Infanterie Aces

535 Pages·2016·42.31 MB·English

by  Kurowski Franz.

by
Franz Kurowski
Cover Art
by
Jean Re stay n
Translated
by
David Johnston
INFANTERIE ACES
by Franz Kurowski
Translated by David Johnston
Published by
J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc.
106 Browning Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3K OL7
[phone]
Copyright 1994
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-921991-22-3
Typesetting by George Bradford Type & Design
Printed by Friesen Printers
PUBLISHER'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank the following friends who have contributed to the publishing of
this book.
David Johnston - Translation
George Rugenius - Proof Reading
Shawn Biettner - Proof Reading
Jean Restayn - Cover Art
Brian Molloy - Signing Box Art
We also wish to thank you the reader for purchasing this book, and all those of you who
have purchased our other books, and have written us with your kind words of praise and
encouragement. It gives us impetus to continue to publish translations of the best German
books and specially commissioned books, as you can see by the additional books which are
in preparation for publication in the near future. Other titles are either being negotiated or
seriously contemplated, many as a result of your helpful proposals. Such proposals have
also motivated us to pursue the start of a serious military art print series, focusing on the
Waffen-SS and German armor. More on these in the near future, further suggestions are
always welcome.
John Fedorowicz & Michael Olive
Books published by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing
THE LEIBSTANDARTE (1 SS Panzer Division) volumes I, II, III and IV/1
EUROPEAN VOLUNTEERS (5 SS Panzer Division)
DAS REICH I (2 SS Panzer Division)
THE HISTORY OF PANZERKORPS GROSSDEUTSCHLAND I
OTTO WEIDINGER
OTTO KUMM
MANHAY, THE ARDENNES; CHRISTMAS 1944
TIGER; THE HISTORY OF A LEGENDARY WEAPON 1942-45
HITLER MOVES EAST
TIGERS IN THE MUD
PANZER ACES
FOOTSTEPS OF THE HUNTER
HISTORY OF THE 12 SS PANZERDIVISION HITLERJUGEND
GRENADIERS (Kurt Meyer)
FIELD UNIFORMS OF THE GERMAN ARMY PANZER FORCES IN WW2
TIGERS IN COMBAT 1
INFANTERIE ACES
FREINEUX AND LAMORMENIL - THE ARDENNES
ARMOR BATTLES OF THE WAFFEN - SS 1943-1945
In preparation for publication in 1995
THE CAUCASUS AND THE OIL
DAS REICH II
EAST FRONT DRAMA 1944
LUFTWAFFE ACES
THE HISTORY OF PANZERKORPS GROSSDEUTSCHLAND II
HISTORY OF 7 SS MOUNTAIN DIVISION PR1NZ EUGEN
J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 1
Infantry Tactics - General Notes 3
Decisive Changes 4
New Lessons in Firepower and Tactics 5
The Machine Gun as a Tactical Weapon 5
Other Infantry Weapons 7
Pistols and Submachine Guns 9
The Machine Gun in Action 9
The Face of Warfare Today 10
Command Principles: From Large Unit to Battalion 11
Assessment of the Enemy Situation and the Terrain 12
March and March Speed 13
The Attack and Its Main Characteristics 14
Pursuit and Defence 18
The Place of Artillery in Tactics 21
Anti-tank Defence by Panzer and Infantry Divisions 23
Combat Engineers (Pioneers) and Tactics 24
The Battalion as the Vehicle of the Infantry Battle 24
Unit Leader Training as it Applied to Tactics 26
General Staff Training in the Reichswehr 27
General Staff Training and Tactics 1933-1939 29
INFANTRY ACES
RUDI BRASCHE 52
R. Brasche photo section 103
FRANZ JUSCHKAT 118
F. Juschkat photo section 165
SEPP LAINER 182
S. Lainer photo section 225
ERICH LEPKOWSKI 238
E. Lepkowski photo section 284
FRANZ SCHMITZ 300
F. Schmitz photo section 344
ALFRED SCHNEIDEREIT 360
A. Schneidereit photo section 393
JOSEF SCHREIBER 402
J. Schreiber photo section 444
ERICH VIELWERTH 456
E. Vielwerth photo section 509

An unidentified infantry officer on the Eastern Front.
by
Franz Kurowski
INTRODUCTION
This work is a recollection of German soldiers from the ranks who made a
name for themselves in the Second World War, who performed deeds, either
alone or with a number of comrades, which decided the outcome of a battle,
or through other acts of bravery lived up to the best German military tradi-
tions.
The stories of these few men, chosen from among thousands of others, are
representative of all their fellow soldiers and provide a fitting memorial to
them. These men stand for all those who returned wounded and broken,
ashamed and beaten, bringing the horror of their war experiences home with
them. But these chapters are also a memorial to others: those who came to
grief in the vast steppes of Russia, in the ice storms of the Murmansk Front,
in southeastern Russia, in Africa or in the final struggle for the Reich.
This is an authentic account of infantry aces, common soldiers who were
tossed into the maelstrom of death that was combat and who rose to the
occasion and offered up their lives for their comrades. A kind fate allowed
most of the soldiers in this book to return home. They survived a long
odyssey of death and destruction that claimed so many friends and comrades.
After a walk through hell and purgatory, there and back, there was for them a
new day in Germany, something denied millions of German soldiers.
They took on enemy units alone, battled the steel giants that were enemy
tanks and carried wounded comrades hundreds of metres under fire to safety.
They fought alone behind enemy lines. They took out bunkers and carried
out patrols. They served as machine gunners in a thousand dangerous
actions. They tackled an enemy vastly superior in numbers with anti-tank
rifles, panzerfausts, hand grenades, machine guns and submachine guns.
They closed gaps in the front, defended their own lines, held river crossings
open for their own troops to retreat over and drove out enemy forces that had
broken into their own main line of resistance.
Through their actions they saved the lives of many thousands of their com-
rades. They guarded the front and stood fast in hopeless situations against an
enemy one hundred times as strong as they. In this way they felt the inhuman
grimace of war on their own bodies and survived, bleeding from many
wounds. Here is their story: a perpetual road of horror and desperation, a
road filled with blood and tears, at whose end, if they were lucky, stood a
return home. Their experience taught them that war leaves behind neither
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