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#331
07-06-04, 23:02
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Quote:
 : while I was having my  
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Mark 
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#332
08-06-04, 00:54
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Re: Putot - 7 June 2004
Carman;
Read through this page, I'll think you'll find it of interest: http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4204 Cheers 
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Mark
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#333
08-06-04, 01:19
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Re: Re: Putot - 7 June 2004
Quote:
In Remembrance and honour of our 156 Canadian Soldiers (I believe this list of names of the Soldiers, I posted somewhere earlier in this thread); 4:30 p.m. (Ceremony at Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe) Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath-Laying at l'Abbaye d'Ardenne. Both the Governor General and John Ralston Saul will lay a wreath. Special Remembrance for Canadian prisoners of war murdered by SS troops during the Battle of Normandy. The name of every known Canadian soldier executed in Normandy will be read during the ceremony. The event is organized by the Canadian Battlefields Foundation. (Open coverage)
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#334
08-06-04, 01:27
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Re: Links of interest
Carman;
A couple of more links: http://www.members.shaw.ca/junobeach/juno-5.htm http://www.members.shaw.ca/junobeach/juno-4-5.htm http://home.att.net/~SSPzHJ/Haller.html http://www.warchronicle.com/canadian.../pegs_dday.htm Cheers
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Mark
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#335
08-06-04, 01:49
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Re: Re: Re: Putot - 7 June 2004
Quote:
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Mark
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#336
08-06-04, 02:08
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Putot - 7 June 2004
Quote:
  and what a liar you are, my friend. You said school was out for the day ...yet you inundate mine eyes and me mind with homework again! (My eyes are crossed now)Great links Mark. Thank you. break!
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#337
08-06-04, 02:21
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Putot - 7 June 2004
Quote:
Cheers
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Mark
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#338
08-06-04, 03:13
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Putot air photo
Hello Carman and Mark,
Excuse me if I an intruding. Here is a photo taken from Terry Copp’s book ‘A Canadian’s Guide to the Battlefields of Normandy”. It was taken on the 6 July, 1944. Putot-en-Bessin is in the upper right, while the railway bridge is in the center of the photo. Brouay is in the lower left. John
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#339
08-06-04, 03:51
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Sitting Ducks.
Hi JOHN ... never intruding, though Mark and I are pretty busy in this thread, there's lots of room for everyone else to jump in too
Thats an awesome photo you posted ... it sure shows a lot of open area (yes I noticed Mark ) and looks like everyone, all sides, pretty much have had to have been sitting ducks.Lots of courage in all the soldiers there. Amazing. Hypervigilance and then some! Night school Mark? Hmmm ... task master:P Skippd night class and went bicycling. Just came back ...flatflatflat... can really make time and distance, unlike BC Thanks John and Mark - those are great links! . 
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#340
08-06-04, 04:11
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Re: Putot air photo
Great photo John, Thanks, that's the railway overpass right dead in the centre, between Brouay and Putot. I have a picture here somewhere of the overpass, just have to find it.
