Otto Carius. “The Tigers” in the Mud: Memoirs of a Legendary German Tank Commander.
MILITARY CLUB
30,409 views
Otto Carius was a German tank ace during World War II. Considered a “tank ace,” he is credited with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns.
He began his career as a tank crewman on the light Czech tank LT vz.38 “Skoda” (Pz.38), and from 1943 fought on the heavy tank Pz.VI “Tiger” on the Eastern Front.
As a loader on the Czech LT vz.38 (Pz.38) tank, he participated in the offensive on Vilnius, the crossing of the Neman, Dvina, and Berezina rivers, and the battles for Vitebsk and Smolensk. In the summer of 1941, during battles in Belarus, his tank was hit and Karius himself was wounded by shrapnel, which resulted in the loss of some of his teeth. In 1942, he took part in defensive battles near Gzhatsk, Sychevka, and Vyazma, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. From 1943, he served on the Leningrad Front as part of the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion, distinguished himself in defensive battles at Lake Ladoga, near Gatchina and Nevel, was wounded by shrapnel, and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.
After the defeat at Leningrad in the winter of 1944, Karius' heavy tank company held the defense at Narva for several months and also participated in operations to eliminate Soviet bridgeheads for an offensive in Estonia. Some strongpoints changed hands several times. In the battles for the Narva bridgehead, the Tiger heavy tank battalion destroyed dozens of Soviet tanks and anti-tank guns. However, the German tankers themselves suffered significant losses, with many vehicles being put out of action by Soviet anti-tank guns, blown up by mines, or stuck in the mud in wooded and marshy terrain. The losses in the infantry units were even greater. Nevertheless, the Soviet advance into Estonia was thwarted by the active actions of German troops. On May 4, 1944, Otto Carius was awarded the Knight's Cross.
After the crushing defeat of Army Group Center in Belarus in the summer of 1944, the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was hastily transferred to Latvia and took part in defensive battles. After being seriously wounded on July 24, 1944, he was evacuated to Germany. On July 27, 1944, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for the successful actions of his tank company near Daugavpils. The award was presented personally by Heinrich Himmler.
Together with Michael Wittmann, he became a military legend of the Wehrmacht, and his name was widely used in Nazi Germany's propaganda to boost the morale of the German army during the war.
In the final stage of the war in 1945, he took part in combat operations in West Germany on a Jagdtiger self-propelled artillery unit. By this time, the Allies had already crossed the Rhine and surrounded a large group of German troops in the Ruhr area. Otto Carius himself recalled that the Allied air force dominated the skies with impunity, there was an acute shortage of experienced fighters and commanders, and the morale of the surrounded troops was completely depleted. On the orders of his command, he surrendered to American troops, spent some time in a prisoner-of-war camp, and then, after changing into exchanged civilian clothes and pretending to be a farmer's assistant, was released.
Operation Barbarossa – The invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany and many of its Axis powers, which began on Sunday, June 22, 1941, during World War II. It was the largest and bloodiest land offensive in human history, involving approximately 10 million soldiers and claiming more than 8 million lives by the end of the operation.
In the two years prior to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts that served strategic objectives.
Following the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the German High Command began planning the invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1940 (under the code name “Plan Otto”). During the operation, more than 3.8 million Axis soldiers—the largest invasion force in the history of warfare—invaded the western Soviet Union across a 2,900-kilometer front, with over 600,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 horses available for non-military operations.
#history #easternfront #worldwarii #technic #wehrmacht #ww2 #memoirs #storytime #army #military #facts
20 Comments
Otto Carius. “The Tigers” in the Mud: Memoirs of a Legendary German Tank Commander.
MILITARY CLUB
30,409 views
Otto Carius was a German tank ace during World War II. Considered a “tank ace,” he is credited with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns.
He began his career as a tank crewman on the light Czech tank LT vz.38 “Skoda” (Pz.38), and from 1943 fought on the heavy tank Pz.VI “Tiger” on the Eastern Front.
As a loader on the Czech LT vz.38 (Pz.38) tank, he participated in the offensive on Vilnius, the crossing of the Neman, Dvina, and Berezina rivers, and the battles for Vitebsk and Smolensk. In the summer of 1941, during battles in Belarus, his tank was hit and Karius himself was wounded by shrapnel, which resulted in the loss of some of his teeth. In 1942, he took part in defensive battles near Gzhatsk, Sychevka, and Vyazma, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. From 1943, he served on the Leningrad Front as part of the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion, distinguished himself in defensive battles at Lake Ladoga, near Gatchina and Nevel, was wounded by shrapnel, and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.
After the defeat at Leningrad in the winter of 1944, Karius' heavy tank company held the defense at Narva for several months and also participated in operations to eliminate Soviet bridgeheads for an offensive in Estonia. Some strongpoints changed hands several times. In the battles for the Narva bridgehead, the Tiger heavy tank battalion destroyed dozens of Soviet tanks and anti-tank guns. However, the German tankers themselves suffered significant losses, with many vehicles being put out of action by Soviet anti-tank guns, blown up by mines, or stuck in the mud in wooded and marshy terrain. The losses in the infantry units were even greater. Nevertheless, the Soviet advance into Estonia was thwarted by the active actions of German troops. On May 4, 1944, Otto Carius was awarded the Knight's Cross.
After the crushing defeat of Army Group Center in Belarus in the summer of 1944, the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was hastily transferred to Latvia and took part in defensive battles. After being seriously wounded on July 24, 1944, he was evacuated to Germany. On July 27, 1944, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for the successful actions of his tank company near Daugavpils. The award was presented personally by Heinrich Himmler.
Together with Michael Wittmann, he became a military legend of the Wehrmacht, and his name was widely used in Nazi Germany's propaganda to boost the morale of the German army during the war.
In the final stage of the war in 1945, he took part in combat operations in West Germany on a Jagdtiger self-propelled artillery unit. By this time, the Allies had already crossed the Rhine and surrounded a large group of German troops in the Ruhr area. Otto Carius himself recalled that the Allied air force dominated the skies with impunity, there was an acute shortage of experienced fighters and commanders, and the morale of the surrounded troops was completely depleted. On the orders of his command, he surrendered to American troops, spent some time in a prisoner-of-war camp, and then, after changing into exchanged civilian clothes and pretending to be a farmer's assistant, was released.
Operation Barbarossa – The invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany and many of its Axis powers, which began on Sunday, June 22, 1941, during World War II. It was the largest and bloodiest land offensive in human history, involving approximately 10 million soldiers and claiming more than 8 million lives by the end of the operation.
In the two years prior to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts that served strategic objectives.
Following the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the German High Command began planning the invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1940 (under the code name “Plan Otto”). During the operation, more than 3.8 million Axis soldiers—the largest invasion force in the history of warfare—invaded the western Soviet Union across a 2,900-kilometer front, with over 600,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 horses available for non-military operations.
#history #easternfront #worldwarii #technic #wehrmacht #ww2 #memoirs #storytime #army #military #facts