Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz


Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz was a German Army officer. Strachwitz saw action in World War I, but rose to fame for his command of armoured forces in World War II. For these services he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.
Strachwitz was born in 1893 on his family estate in Silesia. He was educated at various Prussian military academies and served with distinction as a cavalry officer in the opening weeks of World War I. He was captured by the French in October 1914. He was nearly shot as a spy after he was caught wearing civilian clothes, but was later sentenced to forced labour. He attempted to escape several times, but was unsuccessful, and returned to Germany after the war ended in late 1918. In the aftermath of World War I, Strachwitz fought with the Freikorps in the Spartacist uprising of the German Revolution in Berlin, and in the Silesian Uprisings against the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia. In the mid-1920s he took over the family estate, Groß Stein, from his father and became a member of the Nazi Party and the Allgemeine SS. He remained an officer in the reserves, and participated in various military exercises during the 1930s.
At the outbreak of World War II, Strachwitz was appointed as an ordnance officer. He participated in the Invasion of Poland and later in the Battle of France. Transferred to the 16th Panzer Division he fought in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He fought with distinction on the Eastern Front and received awards such as the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, for his actions during the tank battle of Kalach. He was given command of Panzer-Regiment "Großdeutschland" and received the Swords to his Knight's Cross, for his contribution to the counterattack at Kharkov. He then fought in the Battle of Kursk and the German retreat to the Dnieper. While commanding a battle group on the Narva front in early 1944 he was awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross on 15 April. He was wounded 12 times during the war, and was also injured in an automobile accident.
In 1945, he surrendered to US forces and was taken into custody. By the time of his release in June 1947, his youngest son had been killed in action, his wife had been killed in a road accident, and his Silesian estate had been confiscated by Poland. He remained in West Germany, married again and briefly worked for the Syrian Armed Forces as a military consultant. He lived on an estate in Bavaria from 1951 until his death from lung cancer on 25 April 1968. He was buried with military honours in Grabenstätt, Bavaria.

Childhood, education and early career

Strachwitz was born on 30 July 1893 in Groß Stein, in the district of Groß Strehlitz in Silesia, a province in the Kingdom of Prussia. Today it is Kamień Śląski, in Gogolin, Opole Voivodeship, Poland. Strachwitz was the second child of Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz and his wife Aloysia, née Gräfin von Matuschka Freiin von Toppolczan und Spaetgen. He had an older sister, Aloysia, followed by his younger brother Johannes nicknamed "Ceslaus", his sister Elisabeth, his brother Manfred, his brother Mariano, and his youngest sister Margarethe. His family were members of the old Silesian nobility, and held large estates in Upper Silesia, including the family Schloss at Groß Stein. As the first-born son he was the heir to the title Graf Strachwitz, and following family tradition he was christened Hyacinth, after the 12th century saint. Some clothing belonging to the saint were in the family's possession until 1945.
Strachwitz attended the Volksschule and the Gymnasium in Oppeln—present-day Opole. He received further schooling and paramilitary training at the Königlich Preußischen Kadettenkorps in Wahlstatt—present-day Legnickie Pole—before he transferred to the Hauptkadettenanstalt in Berlin-Lichterfelde. Among his closest friends at the cadet academy were Manfred von Richthofen, the World War I flying ace and a fellow Silesian, and Hans von Aulock, brother of the World War II colonel Andreas von Aulock. In August 1912, Cadet Strachwitz was admitted to the élite Gardes du Corps cavalry regiment in Potsdam as a Fähnrich. The Life Guards had been established by Prussian King Frederick the Great in 1740, and were considered the most prestigious posting in the Prussian Army. Their patron was Emperor Wilhelm II, who nominally commanded them. Strachwitz was sent to an officer training course at the Kriegsschule in Hanover in late 1912, where he excelled at various sports. Strachwitz was commissioned as Leutnant on 17 February 1914. At this early stage of his career in Potsdam, Strachwitz began insisting on being addressed as "Herr Graf" rather than "Herr Leutnant", even from higher-ranking officers, which he maintained throughout his career. According to Röll, he always felt prouder of his aristocratic descent than of his military rank. His close friends called him Conté.
Upon his return to the Prussian Main Military Academy from Hanover, Strachwitz was appointed as the sports officer for the Life Guards. He introduced daily gymnastics and weekly endurance running. The Life Guards sports team was selected to participate in the planned 1916 Olympic Games, and this further encouraged his ambition. He participated equestrian, fencing and track and field athletics, which became his prime focus. Strachwitz continued to excel as a sportsman, and with his friend Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, according to Röll Strachwitz was among the best athletes to train for the Olympic Games.