Carman, notice how open the country side is around Putot. Thanks again John. Cheers
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Mark
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#341
08-06-04, 21:19
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Executed POWs
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#342
09-06-04, 03:13
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Re: Executed POWs
Quote:
And I also add, a very personal thank you to you for all you risked, lost, and accomplished for the rest of the world, including all of us tucked at home in our personal lives, living freedoms and rights some have never had ... because of what you and the others did. You all went through hell in order that we can ALL know a little bit of heaven on earth? Freedoms are precious ... as are you. Thank you. Carman
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#343
10-06-04, 17:54
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Murder of Canadian Prisoners - # 1
As requested by Carman;
Source: Blood and Honor, the History of The 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth", 1943-1945, by Craig W.H. Luther, pages 181-182. The Murder of Canadian Prisoners by the 12th SS Panzer Division (June 7-17, 1944) From statements given during routine screening to U.S. Military Police at a POW camp in April, 1945, by SS-Strummann Jan Jesionek. A subsequent Canadian investigation of the incident not only confirmed Jesionek's story in most of its details but revealed that a total of 20 Canadian soldiers had been murdered and buried at the Abbey Ardenne following their capture and interrogation. Eighteen of the murders occurred on June 7th and 8th; the final two on June 17th. On the morning of 8 June, 1944, Jesionek was sent back to the Abbey Ardenne for a replacement vehicle: "Reaching his destination Jesionek found the motorcycle out of order, and for the time being could do nothing. A short while later he looked on as seven Canadian prisoners, guarded by two soldiers of the 25th Regiment, were escorted by them onto the Abby grounds and hustled into a stable off an adjoining courtyard. One of the guards asked the 17-year-old Jesionek if he knew where they might find the regimental commander. Only minutes before the prisoners were brought in, low-flying aircraft had attacked the abbey, prompting Kurt Meyer to order that all staff vehicles and motorcycles be concealed at once within the protective walls of the chapel. Thinking that Meyer was probably at the chapel, Jesionek suggested the guard fellow him there. The two men walked over to the chapel, where Meyer was standing. The guard approached his commander and reported the arrival of the captured Canadians. Visibly angered, Meyer replied, "Why do you bring prisoners to the rear? They only eat up our rations." Meyer spoke briefly with a nearby officer, but in a low tone of voice that could not be heard by Jesionek, and then, so that all present could hear, said, "In future no more prisoners are to be taken!" Following the discussion with Meyer, the officer left with the guard and walked towards the stable where the prisoners were. Jesionek, meanwhile, had retrieved a towel and some soap from one of the vehicles and followed to the courtyard, where he hoped to wash at a water pump close to a concrete pool and an archway leading into a garden. Directed away from the pump, he went instead to wash at the pool. From there he could see the officer to whom Meyer had just spoken interrogating the prisoners one at a time in English: One of the prisoners had tears in his eyes, and the officer laughed at him in a sneering manner. The officer seemed to be enjoying himself and frequently burst out laughing as he spoke to the prisoners. He took their papers from them and returned to the chapel. The guard who had spoken to Meyer took up a position at the (archway) leading to the garden or park. Each of the seven prisoners was then called by name and in turn had to walk from the stable entrance to where the guard was at the (archway). They were then directed up some steps and into the garden. Here each made a left turn, and as he did so an Unterscharfuher, who had previously gone into the garden and was awaiting the prisoners, shot him in the back of the head. As each of the prisoners came out of the stable, he shook hands with the others before walking into the garden. They all seemed to know what was about to happen, and the sound of the shots and occasionally a scream could be clearly heard. When the shooting was over, Jesionek walked to the pump by the archway, where he saw the SS-Unterscharfuher reload his pistol as he emerged from the garden. Jesionek went into the garden and observed the dead bodies of the seven Canadian soldiers."
__________________
Mark
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#344
10-06-04, 19:00
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Murder of Canadian Prisoners - # 2
As requested by Carman;
Source: Blood and Honor, the History of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth", 1943-1945, by Craig W.H. Luther, pages 183-184. The Murder of Canadian Prisoners by the 12th SS Panzer Division (June 7-17, 1944) "The murders at the Abbey Ardenne were not an isolated event, rather they were typical of behavior all too common to the 12th SS Panzer Division during the initial days of the Normandy campaign. In fact, SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) Court of Inquiry and Canadian investigations established that, from June 7-17, 1944, members of the division murdered at least 134 Canadian prisoners of war in separate incidents involving the 25th and 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiments, the 12th SS Reconnaissance Battalion and the 12th SS Engineer Battalion. The normal method of execution in individual shootings was a single aimed pistol shot fired into the base of the skull; executions by firing squads were carried out with Schmeisser machine pistols. The majority of the killings took place following the first flush of combat. On June 7th, soldiers of the 3rd Battalion (Milius) of the 25th Regiment murdered in and about the villages of Authie and Buron some 23 Canadians after their capture. Most of the victims belonged to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the Sherbrooke Fusiliers; some of them had already been wounded and disabled. The bodies were left unburied, and in some cases moved deliberately into roadways where passing tanks and other vehicles crushed them. The supplementary report of the SHAEF Court of Inquiry provides a detailed record of these murders, which included the following: A prisoner, while lying unarmed and helpless owing to a serious wound, was bayoneted and shot to death by a number of soldiers of (the 12th SS), one of whom is believed to have been an officer. A prisoner, while unarmed and with hands up in token of surrender, was denied quarter and shot to death. A prisoner, while being searched and otherwise unarmed, was found to have on his person a grenade which he had evidently had no opportunity to discard. He was thereupon shot by one of his guards. While lying on the road dying, he was kicked and some 15 minutes later dispatched by shots fired into his head.... A prisoner, while standing in line with other prisoners some distance behind the battlefront, unarmed and with both hands above the head, was shot in the stomach for turning his head and died two days later at Caen.... Eight prisoners after capture were marched behind the lines and were sitting under guard at the side of a street in the village of Authie. They were told to remove their helmets, and the guards stepped into the street and with automatic weapons shot all the prisoners dead.... A large number of Allied Prisoners of War were being marched in column along a road in the vicinity of Caen, when a passing German truck was intentionally and at high speed driven into the column. Two of the prisoners were killed and another seriously injured."
