Hans von Luck
Hans von Luck | |
---|---|
Army | |
Years of service | 1929–45 |
Rank | Oberst |
Unit | 7th Panzer-Division 21st Panzer-Division |
Battles/wars | See battles
|
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Spouse(s) | Regina von Luck |
Other work | Military lecturer, author |
Hans–Ulrich Freiherr von Luck und Witten (15 July 1911 – 1 August 1997), usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a German officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Luck served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division. Luck is author of the book Panzer Commander.
Early life and interwar period
Luck was born in
World War II
Invasions of Poland and France
On 1 September 1939 the 2nd Light Division, under General Georg Stumme, participated in the invasion of Poland. Luck served as a company commander in the division's reconnaissance battalion.[3] The division was reorganized and reequipped to form the 7th Panzer Division, with Rommel assuming command on 6 February 1940. Luck served as a company commander in an armoured reconnaissance battalion.[4]
The 7th Panzer Division was a part of the XV Army Corps under General
Invasion of the Soviet Union
Luck was made
The division participated in creating the large pocket around Smolensk, cutting the Smolensk–Moscow road.[9] Luck and his unit continued on towards Moscow. In his memoirs he describes the stiffening Soviet resistance and problems the German forces faced relating to weather and road conditions.[11] Since November Rommel had requested Luck be transferred to Africa to take over command of one of his reconnaissance battalions.[1] The transfer was approved in late January once the crisis of the Soviet winter offensive had passed.[12]
North Africa
Luck was promoted to major, spending February and March 1942 on leave. Reporting back for duty on 1 April 1942, he reached Africa on 8 April and assumed command over the 3rd Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion of the 21st Panzer Division.[13][14] Luck spent June to mid-September in Germany, recuperating from a combat wound. Returning to Africa, he resumed command of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion.[15]
On 23 October 1942 the British launched the attack of the Second Battle of El Alamein.[16] The Axis position deteriorated leading to a retreat. Luck was one of Rommel's most experienced commanders, and he called upon Luck's reconnaissance battalion to screen his withdrawal.[17] By December the Axis forces had retreated to Tripoli. On 6 May the forces in Africa surrendered, with more than 130,000 Germans taken prisoner. By that time Luck was in Germany.
The Normandy invasion
After North Africa and leave in Berlin Luck was assigned in August 1943 as instructor at a panzer reconnaissance school in Paris. In March 1944 he was to be appointed as commander of a panzer regiment in the new Panzer Lehr Division in France under Fritz Bayerlein. However in mid-April he was told by Bayerlein that as Feuchtinger apparently had more influence at Headquarters he was to serve under Feuchtinger.[18]
Luck was assigned to the
On 6 June 1944 the
Around 10:30 a.m. General
On the morning of 9 June Luck's command was designated Kampfgruppe von Luck, and in addition to the elements of 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment already under Luck's command it consisted of a battalion, three assault-gun batteries and one antitank company with 88mm guns. With this force Luck was tasked with assaulting the Orne bridges, and recapturing them from the British paratroopers. Starting one hour before dawn to avoid the worst of the British naval and aerial support, the Kampfgruppe advanced on the village of
Operation Goodwood
In the beginning of July, the area defended by Luck's Kampfgruppe came under the control of
During the morning, Luck had just returned from a three-day leave in Paris. Informed of the air raids, he moved forward to determine the exact situation and soon realized that a major offensive was underway.[30][31] The air raid had neutralized the remnants of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, which held the front line, as well as elements of the 21st Panzer Division (in particular, elements of the 22nd Panzer Battalion and the 1st battery of Assault Gun Battalion 200) leaving a hole in the German defensive line.[32][33] While elements of the advancing British 11th Armoured Division were held up in an engagement with self-propelled guns of the 200th Assault Gun Battalion, the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry advanced past Cagny. As the regiment did, they came under heavy anti-tank fire resulting in the loss of four tanks.[34][35][36]
After the war, Luck wrote that he was responsible for this barrage of anti-tank fire, saying that he used his sidearm to threaten a Luftwaffe officer into action, to fire upon the advancing tanks with 88 mm flak guns.[37] Luck's account has been widely repeated,[35][38] although competing theories have also been suggested: The British 8 Corps history states that German anti-tank guns based in Soliers, which had escaped the aerial bombardment, were responsible.[39]