World War I

The outbreak of World War I ended Strachwitz's Olympic ambitions. The Russian Empire ordered a partial mobilization one day later and the German Empire mobilized on 30 July 1914. Strachwitz received his mobilization order while on vacation in Silesia, and returned to his unit in Berlin immediately. His regiment was subordinated to the Guards Cavalry Division and scheduled for deployment in the west.
Shortly after the mobilization, the Life Guards arrived at their assigned position near the Belgian border. Strachwitz and his platoon volunteered for a mounted, long-distance reconnaissance patrol, which would penetrate far behind Belgian lines. His orders were to gather intelligence on rail and communications connections and potentially disturb them, as well as report on the war preparations being made by their opponents. If the situation allowed, he was to destroy railway and telephone connections and to derail trains, causing as much havoc as possible. His patrol ran into many obstacles and they were constantly on the verge of being detected by either British or French forces. Their objective was the Paris–Limoges–Bordeaux train track. Strachwitz dispatched a messenger, who broke through to the German lines and delivered the intelligence they had gathered. The patrol blew up the signal box at the Fontainebleau railway station, and tried to force their way through to presumed German troops at the Marne near Châlons. However, the French forces were too strong and they were unable to get through. After six weeks behind the lines their rations were depleted and they had to resort to stealing or begging. Strachwitz then decided to head for Switzerland, hoping that the French–Swiss border was not as heavily protected. After a brief skirmish with French forces, one of Strachwitz's men was seriously wounded, which forced them to seek medical attention. During many weeks of outdoor living their uniforms had deteriorated, so Strachwitz took that opportunity to buy new clothes for his men. Their progress was slowed by the wounded man, and the group was caught in civilian clothes by French forces.
Strachwitz and his men were questioned by a French captain and accused of being spies and saboteurs. They were taken to the prison at Châlons the next day where they were separated. Strachwitz, as an officer, was placed in solitary confinement. Early in the morning they were all lined up for the firing squad, but a French captain arrived just in time to stop the execution. Strachwitz and his men were then tried before a French military court on 14 October 1914. The court sentenced them all to five years of forced labour on the prison island of Cayenne. At the same time they were deprived of rank, thus losing the status of prisoners of war. Strachwitz was then taken to the prisons at Lyon and Montpellier, and then to the Île de Ré, from where the prison ship would depart for Cayenne. It is unclear what circumstances prevented his departure, but he was imprisoned at Riom and Avignon instead. At Avignon prison he was physically and mentally tortured by both the guards and the other prisoners. This included being chained naked to a wall, deprivation of food and severe beatings. After one year at Avignon he was given a German uniform and taken to the prisoner of war camp at Fort Barraux.
At Barraux he learned that the fighting in the west had turned into a war of attrition and that only on the Eastern Front were German troops still reporting successes. His health improved rapidly and Strachwitz started making escape plans. With other German soldiers he started digging an escape tunnel, which was detected. Strachwitz was again put in solitary confinement. As a deterrence against German U-boat attacks, German prisoners of war were sometimes carried in the cargo holds of French merchant ships. Now classified as "determined to escape", Strachwitz was put in the cargo hold of a ship which commuted between Marseilles or Toulon and Thessaloniki, Greece. Malnourished after four trips without food, he was returned to Barraux. During further solitary confinement he recovered again, and made further escape plans. With a fellow soldier, he climbed over the prison walls, planning to head for neutral Switzerland. However, Strachwitz injured his foot when he fell into barbed wire, and the injury caused blood poisoning. While searching for help, they were picked up by the French police and turned over to a military court. He was then sent to a war prison for officers at Carcassonne where his request for medical attention was ignored. The injury was severe and he became delirious. An inspection by the Swiss medical commission from the International Red Cross resulted in him being transferred to a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, where he awoke after days of unconsciousness.
Strachwitz recovered quickly in Geneva. During his convalescence he was visited by members of various European royal houses and clergymen who stopped by to pay their respects. The doctors told Strachwitz that the French government had requested his extradition back to France once he had fully recovered, to serve his full term of five years of forced labour. Strachwitz then moved into a villa in Luzern where he was visited by his mother and sister. He had a great fear of being returned to France, and together they came up with a plan to avoid his extradition. He would "sit out the war" in a mental asylum in Switzerland. The plan worked, although Strachwitz's mental health genuinely deteriorated in the process. The war ended and Strachwitz was released to return to Germany. For his service during the war while imprisoned by the French he was awarded the Iron Cross Second and First Class.

