When I corresponded with Günter Köhler he was the Kameradschaftsleiter of FJR6 Von der Heydte. I had made provisional plans to attend the 60th anniversary reunion in Normandy in order to meet Herr Köhler and his Kameradschaft members. Unfortunately I was sent to work in Australia at short notice and was unable to attend. I did manage to visit Normandy in 2001 and visited all the locations mentioned by Herr Köhler in earlier correspondence.

 

The 6th Parachute Regiment was moved from Köln in May 1944 to the Lessay- Mont Castre -Carentan area of Normandy. When the invasion began in the early hours of 6 June 1944, the 2nd Battalion was located near Lessay. We were ordered to relocate towards Carentan and then redirected to St.Come du Mont where Major Von der Heydte had established his command post. On the way we encountered resistance from small groups of American Paratroopers. During the afternoon of 6 June we proceeded north towards St.Mere Eglise.

The 1st Battalion had been located west of Carentan and found themselves in combat with American Paratroopers prior to their relocation to St.Come du Mont. They were ordered east to attempt a breakthrough at the coast but within a couple of days they were almost totally destroyed after heavy fighting at St.Marie du Mont close to the Allied landing zone.

Major von der Heydte placed the 3rd Battalion in reserve to secure our rear towards Carentan, thus only the 2nd Battalion was still in the fight with American Paratroopers, glider troops and in the meantime, reinforcements landed at Utah beach. We also had to endure regular Naval artillery barrages.

Due to the superior number of American troops and heavy artillery and air support, the 2nd Battalion was ordered to withdraw from positions near St.Mere Eglise and Turqueville to St.Come du Mont. From there we were ordered to withdraw toward Carentan via the railway causeway that crossed the flooded marshland.

The causeway was under the watchful eyes of American fighter bombers but we were not recognised as Germans but believed to be American soldiers, therefore they did not fire on us. The heavy weapons could not be taken across the flooded areas and were therefore sunk.

On 7th June, the 2nd Battalion (5,6,7 and 8 Kompanie) was used in the area around the Carentan train station. The 8th Kompanie was on the eastern edge of Carentan near a dairy and the canal and used against glider landings.

Since we no longer had any heavy weapons at our disposal, we only had our rifles and machine guns.

It was here that I was buried in the ground thanks to a mortar round, but my comrades dug me out again. I was not wounded; I could not speak anymore, but stayed with my comrades. We had support from an Army anti-tank gun. I was a platoon leader in the 8th Kompanie (Oberleutnant Graf Bethusy-Huc WIA 25.6.1944) and liaised with the gun crew.

On 11 June we received the order to withdraw from Carentan due to the lack of heavy weapons or Panzer support. A few comrades and I were the last German soldiers to come out of Carentan.

It later turned out that a Panzer unit of the Waffen SS was on the way to Carentan. The Panzers came late as they could only drive at night due to the American fighter bombers who would have attacked the tanks during daylight.

After we left Carentan we took up a position southwest of Carentan (parts of the Regiment on Height 30). Here we received replacement heavy weapons. The main battle line was about 1.5m in front of the position of our mortars. In this new battle line I was a mortar observer.

We were located on the southern side of a marsh swamp and the American positions were less than 2km to the north. I recieved the order to direct our Mortar fire toward their positions, because from our HKL I could see the results and make corrections as required.

On the morning of 4 July we were subjected to a very strong artillery barrage (also Naval artillery) followed by a large scale attack against our positions by American forces. Because of the superior number of US troops we had to retreat to the rear positions but later counter attacked in the evening and re-took our old positions where we found many dead and wounded Americans. On this day I captured two American mortars and after converting the shot tables I was able to bombard enemy positions including poorly hidden sharpshooters and observe the results from my location.

On 7th July we were subjected to another artillery barrage and large scale attack. The Americans succeeded in breaking through our lines and attempted to encircle our positions. We tried to escape from this manoeuvre and found ourselves in close quarter combat. I was shot in the upper thigh by a submachine gun from a distance of about 5-6m, but with the help of 2 comrades I was able to escape, but only by crossing a marsh for over an hour. However; this was very difficult with my leg wound. When we climbed from the marsh there were soldiers before us. In the darkness we could not detect whether they were friend or foe, but we had luck, they were comrades from the 7th Kompanie. They took me to the Truppe dressing station. I was examined by a doctor and received a tetanus shot and then taken by motorcycle to the Waffen SS main dressing station where I was placed in a big empty tent. I promptly fell asleep and when I woke up again there were approximately 40-50 wounded in the tent, even wounded Americans. I cannot say how long I was there, but I was taken with some other wounded in a Red Cross Wagon to a train station. Here was a train marked with red crosses, which soon departed. I do not remember when and where. All I know is we drove through a train station in Paris. In front of the city of Belfort in northeast France, our train stopped on the open track and we saw German soldiers with machine guns in position around the train. I later found out that French Partisans had attacked a hospital train ahead of us and wounded German soldiers had been shot. I was taken to a hospital in Belfort. The Doctors found that the bullet wound to my thigh was a through and through without damage to the bone or veins. At the end of July, I was able to walk around unaided and was allowed out into the city of Belfort; however, we could only go out in groups and with weapons because here too, German soldiers had been murdered by French partisans.

After my dismissal from the hospital and after many detours I arrived in Guestrow in Pomerania. This was where FJR6 was being rebuilt. I came into the new 8th Kompanie and was personally welcomed by Von der Heydte. After some training the new Regiment was sent to Holland / Belgium. Our first mission was in the cities of Geel and Lommel. Everywhere where the Americans had broken through the German lines we were used to restore the German front.