Ian Daglish, critical of Luck's account, stated "there turns out to be surprisingly little" evidence to support Luck's version of events, and that all accounts of 88 mm flak guns in Cagny being used in an anti-tank capacity "can be traced directly to Luck and no one else." He further wrote that neither the commander of the 200th Assault Gun Battalion or the commander of Luftwaffe flak guns made any comment in regards to this action and that based on locations of flak positions, it was illogical for a heavy flak battery to have been located there.[40] Daglish also wrote that Luck's account of the placement of the guns "is imprecise" and "expert analysis of aerial photographs of the area taken at midday ... reveals no trace of [the battery] nor of any towing vehicles or their distinctive tracks". Such weapons and vehicles "could not be hidden within a mere couple of hours of relocation".[41] Daglish argued that Luck embellished his role during post-war official British tours of the battlefield, with his version of events eventually coming into question (off the record).[42] Daglish wrote that elements of the 200th Assault Gun Battalion were in the area and that any number of German anti-tank guns could have fired on the 2nd Fife and Forfar and that 88 mm anti-tank guns were deployed to the Cagny area throughout the day.[43] John Buckley is also critical of Luck's account, and called it "colourful and enthralling". He argued that despite there being "no doubt that heavy anti-tank gunfire from in and around Cagny began to account for British tanks", no evidence that the Luftwaffe had guns in Cagny at the time given the dispositions of other Luftwaffe batteries. Buckley wrote that Luck had embroidered his role.[37]
Stephen Napier reassessed these criticisms of Luck's account. He wrote that "heavy anti-aircraft guns were located in the outlying villages of Caen" and "photographic evidence of the Luftwaffe batteries in the area exists", in addition the wreckage of three 88mm guns were found by the Guards division that afternoon in Cagny, which would corroborate Luck's claim to have ordered the destruction of the guns upon abandoning Cagny.[44] Napier wrote that Luck's account of threatening a Luftwaffe officer is plausible given that "88mm anti-aircraft crews did not expect to become embroiled in fighting as per III Flak Korps policy, and their direct involvement occasionally took some persuasion."[44] Napier also asserts that the timeline of Luck's stated confrontation with the Luftwaffe battery commander, just after 09:00 hours, correlates with the losses the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry at 09:30 hours since a "88mm flak battery would only need about 15 minutes to relocate a short distance".[45] Napier further writes that the fact that two Tiger tanks were destroyed by German friendly fire "suggests the actions of an inexperienced Luftwaffe crew" unable to identify retreating German tanks.[44] According to Napier the 75mm Pak 40 anti-tank guns were incapable of the clean armour penetrations found on the Tigers at that range and the only other alternative unit that could have engaged the British tanks was Becker's 4th Battery located in Le Mensnil Frementel. Napier notes "if this company did not move before 0930 hours, it would have been cut off when the leading tanks of the 29th brigade crossed the railway" and reasoned "since the battery "Was able to relocate successfully to just south of Four where it was in action for the rest of the day and so must have moved well before 0930 hours."[44] Napier stated that an officer of the 2nd Fife and Forfar wrote in his memoirs "of his surprise at seeing a German officer in dress uniform surveying the battlefield from Cagny".[44] Napier concluded that Luck "correctly attributed credit where it was due and his only sin is the assumption of a mantle previously worn by Rommel who stopped the British tank attack at Arras in 1940 by ordering the 88mm flak guns to engage the ground targets of the British tank forces."[46]
Luck spent the rest of the day using the resources he had to check the gaps in the line. In the afternoon, the first elements of the
The Falaise Pocket and Retreat to Germany
A week later, after a brief rest and refit, the 21st Panzer Division was sent to the
Luck reached
The Defense of Germany
On 9 September Luck's command reached Strasbourg, where it was attached to General Hasso von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army. During the Battle of Dompaire which was fought a few days later, the 112 Panzer Brigade had suffered heavy tank losses. Luck attempted to salvage a desperate situation but ended up having to retreat in order to conserve his forces. In January 1945, when the division was moved to the Oder front, the division took part in fighting along the Reitwein Spur. Luck surrendered to the Soviet forces while attempting a breakout from the Halbe pocket on 27 April 1945.[citation needed]
After the war
After the war Luck was interned at
Through his involvement as a speaker at military lectures he came to be good friends with several of his former adversaries, including Brigadier David Stileman, Major Alastair Morrison of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, and Major
Hans von Luck died in Hamburg on 1 August 1997 at the age of 86.[55]
Awards
- German Cross in Gold on 2 January 1942 as Hauptmann in Kradschützen-Bataillon 7[56]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 August 1944 as Major and leader of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 125[57]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b Butler 2015, p. 393.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 9−16.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 32.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 37.
