Wolfgang Wahl

Wolfgang Wahl
Birth date	15 July 1913
Place of birth	Döbeln, Amtshauptmannschaft Döbeln, Kreishauptmannschaft Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire
Death date	26 September 1986 (aged 73)
Place of death	Schopfheim, Landkreis Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1933–1935 1935–1943/45
Rank	2nd Lieutenant (Reichswehr) Major (Wehrmacht)
Commands held	II./Panzer-Regiment 8
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Wound Badge (1939) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other work	Architect

Wolfgang Wahl (15 July 1913 – 26 September 1986) was a German officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Major and Recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Colonel Ernst-Günther Baade with Panzer ace Captain Wahl, commander of the II. Battalion/Panzer-Regiment 8

Wolfgang Wahl (2nd from left) taking a break with his men under a shade-providing stretched tent canvas between parked Panzers in North Africa

Wolfgang was born in 1913 as son of government council (Regierungsrat) Captain (ret.) Wahl in Döbeln. His father, a veteran of WWI, had served with the 11. Königlich Sächsisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 139 of the Saxon Army. At Easter 1933, Wahl achieved his Abitur and joined the 4. Kraftfahr-Abteilung in Dresden. He was commissioned in April 1935 and transferred to the new Panzer-Regiment 5 in Wünsdorf only months later. On 1 October 1936, he was assigned to the Panzer-Regiment 8. On 1 October 1938, he was transferred to the staff of the 4. Panzer-Brigade.

For WWII, he returned to the Panzer-Regiment 8 and was appointed leader of the 6th Company. He took part in the Poland Campaign and the Western Campaign, breaking through the Weygand Line at Amiens. His company took heavy casualties and Wahl was wounded for the first time. When the 15. Panzer-Division set of for North Africa in the spring of 1941, Panzer-Regiment 8 (subordinated as of 18 January 1941) belonged to it. The regiment landed in Tripoli in May 1941. Divisional commander Heinrich Constantin von Prittwitz und Gaffron had already been ⚔ on 10 April 1941 near Tobruk. 160 German Panzers were unloaded, one of them belong to 1st Lieutenant Wahl, still commanding the 6th Company/II. Battalion. The new divisional commander Hans-Karl Asmus Werner Freiherr von Esebeck received his tanks at Tobruk. He led them on to Bardia and received orders from the German Afrika Korps Command to attack Fort Capuzzo which was liberated. The next objective was Halfaya Pass (Halfaja-Paß). Panzer-Regiment 8 was involved in heavy fighting during Operation Battleaxe. Battalion commander Ramsauer took over the regiment on 16 June 1941 for the wounded commander Hans Cramer, therefore Wahl was delegated with the leadership of the II. Battalion and was eventually officially appointed commander (late 1941 / early 1942) after being promoted to Captain.

“Hauptmann Wahl – awarded the Iron Cross Second Class in Poland and the Iron Cross First Class in France – distinguished himself through his bravery as an acting Abteilung commander in a Panzer-Regiment during all of his operations in Africa. He decisively contributed to the successes of his Division through his skillful leadership. On the 30 November 1941, he succeeded in eliminating several enemy batteries at Bel Hamet with his Abteilung, taking numerous prisoners in the process. The overall success of his Abteilung is primarily due to his personal and brave devotion to duty.”

In December 1941, during the Allied Operation Crusader, he was wounded for a third time, this time severely to the head. He was treated in Africa, then transported back to Germany and treated in a naval military hospital Stralsund. It was there on 18 January 1942 that he received the Knight's Cross from the hans of a Kapitän zur See (Colonel) of the Kriegsmarine. In early spring 1942, he returned to his battalion in Africa. The division was now commanded by Lieutenant General von Vaerst (wounded on 26/27 May 1942).

By early afternoon on 5 June 1942, during the Battle of Gazala, Rommel split his forces, deciding to attack east with the Ariete and 21st Panzer divisions while he sent elements of 15th Panzer Division northwards against the Knightsbridge Box. The eastward thrust towards Bir el Hatmat dispersed the tactical HQs of the two British divisions, as well as the HQs of the 9th Indian Infantry Brigade, the 10th Indian Infantry Brigade and other smaller units, which caused command to break down. The 22nd Armoured Brigade, having lost 60 of its 156 tanks, was forced from the battlefield by more attacks from the 15th Panzer Division. Three Indian infantry battalions, a reconnaissance regiment and four artillery regiments of the attacking force were left behind, unsupported by armour and overrun. Rommel retained the initiative, maintaining his strength in the cauldron while the number of operational British tanks diminished.