__________________
Mark
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#345
10-06-04, 19:43
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Murder of Canadian Prisoners - # 3
As requested by Carman;
Source: Blood and Honor, the History of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth", 1943-1945, by Craig W.H. Luther, pages 184-185. The Murder of Canadian Prisoners by the 12th SS Panzer Division (June 7-17, 1944) "The 26th Regiment did not get into action until the morning of June 8th. During the assault on Putot-en-Bassin the 5th and 7th Companies of the regiment's 2nd Battalion took between 25-30 Canadian prisoners, mostly, no doubt, from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. The captives were evacuated by their guards through 2nd Battalion's headquarters at le Mesnil-Patry, where another group of prisoners joined them, making a total of forty all ranks. That evening the Germans marched their prisoners south, towards the Caen-Fontenay-le-Pesnel road. The guards were the same and were commanded by an SS-Oberscharfuher (NCO). Along the way, they encountered an officer in a camouflaged vehicle. The party then halted while the SS-Oberscharfuher apparently asked for instructions. Annoyed, the officer motioned in a southerly direction, giving some of the prisoners the impression that he had ordered their execution. They continued to march until within 100 yards of the Caen road. At that point the SS guards directed the prisoners into a field, instructing them to sit close together-with the wounded in the centre-and to face east. After an armored column had passed on the road, a half-track vehicle turned into the field, disgorging a number of soldiers toting Schmeisser machine pistols. Among the newcomers were two officers. There was a consultation with the guards, who then also equipped themselves with Schmeissers. Forming a line, the Germans advanced menacingly towards the prisoners, who were still seated and resting, and opened fire. Thrity-five Canadians died in the ensuing massacre. Five of the prisoners, however, managed to escape. Their suspicions aroused by what they had seen and heard, they had resolved to make a run for it should their estimate of the guards' intentions prove correct. When the shooting started the five men bolted into a wheat field and were eventually recaptured by other German troops, who evacuated the men to prisoner of war camps, where they remained until the end of the war. Between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m., June 8th, 19 more Canadian POWs were shot to death, this time by members of the 12th SS Reconnaissance Battalion. The shootings took place near battalion headquarters at the Chateau d'Audrieu-two groups of three prisoners each gunned down in an adjacent wood, and a third group (13 men of the 9th Platoon, "A" Company, Royal Winnipeg Rifles) murdered by their escort within 100 yards of the battalion command post. Bremer's driver, SS-Oberscharfuher Leopold Stun, commanded some of the firing squads, which consisted of motorcycle dispatch riders attached to the headquarters."
