Friedrich Arnold (captain)

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Friedrich Arnold
Ritterkreuzträger Hauptmann d. R. Friedrich Arnold.jpg
Birth date 10 May 1919(1919-05-10)
Place of birth Karlsruhe, Republic of Baden, German Reich
Death date 1 September 2006 (aged 87)
Place of death Gaienhofen-Horn, Landkreis Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps (NSKK).jpg NSKK
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1936–1945
1937–1945
Rank NSKK-Sturmführer
Hauptmann (Captain)
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross
German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Friedrich "Fritz" Arnold (10 May 1919 – 1 September 2006) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht, finally captain and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Friedrich Fritz Arnold (1919–2006), RK.jpg
Friedrich Arnold, Ritterkreuz I.jpg
Friedrich Arnold, Ritterkreuz II.jpg
Memorial stone for Friedrich's father Mayor Fritz Arnold (1883–1950) at the ferry port in Konstanz-Staad; the Fritz-Arnold-Straße in Konstanz was also named in his honour. The car ferry “Fritz Arnold”, which was put into service on Lake Constance on 1 June 1963, was also christened in his honour.

Friedrich was born the son of engineer (in Munich und Karlsruhe), WWI officer and politician Dipl.-Ing. Fritz Arnold (1883–1950), later mayor of Konstanz (situated at the banks of Lake Constance) and Pionier colonel in WWII, and his wife Emilie, née Weishaar (d. 1 March 1943). He had three siblings: two brothers and a sister. His older brother (27) died of an insidious disease in May 1940, his younger brother was killed in action in late spring / early summer of 1943.

In August 1919, the family returned from Karlsruhe to the parents hometown of Konstanz, where his father had had his engineers office. Friedrich attended elementary school from 1925 to 1929 and Gymnasium from 1929 to 1937 where he achieved his Abitur in March 1937. His passion was swimming, sailing, music and literature. On 16 October 1936, he had already joined the National Socialist Motor Corps. On 10 December 1942, he was promoted to NSKK-Truppführer and on 5 January 1944 to NSKK-Sturmführer. On 3 April 1937, he began his mandatory six-month service with the RAD and then took a few weeks vacation.

On 4 November 1937, Arnold joined the 6th Battery/II. Battalion of the Artillerie-Regiment 41 in Ulm as Kanonier (gunner) to complete his two-year compulsory military service (specialty: railway guns) and planning to go to university afterwards. Two months before his mandatory service was over, WWII began. On 24 August 1939, he had been transferred to the 28-cm short Bruno cannon (E) of the Railway Battery 690. At the beginning of the Phoney War, the battery took up positions on the western defences (Westwall) as part of the Army Group C on 28 August 1939. It was during this time that he decided to apply for a commission as a reserve officer.

  • 1 April 1940 Special training for candidates for the reserve officer career in the 1st Battery of the Heavy Artillery Replacement Battalion (motorized) 100 in Rügenwalde
  • 26 May to 9 August 1940 Reserve Officer Candidate Course with the Artillerie-Regiment (motorisiert) 2 in Stettin
    • 9 August 1940 Officially appointed Reserve Officer Candidate
    • 20 August 1940 Officer election of the officer corps of his battalion
    • 1 September 1940 Commissioned
  • 2 September 1940 Transferred to the Heavy Artillery Replacement Battalion (motorized) 100, serving in the 1st and 3rd Batteries
  • 8 January 1941 Commanded for retraining on assault artillery to the VI. Battalion of the Artillery Training Regiment (motorized) 2 in Jüterbog
  • 10 March 1941 Transferred to the 2nd Battery/Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 201 as platoon leader
  • 26 September 1942 Severely wounded
  • 3 May 1943 Appointed platoon leader in the Assault Gun Replacement Battalion 200 in Jüterbog
  • 2 June 1943 Appointed leader of the 2nd Platoon of the 2. Batterie/Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 237
  • 21 September 1943 Appointed leader of the 2. Batterie/Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 237
  • 22 September 1943 Destroyed two Russian tanks, a T-34 and a KV-1, shortly afterwards severely wounded (7th wound); out of service until July 1944
    • as of 21 October 1944, administratively subordinated to the Sturmgeschütz-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 500 in Posen
  • Mid-July 1944 Arrival at the Assault Gun Replacement and Training Battalion 500
  • 20 July 1944 Appointed Battery Leader

In April 1945, he was commanded to the assault gun school in Burg near Magdeburg (unsure from where, Posen had fallen two months earlier, maybe he was already in a military hospital further to the west), where on 10 April 1945, the partially motorized Combat Group Burg was initially formed from students. Whether Arnold ever made it to Kampfgruppe Burg, which was renamed to Assault Gun Brigade "Schill" on 14 April and to Infantry Division "Ferdinand von Schill" on 20 April, or according to other sources, on 24 April 1945, and fought with the 12th Army (under Walther Wenck) along the Elbe and around Potsdam, but then fought its way back to Düsseldorf in May 1945, is doubtful, as Captain Arnold is said to have been briefly taken prisoner by the French. This would suggest that he never reached the unit and then made his way to his father and sister in Konstanz, which was occupied by the French on 26 April 1945.