On 11 June 1942, Rommel pushed the 15th Panzer Division and 90th Light Afrika Division under Ulrich Kleemann toward El Adem and by 12 June had begun forcing the 201st Guards Brigade out of the Knightsbridge Box. The 29th Indian Infantry Brigade repulsed an attack on the El Adem box on 12 June but the 2nd and 4th Armoured brigades on their left were pushed back 3.7 mi (6 km) by the 15th Panzer Division and left their damaged tanks on the battlefield. On 13 June, the 21st Panzer Division advanced against the 22nd Armoured Brigade. The Afrika Korps had combined tanks with anti-tank guns; Rommel had acted rapidly on intelligence obtained from Allied radio intercepts. The defensive boxes at El Adem and Sidi Rezegh were also attacked by the Afrika Korps. On 17 June, both boxes were evacuated, ending any chance of preventing the encirclement of Tobruk. Ritchie ordered the Eighth Army to withdraw to Mersa Matruh, about 100 mi (160 km) east of the frontier, leaving Tobruk to threaten the Axis lines of communication as in 1941. The retreat became known to some as the Gazala Gallop. With the capture of Tobruk, the Axis gained a port nearer the Aegean–Crete route and a large amount of Allied supplies. Hitler rewarded Rommel with a promotion to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, the youngest German officer ever to achieve this rank. Rommel remarked he would have preferred a fresh panzer division.

Operation Bacon

Bacon was a plan devised by General Sir Claude Auchinleck, commander of the 8th Army in the middle phase of the 1st Battle of El Alamein, to destroy a significant portion of the Italian forces of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika (14/16 July 1942).

Operation Bacon began at 2330 hours on 14 July and the New Zealand 4th and 5th Brigades succeeded in overrunning one Italian battalion from the ‘Brescia’ division and infiltrated into the depth of the Italian position on Ruweisat Ridge. The Indian 5th Brigade, advancing from east to west along the ridge, also made inroads into the ‘Pavia’ division sector before halting. During the night, the New Zealand infantry also stumbled upon a leaguer from Pz.Regt. 5 on the ridge, inflicting some casualties, and forced it to withdraw, under fire. By dawn, the New Zealanders had occupied a considerable portion of the rocky ridge, but their tactical communications broke down and the two brigades were scattered. Furthermore, pockets of Italian resistance remained as well as uncleared minefields, which prevented the New Zealand anti‑tank and artillery units from linking up with their infantry battalions. At dawn on 15 July, General Walther Kurt Joseph Nehring recognized that the British threatened to break through the Axis centre and reacted quickly. Hauptmann Wolfgang Wahl led a counterattack at 0515 hours with just eight tanks, which caught the New Zealand 22nd Battalion in the open. Wahl’s Panzers quickly destroyed four 6‑pounder guns mounted portee and then forced the rest of the battalion (275 troops) to surrender. Due to communications failures, the New Zealanders had difficulty alerting XIII Corps headquarters of their plight (once again, Gott was oblivious to the predicament of his front‑line units), and Lumsden would not advance until he received confirmation that the New Zealanders had actually seized their objectives. After the commander of the 5th New Zealand Brigade made a direct plea to Briggs’ 2nd Armoured Brigade (6 RTR, 3/5 RTR, 9L), the British armour did advance at 0700 hours, but stopped when it encountered mines and had several tanks damaged. Despite the fact that the New Zealanders stated that they were being attacked by enemy tanks, the British armour showed no urgency throughout the day. Instead of pushing through to link up with the infantry, Briggs’ brigade was content to shell some isolated Italian positions and collect several hundred prisoners. Lumsden briefly appeared, told the New Zealand brigadier that the armour ‘would move as soon as possible’, then drove off. Meanwhile, after assembling a more sizeable counterattack force from the 15. Panzer‑Division, a tank company from the ‘Littorio’ division, Kampfgruppe Baade from 90. leichte Division and two reconnaissance units (A.A. 3 and A.A. 33), Nehring attacked the 4th New Zealand Brigade around 1615 hours under cover of a light sandstorm.

POW and post-WWII

Ruweisat Ridge was a small promontory about 16 kilometres south of El Alamein. There had been a strong counter-offensive from the Axis forces and capture of the ridge would have aided the Allies. The New Zealanders took part of the ridge early on 15 July on the second day of Operation Bacon, but British armour and artillery were unable to assist them, and 350 men, including Lodge, had no choice but to surrender. During these bitter battles on this second day, Captain Wahl was severely wounded – for the fifth time in the war. The transport to the German field hospital was ambushed by the British, and Wahl was taken prisoner. He was evacuated to Egypt and then on to South Africa. A few weeks later, after he had largely recovered, he was sent to the USA. It was there that he was informed that he had been promoted to Major in December 1943. He was released from captivity in 1946. He then studied architecture, achieved his diploma and entered into that practice in Baden-Württemberg. Meanwhile his beloved Saxon homeland had been occupied by communists.

Promotions

• 1 April 1935 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 August 1938 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 12 July 1941 Hauptmann (Captain) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 August 1941
• 22 December 1943 Major with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 December 1943

Awards and decorations

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class (4 years)
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class in 1939
  • 1st Class on 6 June 1940
• Panzer Badge (Panzerkampfabzeichen des Heeres) in Silver
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black, Silver and Gold
• Medal for the Italian-German campaign in Africa
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 January 1942 as Captain and leader of the II. Battalion/Panzer-Regiment 8/15. Panzer-Division

Gallery

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Sources

Franz Kurowski: Panzer Aces III – German Tank Commanders in Combat in World War II, 2010, pp. 267 ff.