalion vanished in the general retreat.
Other sailors in the battle
There
were also small boats of the Kriegsmarine on the River/Lake Havel
around Berlin. These were captured boats of the former Polish Vistula
Flotilla. At least the former Polish patrol vessel KU-30 is mentioned to
have been in action on the River/Lake Havel.
Also possible could
be, that the navy-soldiers of the Marine-Verbindungs-Kommando (~navy
liaison command) beim Führer (VAdm Voß) were part Kriegsmarine
battle-group in Berlin.
By
Michael Lenz