However, it is also possible that he was one of the officers no longer fit for duty and was transferred to the southwest. Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Jena, then a major and commander of the technical staff of the Assault Artillery School in Burg, recalled:

In mid-April 1945, the assault artillery school in Burg was disbanded, and Kampfgruppe Burg was formed under Major Alfred Müller, the school's previous commander. The officers, non-commissioned officers, and men no longer fit for service, under the command of the commander of the technical teaching staff, Major Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Jena, were to be transferred to the Rokitzan military training area, approximately 15 km east of Pilsen, and establish a new assault artillery school there. All equipment and workshop facilities were loaded onto two railway transport trains. The staff, under Major von Jena, marched overland via Dresden and Pilsen to Rokitzan. Upon arrival there, the military training area was just being disbanded, and after consultation with the OKH, the staff was to be relocated to the "Alpine Fortress." Via Furth im Wald, they first went to Stallwang, approximately 20 km north of Straubing (19 April 1945). The transport trains had reached Jungbunzlau, about 50 km northeast of Prague, on 20 April 1945, and ended up in Budweis at the end of April 1945. The sections on the land march traveled via Straubing – Landau – Eggenfelden – Braunau, first to Mattighofen (25 April 1945). Then through the Tauern Tunnel and over the Katschberg to Spittal an der Drau and then on to Millstadt, where the assault artillery had a convalescent home. The valuable operational records from Burg were transported to Heiligenblut and were lost there after the end of the war. The remaining approximately 500 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men were captured only 10 days after the end of the war by the British advancing from Italy and taken to a large meadow near Molzbiehl. As so-called "disarmed Germans," they were separated from the Austrians, transported to Mallnitz on the Tauern Tunnel in mid-June, and handed over to the Americans. From there, they took the train to Gundelfingen, about 20 km southeast of Heidenheim an der Brenz. On 29 June 1945, the remaining approximately 300 men were released in Aalen, Württemberg.

Another source conclusively reports that Arnold was indeed commanded to the 700th Assault Gun Replacement and Training Battalion of the Assault Gun School in Burg on 4 April 1945, but was simultaneously transferred to a military hospital in Sigmaringen (Württemberg), possibly due to a new wound (8th) or because his head wounds from September 1943 required further medical treatment. Sigmaringen was occupied by the French on April 22, 1945, which would best explain his French captivity.[1]

Wounds

Between 15 August 1941 and 22 September 1943, Arnold was wounded seven times. One source states, he was wounded for an eighth time during the last weeks of the war, but this is not documented in his files. The eardrums in both ears ruptured twice. The wound on 26 September 1942 by an anti-tank rifle (half of the face and neck) during defensive action in the Voronezh-Livny area was particularly severe. It took months before he could return to service.

On 6 September 1943, during the bloody and merciless defensive battles in the Smolensk and Yelnya areas, Arnold was wounded again by shrapnel, damaging one hand and his head. But there was no escape, nor any place to retreat to. They were the front line, the only line. The Russians were everywhere, and Arnold had to stay with his men. And then things couldn't get any worse: On 22 September 1943, after destroying two Red Army tanks, an enemy artillery shell hit his assault gun. Shrapnel penetrated his head, and his skull fractured. Now it was all over for him. His men managed to transport him to a field hospital, a stroke of luck in itself. His life was at stake. The doctors saved him, and then he continued on from the Eastern Front toward the homeland.

Months of treatment and recovery passed. More operations followed, and the sight in his left eye and the hearing in his left ear were gone – forever (injury to the left frontal lobe and optic nerve; a significant part of the left temporal lobe was suctioned out). For his right eye, he now need a monocle. Starting on 5 April 1944, he spent further weeks of treatment at the Wiethaus sanatorium of the Bad Tölz reserve military hospital. The chief military physician was surprised by Arnold's confidence despite the severe physical loss. Mentally, he was strong and unyielding; the high-ranking military doctor even joined Arnold on long mountain hikes and open-air swimming trips. Nevertheless, he determined that he was probably no longer suitable for front-line service. He was not discharged until 26 June 1944 and received leave until mid-July 1944.

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Friedrich Arnold received the Knight’s Cross while serving as a Sturmgeschütz or assault gun commander in the Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 237 for the following actions: Bringing his total of destroyed enemy tanks to 51, of which 22 were destroyed in the time period from 8 August to 22 September 1943 as well as playing a vital role while assigned to the 35. Infanterie-Division. During this time, he launched a counterattack with only two motorized assault guns and a handful of friendly infantry, and in the fighting which followed, he managed to retake the old defensive line and then hold this position for a whole night until reinforcements arrived.

Promotions

  • 4 November 1937 Kanonier (Artillery Gunner)
  • 1 October 1938 Gefreiter (Private E-2/Lance Corporal)
  • 1 February 1940 Unteroffizier (NCO/Corporal/Junior Sergeant)
  • 9 August 1940 Wachtmeister (Staff Sergeant)
  • 1 September 1940 Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves)
  • 18 August 1942 Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant of the Reserves) with effect and Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 September 1942
  • 20 April 1944 Hauptmann der Reserve (Captain of the Reserves) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1944
    • preferential promotion (bevorzugte Beförderung) on the occasion of the award of the Knight's Cross
  • 30 November 1944 Hauptmann, aktiv (active Captain) with effect from 1 October 1944 and RDA from 1 April 1944 (258)

Awards and decorations

Gallery

  • Friedrich Fritz Arnold (1919–2006), DKiG.png
  • Friedrich Arnold, wounds I.jpg
  • Friedrich Arnold, wounds II.jpg
  • Ritterkreuzträger Hauptmann d. R. Friedrich Arnold, promotion to active captain.jpg

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/260791

References

  1. ↑ Friedrich Arnold
  2. ↑ Arnold, Friedrich (WH-Sturmgeschütz)
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