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Mark
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#346
10-06-04, 21:02
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Sadistic Pleasure
The cold sadistic pleasure that some of the prisoners were humiliated and tortured with. Incredible. Just purposeless, senseless evil for there was no point for so much. Just plain useless cruelty that these soldiers were victim to. (of course I have loads of personal reactions of horror and outrage ... those poor men. God)
This is so much of what our soldiers were there to put an end to. Fanaticism and Insanity inflicted on the rest of the world. Imagine had the Nazi's won the war. WHEN did knowledge of the concentration camps happen? When I was really young I read " The Diaries of Anne Frank" That set me on reading every book I could find in the library written by Holocaust survivors. I don't recall when the "secret camps" was found out.  Carman
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#347
10-06-04, 21:09
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Thanks Mark
Read the threads.No further comment on my part.Disgusting
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#348
10-06-04, 21:26
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Re: Sadistic Pleasure
Quote:
__________________
Mark
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#349
10-06-04, 23:04
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The Officers implicated
In the book “Conduct Unbecoming” by Howard Margolian, it states that five senior officers were implicated in the killings of the Canadian POW’s: Karl-Heinz Milius (CO of III/25 Bn), Kurt Meyer (CO of 25 PzGn Regt), Gerhard Bremer (CO of 12 Recce Regt), Wilhelm Mohnke (CO of 26 PzGn Regt), and Siegfried Muller (CO of PiBn 12). Two of these officers had served in concentration camps earlier in their careers. Muller had done a ten month stint as the commander of a detachment of concentration camp guards, while Milius had spent two years at Dachau where he commanded a platoon of guards. One Officer, Wilhelm Mohnke had an addiction to morphine.
Not all 12th SS officers were involved in the killing of POW’s. Of note is the CO of II/26 Bn, Bernhard Siebken, who was trying to protect the Canadian POW’s. He disobeyed the orders from the Regt CO Wilhelm Mohnke to kill the prisoners, and he tried to evacuate them to the rear. However, Mohnke went chasing after them to ensure that they were executed. This was the group of 40 PW’s from the Winnipeg Rifles, including Edward Smith.
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#350
10-06-04, 23:36
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Re: The Officers implicated
Quote:
I had also learned that MOHNKE was a morphine addict... related to getting wired on it due to an war wound? Am I correct about the root of his addiction and the war wound? His leg? I think our MOHNKE hada whole lot of PTSD goin' on too. No excuses though. It reads as though my Uncles group were murdered without the cruel torture and humiliation that other POWS experienced. They sounded taunted but basically "no beating around the bush taking time to torture and interrogate, just massacred because ... BECAUSE? Didn't want to share the rations? It sounds like the German CO's didn't want to deal withthem is all. On whose orders? Their own? A higher ups?" Carman (Mark ... thanks regards the info about whn th Concentration camps came to light. After the fact of these executions)
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#351
11-06-04, 00:59
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Re: The Officers implicated
Quote:
I don't have the book 'Conduct Unbecoming', but Siebken was tried and convicted for ordering the execution of three Canadian prisoners at le Mesnil Patry and hanged in January, 1949.
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Mark
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#352
11-06-04, 03:41
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SS Major Bernhard Siebken
Hello Mark,
The following is from “Conduct Unbecoming” (p96-99) “We now know that the wounded soldiers found on the grounds of Siebken's headquarters on the night of 8-9 June were Canadians. The man discovered by Wimplinger was Private Harold Angel of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. The other two were Privates Frederick Holness (with the concussion) and Ernest Baskerville (with the knee injury), both of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. All three had been involved in the fighting at Putot-en-Bessin earlier in the day, and all three, despite their injuries, had somehow evaded capture for several hours after the battle. Tired, hungry, and in need of medical attention, they must have finally given up trying to get back to their own lines. Spotting the Moulin farmhouse, the