Interwar period

In the Weimar Republic

After the Armistice in November 1918, Strachwitz was repatriated and returned to a Germany in civil turmoil. He travelled to Berlin via Konstanz, at the Swiss–German border, and Munich. On his journey he saw many former German soldiers whose military discipline had broken down. Unable to tolerate this situation and fearing a Communist revolution, he travelled on to Berlin, arriving at the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof where he was met by a friend. Strachwitz had called ahead asking his friend to bring him his Gardes du Corps uniform, which he put on immediately. Berlin was in a state of revolution. The newly established provisional government under the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Ebert was threatened by the Spartacist uprising of the German Revolution, whose ambition was a Soviet-style proletarian dictatorship. Ebert ordered the former soldiers, organized in Freikorps among them Strachwitz, to attack the workers and put down the uprising.
In early 1919, following the events in Berlin, Strachwitz returned to his home estate, where he found his family palace had been taken over by French officers. Upper Silesia was occupied by British, French and Italian forces, and being governed by an Inter-Allied Committee headed by a French general, Henri Le Rond. The Versailles Treaty at the end of World War I had shifted formerly German territory into neighbouring countries, some of which had not existed at the beginning of the war. In the case of the new Second Polish Republic, the Treaty detached some of territory, which had formerly been part of the German Empire, to recreate the country of Poland, which had disappeared as a result of the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. His father urged him to prepare and educate himself in order to take over the family estate and business. He was put under the guidance of his father's Oberinspektor. At the same time, Strachwitz, fearing that Silesia was being "handed over to the Poles", as he viewed the actions of the Inter-Allied Committee, joined the Oberschlesischer Selbstschutz. Strachwitz collected weapons and recruited volunteers, which was prohibited. He was caught four times and put in prison in Oppeln by the French. His father was also imprisoned for his opposition to the Inter-Allied Committee. Roll states that Strachwitz's distrust for the French, rooted in his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War I, was immense. He believed that only the Italians had played an honest and neutral role in the occupation of Upper Silesia. On 25 July 1919, he married Alexandrine Freiin Saurma-Jeltsch, nicknamed "Alda", and their first child, a son, was born on 4 May 1920.
In 1921, during the Silesian Uprisings, when Poland tried to separate Upper Silesia from the Weimar Republic, Strachwitz served under the Generals Bernhard von Hülsen and Karl Höfer. At the peak of the conflict when the Poles dug in on the Annaberg, a hill near the village of Annaberg—present-day Góra Świętej Anny. The German Freikorps launched the assault in what would become the Battle of Annaberg, which was fought between 21 May and 26 May 1921. Strachwitz and his two battalions outflanked the Polish positions and overran part of them in hand-to-hand combat around midnight on 21 May. Strachwitz was the first German to reach the summit. They captured six field guns, numerous machine guns, rifles and ammunition. On 4 June, the Freikorps attacked Polish positions at Kandrzin—present-day Kędzierzyn—and Slawentzitz—present-day Sławięcice. In this battle Strachwitz and his men captured a Polish artillery battery which they turned against the Poles. For these services he received the Schlesischer Adler medal, Second and First Class with Oak Leaves and Swords. His younger brother Manfred also fought for Silesia, and was severely wounded leading his men at Krizova. Two months later his wife gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Alexandrine Aloysia Maria Elisabeth Therese born on 30 July 1921, nicknamed "Lisalex". The Ministry of the Reichswehr informed him in 1921 that he had been promoted to Oberleutnant, the promotion backdated to 1916. The Strachwitz family grew further when on 22 March 1925 a third child, a son named Hubertus Arthur, nicknamed "Harti", was born on their manor at Schedlitz, later renamed Alt Siedel—present-day Siedlec.
In 1925, Strachwitz and his family moved from their palace in Groß Stein to their manor in Alt Siedel, because of personal differences with his father, who remained in Groß Stein. Between 1924 and 1933 Strachwitz founded two dairy cooperatives which many local farmers joined. In parallel he studied a few semesters of forestry. He used his knowledge to influence the Silesian forest owners to sell their wood to the paper mills. He continued to use his influence in Upper Silesia to modernize forestry and farming. His ambitions were aided by his presidency of the Forstausschuss of Upper Silesia and his membership in the Landwirtschaftskammer. Strachwitz completely took over his father's estate in 1929, first as the General Manager and then as owner, with full responsibility. This made Strachwitz one of the most wealthy land and forest owners in Silesia. Along with the palace in Groß Stein he owned a lime kiln and quarry in Klein Stein—present-day Kamionek—and Groß Stein, a distillery in Groß Stein and Alt Siedel.