- ^ Deighton 1980, p. 211.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 38.
- ^ Luck 1989, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 66.
- ^ a b c d Askey 2013, p. 379.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 70.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 76.
- ^ Luck 1989, pp. 77–83.
- ^ Fraser 1993, p. 389.
- ^ Butler 2015, p. 392.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 110.
- ^ Lewin 1998, p. 173.
- ^ Fraser 1993, p. 413.
- ISBN 978-1-61200-769-4.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 167.
- ^ Keegan 1982, p. 202.
- ^ Mitcham 1983, p. 82.
- ^ Mitcham 1983, p. 83.
- ^ Ambrose, D-Day
- ^ a b Mitcham 1983, p. 103.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 187.
- ^ Jackson 2006, p. 79.
- ^ Trew, p. 66
- ^ Ellis, pp. 330–331
- ^ Keegan 1982, p. 193.
- ^ Luck 1989, pp. 187, 192.
- ^ Keegan 1982, pp. 205–206.
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 192.
- ^ Keegan 1982, p. 205.
- ^ Dunphie, p. 74
- ^ a b Trew, p. 80
- ^ Napier, p. 249
- ^ a b Buckley (2013), p. 105
- ^ D'Este, p. 375
- ^ Jackson, p. 98
- ^ Daglish, pp. 255, 258–261
- ^ Daglish, p. 256
- ^ Daglish, p. 258
- ^ Daglish, pp. 260 186
- ^ a b c d e Napier (2015), p. 250
- ^ Napier (2015), p. 249
- ^ Napier (2015), p. 248-251
- ^ Keegan 1982, p. 216.
- ^ Hastings 2006, p. 260.
- ^ Hastings 2006, p. 262.
- ^ Hastings 2006, p. 263.
- ISBN 978-3-486-56119-7 (book review, English) (in German)
- Russian translation: 2002, ISBN 5-7281-0424-X
- Russian translation: 2002,
- ^ Luck 1989, p. 328.
- ^ a b "Obituary Brigadier David Stileman". The Times. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ^ Ministry of Defense; Army Department: Operation Goodwood
- ^ Mitcham 2009, p. xcvii.
- ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 286.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 516.
Bibliography
- Ambrose, Stephen E (1994). D-Day, June 6, 1944, The Battle for the Normandy beaches, Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-4974-6
- Ambrose, Stephen E (2001). Pegasus Bridge. Touchstone Books. ISBN 0-671-67156-1.
- Askey, Nigel (2013). Operation Barbarossa: the complete organisational and statistical analysis, and military simulation. Lulu Publishing.
- Biess, Frank (2006). Homecomings : returning POWs and the legacies of defeat in postwar Germany. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
- ISBN 978-1-61200-297-2.
- Daglish, Ian (2005). Goodwood. Over the Battlefield. Leo Cooper. ISBN 1-84415-153-0.
- Deighton, Len (1980). Blitzkrieg: from the rise of Hitler to the fall of Dunkirk. New York: Knopf, Distributed by Random House.
- Dunphie, Chris (2005). The Pendulum of Battle: Operation Goodwood - July 1944. MLRS Books. ISBN 978-1-844-15278-0.
- Ellis, Major L. F.; with Allen ISBN 1-84574-058-0.
- ISBN 978-0-06-018222-9.
- ISBN 0-307-27571-X.
- Jackson, G. S. (2006) [1945]. 8 Corps: Normandy to the Baltic. MLRS Books. ISBN 978-1-905696-25-3.
- Keegan, John (1982). Six Armies in Normandy: from D-Day to the liberation of Paris, June 6th-August 25th, 1944. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-14-02-3542-6.
- Luck, Hans von (1989). Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck. New York: Dell Publishing of Random House. ISBN 0-440-20802-5.
- Luck, Hans von (1991). Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-20802-5.
- Lewin, Ronald (1998) [1968]. Rommel As Military Commander. New York: B&N Books. ISBN 978-0-7607-0861-3.
- Mitcham, Samuel W (2009). Defenders of Fortress Europe. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-59797-274-1.
- Mitcham, Samuel W (1983). Rommel's last battle : the Desert Fox and the Normandy campaign. New York: Stein and Day.
- Napier, Stephen (2015). The Armoured Campaign in Normandy June-August 1944. The History Press. pp. 248–251. ISBN 9780750964739.
- Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Trew, Simon; Badsey, Stephen (2004). Battle for Caen. Battle Zone Normandy. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-7509-3010-1.