three men probably decided to risk capture. It was a decision they would come to regret. Initially, the prisoners were treated in an entirely correct manner. Once inside the Moulin kitchen, they were attended by Dr Schiitt, the 2nd Battalion's medical officer. Schiitt, who spoke English, conversed freely with the prisoners, learning, for example, that Private Angel lived in Ottawa, was married, and had four children. After bandaging their wounds, the good and decent doctor ordered that beds of straw be prepared for the Canadians. He also saw to it that blankets were provided. Grateful for the humane way in which they were being treated, Privates Angel, Holness, and Baskerville fell into a deep, unbroken sleep. Schiitt's kindness was typical of the treatment accorded to the Canadian prisoners who passed through 2nd Battalion headquarters on 8 June. It did not sit well with Mohnke, however. While Siebken was immersed in preparations for the following day's operations, the regimental commander paid him a return visit, apparently to drive home his point regarding enemy POWs. As it happened, Mohnke's arrival at the battalion command post coincided with the appearance there of Dr Schiitt, who had come to Siebken to report the presence of the three wounded Canadians. When Mohnke learned that the 2nd Battalion had taken more prisoners, he ordered that they be shot without delay. Siebken refused. A terrible argument ensued. If Siebken's postwar testimony is to be believed, Mohnke was beside himself with anger. He purportedly berated Siebken for his insubordination, after which he called in Schnabel and ordered him to carry out the execution of the prisoners. When Schnabel took the same position as that of his immediate superior, Mohnke stormed out. Following Mohnke's departure, the mood at 2nd Battalion headquarters was grim. Resolved to prevent the killing of his prisoners, Siebken realized that he could not protect them on his own. Accordingly, at the first opportunity he put through a call to 12th SS headquarters. The purpose was to find out whether the shooting of prisoners had been authorized by division. Insofar as it circumvented the normal chain of command, this call was an extraordinary breach of military protocol. However, Siebken had been deeply shaken by Mohnke's violent outburst. Besides, if he was going to disobey the direct order of a superior officer, he wanted to be sure that he would have the backing of the upper echelons. Divisional commander Witt was unavailable when Siebken's call came through, so the battalion commander was instead put on to SS Major Hubert Meyer (no relation to Kurt Meyer), the Hitler Youth Division's chief of staff. Siebken asked Meyer point blank: Had division issued an order to shoot all prisoners? Meyer assured him that it had not. On the contrary, he told Siebken, POWs were the best and often the only source of information as to enemy dispositions. Thus, he advised the taking of as many prisoners as possible. Before putting down the phone, Meyer asked Siebken why he had posed such an odd question. Siebken replied by recounting the confrontation that had just taken place at his battalion headquarters. Troubled by Mohnke's rather erratic deportment, in particular his issuance of orders directly to Schnabel, which violated the sanctity of the military hierarchy, Meyer immediately rang up the 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. With Mohnke still absent, the chief of staff spoke to his adjutant, SS Captain Kaiser. According to Meyer's postwar testimony, he asked what action was being taken with regard to the shooting of POWs in the regiment's sector. When Kaiser responded that he knew nothing about it, Meyer told him the same thing that he had told Siebken: as many prisoners as possible should be taken, and they should be treated in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention. With divisional command fully apprised of the situation, one might have expected Mohnke to at last let the issue of POWs rest. Yet he was unable to do so. In his twisted state of mind, the killing of the three Canadian prisoners had become a matter of honour. Immediately upon his return to his headquarters, a seething Mohnke telephoned the 2nd Battalion and tried to find out whether his order had been obeyed. Siebken was unavailable, having since gone to the front to check on the deployment of his forward units. Mohnke spoke to his adjutant instead. When the officer informed him that the execution of the three prisoners had not yet been carried out, Mohnke flew into another rage, then abruptly hung up. If Siebken's beleaguered staff thought that they had seen or heard the last of Mohnke, they were wrong. In a terrifying display of obsessive behaviour, he soon returned to the Moulin farm. Ranting once more about insubordination and disloyalty, Mohnke cornered