National Socialism

Strachwitz applied for membership in the Nazi Party with the Reichsleitung of the NSDAP in Munich in 1931. He was accepted and in 1932 joined the Ortsgruppe of the NSDAP in Breslau with a membership number 1,405,562. On 17 April 1933 he became a member of the Allgemeine SS with the SS membership number 82,857. A series of quick promotions within the SS followed. He progressed to SS-Obersturmführer by the end of 1934 and SS-Sturmbannführer in 1936. In parallel to his SS-career, his military rank in the military reserve force also advanced. He attained the rank of Hauptmann of the Reserves in 1934 and a year later became a Rittmeister of the Reserves.
On 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, came to power and began to rearm Germany. The Heer was increased and modernized with a strong focus on the Panzer force. Personnel were recruited from the cavalry. In October 1935 Panzer-Regiment 2 was created and was subordinated to the 1st Panzer Division, at the time under command of General Maximilian von Weichs. The soldiers of the I. Abteilung came from Saxony and Thuringia, the II. Abteilung was made up from soldiers from Silesia. Strachwitz, who had served as an officer of the reserves in Reiter-Regiment 7 in Breslau, had asked to be transferred to the Panzer force and, in May 1936, participated in his first manoeuvre on the training ground at Ohrdruf, followed by an exercise of live firing on the gunnery training ground at Putlos—today in the administrative district of Oldenburg-Land—near the Baltic Sea. A year later, from July to August 1937, he participated in a second reserve training exercise on the Silesian training grounds at Neuhammer—present-day Świętoszów.
at the Wehrmacht manoeuvre, September 1937
Following a brief vacation in Silesia, Strachwitz returned to the 1st Panzer Division at the training grounds at Königsbrück, near Dresden. During the preparations for the fall manoeuvres the General der Kavallerie von Weichs was dismissed. On 18 September Panzer-Regiment 2 was relocated from Königsbrück to Fürstenberg and then to Neustrelitz. Here, under the watchful eyes of Hitler and Benito Mussolini from the Schmooksberg near Laage, the 1st and 3rd Panzer-Brigade, supported by Kampfgeschwader, practiced a large scale tank attack. The regiment returned to Eisenach on 30 September. Strachwitz returned to his estate but was called back shortly before the Anschluß, the annexation of Austria by Germany, in March 1938.
Strachwitz and Panzer-Regiment 2 were placed on standby from 21 September to 2 October 1938 at the training grounds in Grafenwöhr during the Sudeten Crisis, the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland. On 3 October, the regiment headed for Karlsbad, via Gossengrün and Chodau, where they arrived on 5 October. The regiment was stationed at Saatz and Kaaden in the Sudetenland until 15 October before it returned to Eisenach on 16 October 1938. He was again put on standby in March 1939, when the remaining Czech territories became the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a German satellite. Following this, Panzer-Regiment 2 was sent to Berlin to participate in the Wehrmacht parade held to celebrate Hitler's 50th birthday on 20 April 1939. In July and August 1939, Panzer-Regiment 2 participated in the summer manoeuvres in Jüterbog and Putlos, followed by exercises at Altengrabow. In preparation for the opening stages of World War II, the 1st Panzer Division left their training grounds in Thuringia and Hesse on 21 August 1939 and were transported by train to Silesia between Rosenberg—present day Olesno—and Oppeln, where they arrived on the night of 24/25 August 1939. Strachwitz arrived at his regiment on 26 August where he, as the oldest Reserve officer, was assigned the task of organizing the regiment's battlefield resupply.

