What was it like being on the invasion front; can you tell me what the enemy was like?

Hein: Yes, at first France was very nice, we were close to the coast and had a good time. We received leave and could go into Paris to sightsee or enjoy the shows. The people were very kind to us, and many comrades met girls to keep them company. I went home to see family and here is where I saw bombing devastation for the first time. I recall the training was done often, especially with us new hands so we were not a problem. We were close to Amiens [France] I believe, and the people would come out to watch us practice. When the invasion happened on the 6th of June, we were frustrated to say the least. We were held back and when finally allowed to advance the Allies knocked out every bridge to Normandy. We had to go on wild detours to reach the front which took days. We had to drive at night since the Allies were in the air all day. We could hear the fighting and felt helpless knowing our comrades needed us. I was assigned to a Panzer 4 with the long gun, and was the loader. We could not wait to get into action; I was so young and foolish then. We finally made it in time to meet British units, what I saw was disorganization amid vast Allied advantages. The German units in Normandy were spread out too thin. On the maps we could see huge holes in our lines. Germany had too few divisions to face the Allies.

More of our reinforcements came and we were ready to start attacking but then we met their naval fire. They hit everything and anything, and we could not move. They had spotters who were watching our assembly points. Anytime we tried to attack they opened up devastating fire. We were forced to stay on the defense and fight their attacks. We did very well at this, and knocked out our first Sherman [American tank]. We took a hit, but we had extra armor on our Panzer that stopped it from penetrating. We stayed in the defense for most of the time. We fought both the British and Canadians. We took our fair share of Canadians prisoner and got along well with them. Some seemed very cold and full of hate; their propaganda made us out to be monsters and bad soldiers. I was hit in the leg by a piece of shrapnel and was sent to the rear to be fixed-up. I saw Canadian prisoners at the aid station along with French civilians who had been wounded. I felt bad for the civilians, they were caught in a war and their liberators bombed them without mercy. I spoke to a Canadian who spoke French, and we shared cigarettes and talked about home. After the war they claimed we shot their prisoners but that is nonsense, we would have no reason to and I only saw very fair treatment of them. Even this soldier I spoke to said he was treated very well by all the German soldiers he met.

I was later in combat against them; I believe it was a town called Authie. I was unwillingly attached to the SS Panzers. We were ordered to assist them while picking up our repaired Panzer. They surprised a Canadian unit who put up a hell of a fight, but were caught in the open in the town square. We fired on some who tried to run around the side of the town to ambush our comrades. This was a big feat of arms, we overtook a larger Canadian force, which later we learned was elite, and gave them a beating. They fought to the last, and would not surrender; I witnessed one soldier shoot himself as we moved in to search for wounded. I felt bad for them as it was not necessary to die, they could have laid down their arms, I witnessed them shoot a young Hitlerjugend soldier who carried a white flag to ask for their surrender. They had a tenacity that seemed reckless and in disregard for life. French civilians had been hiding in their homes during this and came out to give aid to any soldier regardless of uniform. I remember seeing a woman who had been hit and was very angry at us. We were low on water and they helped fill our canteens. We shared food rations as they had not gotten food for a couple days. They even searched the dead to get any food from them as well. We parked our Panzer in the town square to guard against any counterattacks, and later ate with the French. It was an odd situation but hunger made them like us.

But fortune is not always fair, the very next day we were attacked by a strong force and quickly knocked out with a shell into the transmission. We bailed out as the Panzer burned. While doing this I was hit by shrapnel from a shell of something, I was wounded yet again and put out of action. This time our medical services had been very much improved and I was moved to a hospital within an hour. There was fear of attacks on our Red Cross, the Allies, as well as the Russians would attack ambulances, trains, and aid stations. While speaking with wounded SS Panzer men they told of the British and Canadians hitting aid stations and killing wounded. Some were not keen to help wounded Canadians, as we had a few badly wounded ones with us. We saw them as our enemies, yes, but also as fellow soldiers and humans, so we left politics and hate out of it. I spent the next few months in Germany healing from my wounds.

You took part in the Ardennes Offensive I understand, what was it like?

Hein: Yes, that was when the war was over for me. We started out well; General [Meinrad] Lauchert gave a great speech telling us this was it. We had to win here or dire times would come to Germany. I still remember him; he was a good leader and was with us often. We started at the American lines and broke through, but had heavy fighting. The first few days before and during the offensive, Allied planes attacked us when they saw us, we learned to hide well. Later the weather turned and took away their edge. The odds were made more even, but they still had the numerical advantage over us. I remember finding a box of tinned meat and coffee, I had won the lottery. We rolled through towns the Americans had seized earlier, I remember seeing the faces on the civilians who had to be tired of all this. I will tell you a funny story, we stopped to make a repair and a civilian came out to tell us to leave. We asked why he was still here and he said he learned not to be on the roads as the Allies shot at everything, he didn't want his home hit. That did keep the roads clear for us at least, unlike in 1940.

We even had to deal with a few civilians who must have been emboldened by knowing the Allies were close by. They shot at our lead groups, and I understand some SS units shot them down without even arrest or trial. That was what the war had become, these are said to be war crimes now, but then it was not. Civilians are never allowed to take up arms. If they do so, then they become spies and a terrorist, what is not fair was when civilians attacked the Allies they were quickly killed but no one says anything about it. I saw American prisoners who were marching to the rear guarded by mere boys, I thought how odd and wondered would they try to escape? We overran many American trucks, and one had smokes so we filled up, putting them anywhere and everywhere. Our commander cursed at the lack of room, but understood the importance of such a find. I saw civilians combing over abandoned items as well, we asked if they knew where any fuel was, and they joked the Allies had plenty. Our weak link was the lack of fuel at this time, and we had to rely on capturing American supplies. We kept going and took part in the fighting around a famous town now, Bastogne. After allowing the civilians out the town was shelled to break the American units, but they held. We had to keep going so we disengaged and moved around the town, but took artillery fire from the defenders. They had no shortage of ammunition and food which we felt.

We overcame small nests of resistance by bazooka teams or anti-tank guns, they caused us losses but we kept advancing, we were ordered to reach the Meuse [River] and take the bridges. Our main goal was getting to the port and taking supplies. If it was not for our lack of fuel we would have made it. We had guns that defeated any Allied tank; we just did not have enough of them or the fuel. We knocked out a cleverly disguised British tank that was waiting in ambush, our commander saw it. We fired before they could do anything. I recall a wild fight happening as we took on a tank unit. We caused them heavy losses and pushed forward, but fuel was scarce, and our supplies were far behind us. The weather cleared I remember and now the planes started after us, we ran out of fuel and that was it. We had to march back to our lines, and with the cold weather we had to shelter in anything we could find. We broke into groups and I was with my crew where we went into a home to get out of the snow. We slept like babies I remember and stayed warm by the fireplace. The wife made us dinner which was very welcomed. A day later we were surprised by Americans who we thought were far away. At first they wanted to shoot us because of the black uniform they saw under the white parkas. Lucky for me a cool-headed officer was with them.

They did steal our medals and roughed me up while marching us to their lines, but at least the war was over. I was sent to England where I can say I received very good treatment. The British saw us as more a curiosity than a hated enemy. The camp I was at did not have the best food, but a boy who lived nearby would always come and bring us bread and other items. The guards were relaxed as the war was clearly in the final days so they did not care. I was held there until 1946 and then allowed to return to Germany. I saw no future there and worked odd jobs until getting the idea of coming to America. So there you have it, now I am here to tell you my life’s journey.