Siebken's adjutant and demanded to know the battalion commander's whereabouts. When the officer replied that Siebken was still at the front, Mohnke then asked for Schnabel. He too was unavailable. Frustrated, but undeterred, Mohnke left yet again. Unaware of the controversy that their capture had provoked, Privates Angel, Holness, and Baskerville awoke between 8:00 and 9:00 on the morning of 9 June. They asked for and received permission to go outside to wash up. Upon their return, the three prisoners were questioned briefly by an unidentified SS officer, in the presence of Dr Schiitt. After the interrogations, they were allowed to relax. Still weak from their wounds, two of the men elected to return to their straw beds, but the other sat up in an easy chair. Shortly thereafter they were brought a canister of fresh milk, which they gulped down heartily. While the Canadians were enjoying their unexpected breakfast, Mohnke suddenly reappeared. Siebken was still absent, but Schnabel had returned, and it did not take long for Mohnke to find him. If postwar testimony given on Schnabel's behalf is to be believed, Mohnke drew his pistol, pointed it at the junior officer, and ordered him to carry out the execution of the three prisoners. Clearly, this was the end of the line. There would be no more reprieves for the Canadians. A shaken Schnabel drove over to the Moulin farmhouse. In the kitchen he found Dr Schiitt and the medical orderlies Heinrich Albers, Fritz Bundschuh, and a third man known only as Ischner. According to Wimplinger, who was in the next room, Schnabel informed Dr Schiitt that an order had been issued to shoot the prisoners, Schiitt muttered his disgust, but his protest went for naught. Not wanting another confrontation with Mohnke, Schnabel motioned for the orderlies to get the Canadians up. Their hands above their heads, Angel, Holness, and Baskerville hobbled out the door. Schnabel and his underlings escorted the prisoners across the front yard and into an adjacent garden. Owing to their injuries, it was only with considerable difficulty that the three Canadians managed to traverse the yard. Private Baskerville was able to limp unaided, but Private Angel had to be supported by Private Holness. Finally reaching the end of the garden, the procession halted. It was at this point that the Canadians must have realized what was in store for them. In order not to have to look his victims in the eye, Schnabel ordered them to turn around. Next he had Albers, Bundschuh, and Ischner train their machine pistols on their targets. At the order to fire, each shooter let loose with a ten- to twelve-round burst from a distance of less than twenty feet. The three Canadians went down simultaneously. Though none of them betrayed any signs of life, Schnabel drew his pistol, walked over to their bodies, and applied the coup de grace to each. Mohnke's uncontrollable wrath and his pathological obsession with enemy prisoners had claimed three more victims.” And from p179-180. “In the aftermath of the closure of the British war crimes investigation unit, only one more 12th SS case was tried. On 21 October 1948, proceedings were opened against Bernhard Siebken, Dietrich Schnabel, Heinrich Albers, and Fritz Bundschuh before a British military court in Hamburg. The four defendants, all former members of the 2nd Battalion of the 12th SS's 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, were charged with the murder of the Canadian prisoners Harold Angel, Frederick Holness, and Ernest Baskerville at the battalion's headquarters on the morning of 9 June 1944. The trial lasted almost three weeks, during which substantial evidence was adduced proving the complicity of each of the defendants in the killings. On 9 November 1948, the court announced its verdict: Albers and Bundschuh, the trigger men, were acquitted on the grounds that they had followed superior orders, while Siebken, the battalion commander, and Schnabel, his special missions officer, were found guilty of having issued and carried out the execution order. It seemed to be a just decision. Yet, owing to the fact that numerous witnesses had come forward to testify that Wilhelm Mohnke had been the real instigator of the murders, many observers harboured doubts as to the fairness of the verdict. Whatever the real truth, the controversy surrounding the Siebken trial marked an ignominious close to the search for justice for the victims of the Normandy massacres.”
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#353
11-06-04, 03:58
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Re: SS Major Bernhard Siebken
Thanks for the quotes from 'Conduct Unbecoming' John. Has I said earlier, I don't have a copy of it myself. I've also read elsewhere that Siebken and Schnabel where wrongly convicted (Source: Hubert Meyer's History of the 12th SS Pz Div 'HJ').