World War II

Panzer-Regiment 2, under the command of Oberst Karl Keltsch, as part of the 1st Panzer Division, consisted of four light companies and two medium companies totalling 54 Panzer Is, 62 Panzer IIs, 6 Panzer IIIs, 28 Panzer IVs and 6 command Panzers. The regiment located further east in a forest near Klein-Lassowitz on the eve of 28 August 1939. Fall Weiß, Hitler's directive for the invasion of Poland, became effective and forces of the Wehrmacht invaded Poland without a formal declaration of war on 1 September 1939 which marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. His regiment also crossed the border that day at Grunsruh and reached the river Lisswarthe at noon. They took Klobutzko that evening without much resistance. On 2 September they proceeded on towards Biała Górna, where they suffered their first casualties of the war. They then crossed the Warthe at Gidle and Plauno heading for Radomsko. Suffering further losses, they captured Petrikau on 5 September. The regiment reached Góra Kalwaria at the Vistula via Wolbórz and Zawada on 8 September. Here the regiment was allowed to rest until 10 September. On this day, Keltsch informed him that Strachwitz had been nominated for the Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class for his organizational achievements, which he received on 5 October 1939. Keltsch also announced that the Panzer-Brigade 1 had requested his transfer. Generalmajor Ferdinand Schaal, commander of Panzer-Brigade 1 at the time, welcomed him and made him responsible for organizing the replenishment of the entire brigade. On 3 October 1939, three days before the victory over Poland the 1st Panzer Division was ordered back to their home bases in Germany. They arrived on 12 October 1939. The equipment underwent intensive maintenance and Strachwitz went home to the manor at Alt Siedel for a lengthy vacation. The palace in Groß Stein had been made available to the Wehrmacht and was being used as a field hospital. When Strachwitz returned to his division in late 1939, the 1st Panzer Division had been relocated to the greater Dortmund area with the Stab located in Düsseldorf.