Cheers
__________________
Mark
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#354
11-06-04, 18:50
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Re: Siebken and le Mesnil-Patry
John;
Thought you might find this of interest, it concerns Siebken and the execution of three Canadian prisoners at le Mesnil-Patry (9 Jun 44) Source: 'The History of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend, by Hubert Meyer (former Chief of Staff of the division), Chapter 1.5.1 & Chapter 12. from Chap. 1.5.1. - "In retaliation, three Canadian prisoners were ordered shot near the command post of the II./26 on the following day. After the war, a so-called 'war criminals trial' took place because of this against Obersturmbannfuhrer Siebken, Untersturmfuhrer Schnabel and two men of the battalion. A report on this can be found elsewhere in this book." - this retaliation took place apparently for the wounding and deaths of members of the staff of Panzer Artillere Regiment 130 of the Panzer Lehr Division on 8 Jun 44 during an engagement with elements of the Inns of Court Regiment, or so Meyer states in the paragraphs prior to the one quoted above. There is no mention, whatsoever, of who ordered the shooting of the three prisoners. from Chap. 12 - "In the third trial against members of the 'Hitlerjugend' Division, Obersturmbannfuhrer Bernhard Siebken, Untersturmfuhrer Dieter Schnabel and two men of II. Battalion of SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 were accused of being responsible for the shooting of three Canadian prisoners of war in le Mesnil-Patry during the first days of the invasion fighting. That event and its prehistory has been reported on in Chapter 1.5.1. In the trial, Obersturmbannfuhrer Siebken was accused of having ordered the shooting of the prisoners. Untersturmfuhrer Schnabel was accused of having carried out the order; the two co-accused were to have taken part in that. The Author participated in the trial, which took place in summer 1948 in the "Curio-Haus" in Hamburg, as a witness for the defense. The court did not accept witness statements regarding unequivocally established shootings of German prisoners of war by Canadian soldiers. Nor did it take note of the testimony by Graf (count) Clary-Aldringen concerning the shooting of members of Panzerartillereregiment 130 by a scouting party of the Inns of Court Regiment during which he, himself had been seriously wounded. The court stated that it was not Canadian, but four German soldiers, who were the accused. The shooting of three Canadians remained undisputed. It remained doubtful, who had given the order for that. The court sentenced Obersturmbannfuhrer Bernhard Siebken and Untersturmfuhrer Dieter Schnabel to death by hanging. The two co-accused were men acquitted. The witnesses for the defense attending the trial wre firmly convinced of Bernhard Siebken's innocence. Submissions, which were meant to prove that, could not even bring about a mitigation of the sentences. The sentences were carried out on 20 January, 1949 in the Hamelin prison."
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Mark
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#355
13-06-04, 22:58
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Conduct Unbecoming
"Conduct Unbecoming" by Howard Margolian is an amazing book Mark. I've never heard or read anything but good about it (so far) so I assume it's very well researched and factual ...incredible that about the last one-third of it is loaded with notes and sources of his info.
I can't imagine your house-library without a copy. How come, eh?
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#356
14-06-04, 00:51
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Re: Conduct Unbecoming
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Cheers
__________________
Mark
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#357
14-06-04, 01:29
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Re: Re: Conduct Unbecoming
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#358
14-06-04, 02:46
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Re: Re: Re: Conduct Unbecoming
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Mark
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#359
14-06-04, 03:09
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Conduct Unbecoming
Quote:
) Needed many pillows and foamies.. I was usually too scared to enter to look under pillows, but occassionaly would HAVE TO enter. Surprizing what of MY belongings I would find in there anyways in spite of NO ROOM.. "ooops, sorry Mommy, I was gonna return it! I just needed it. Ooops... sorry Mommy. I'll clean out the dead food. I promise. OOOOOPS sorry Mommy. Don't spaz. I love you i love you i love you) : I miss much about those days gone by
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#360
19-06-04, 18:56
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North Nova Scotia Highlanders
I found some links to articles about the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, and which give an account of the battles around Buron and Aurthie on June 7th.
http://www.parl.ns.ca/highlanders/ar...iousDeeds.html http://www.parl.ns.ca/highlanders/ar...DeedsCont.html http://www.parl.ns.ca/highlanders/ar...anBaillie.html http://www.parl.ns.ca/highlanders/ar...tyVictims.html Last edited by John McGillivray; 19-06-04 at 19:05.
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