Battle of France

At the end of February 1940 the commanding general of the 1st Panzer Division, Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmidt, was replaced by Generalmajor Friedrich Kirchner. At the time, Strachwitz was sick with meningitis and was hospitalised in early March. While he was on sick leave, the division was relocated to the South Eifel on 3 March. The Stab established the headquarters in the hotel "Union" in Cochem. The division, along with 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions, were subordinated to XIX Armeekorps under the command of General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian. The soldiers were awaiting the order for Fall Gelb, Hitler's directive for the Battle of France. The 1st Panzer Division had orders to cross the border at Wallendorf heading towards Luxemburg, taking the Belgian first line of defence at Martelange and then Neufchâteau. The first main objective was the Meuse River northwest of Sedan. Strachwitz was hospitalised again from 28 April to 9 May 1940, receiving treatment for an injured foot.
Kirchner received the order for Fall Gelb at 13:15, during lunch, on 9 May 1940. The German attack began at 5:35 on the morning of 10 May 1940. The XIX Armeekorps advanced without resistance through Luxemburg and reached the Belgian border at 10:00. The 1st and 2nd Panzer Division reached the line Menufontaine – Fauvillers, the 10th Panzer Division the line Rulles – St. Marie, that evening. The advance breached the second Belgian line of defence at Bouillon and Neufchâteau on 11 May. The German forces, consisting of the 1st and 10th Panzer Division reached the area north of Sedan on the night of 12/13 May. The following day at 8:00 German Ju 87 Stukas and bombers from Luftflotte 3 targeted the French and Belgian forces in what would become the Battle of Sedan. At 15:30 the German artillery began a 30-minute bombardment followed by an aerial attack. German troops began crossing the Meuse at 16:00 in rubber assault boats. The assault company of Kradschützen-Bataillon I under the command of Wend von Wietersheim established the first bridgehead north of Igles and west of Saint-Menges.
By 01:00 on 14 May, a pontoon bridge had been erected over which elements of the 1st Panzer Division began crossing the Meuse into the bridgeheads. General Marcel Têtu, commander of the Allied Tactical Air Forces ordered an air strike against the pontoon bridge. Between 15:00 and 16:00 Allied bombers and fighters attacked the bridge. During this attack, Strachwitz organized the traffic across the bridge and ensured delivery of the anti-aircraft ammunition to help fend off the aerial attack, which inflicted only minor damage and did not stop the German advance. Panzer-Pionierbataillon 37 and Sturm-Pionierbataillon 43 ran into enemy tanks at Chéhéry and Panzer-Brigade I into French tanks at Bulson. More than 70 French tanks were left destroyed on the battlefield. While Kirchner ordered the bulk of 1st Panzer Division to keep heading west, French General Charles Huntziger ordered elements of his IIe Armée to protect the heights of Stonne, south of Sedan. This dissipated his forces and the French resistance was broken near Vendresse.
According to Roll, during the advance in France Strachwitz adopted the thinking that "Tanks must be led from the front!" Even in his role as supply officer he led "from the front", often carrying out "solo runs". During one of these, Strachwitz and his driver stumbled into a French-occupied barracks. Unable to withdraw, he requested to speak to the French commanding officer and convinced him to surrender his unit. Leading the way, Strachwitz drove 600 French soldiers and their vehicles into captivity. The element of surprise was enough to overcome a numerically superior enemy force.
Following these events the 1st Panzer Division continued to push forward, reaching the Channel coast near Calais on 23 May 1940, where they encountered heavy British resistance. The 10th Panzer Division was tasked with taking Calais, while Guderian ordered the 1st Panzer Division to head for Gravelines. Elements of the Panzer-Brigade I, the subordinated Infanterie-Regiment "Großdeutschland" and the Panzeraufklärungsabteilung 4 reached the Aa river south of Gravelines that night, southwest of Dunkirk. Strachwitz again went on one of his solo runs, penetrated the French and British lines and almost reached Dunkirk, where he observed the evacuation of British and allied forces by sea. He quickly reported his observations to his divisional command. The Ia Major im Generalstab Walther Wenck informed him that aerial reconnaissance had made the same observations but the Führerhauptquartier had ordered the Panzers to halt. Three days later Hitler ordered the attack to continue but the opportunity to capture the majority of the Allied forces had been lost. The remaining defenders of Dunkirk continued to hold out until 4 June.
Parts of the 1st Panzer Division were relocated via Arras, Cambrai and Hirson to Rethel on 2 June. The second phase of the Battle of France, Fall Rot, was about to begin and Strachwitz returned to his Panzer-Regiment 2 where he again organized the replenishment of the troops. The 1st Panzer Division flanked on the right by the 2nd Panzer Division and the XXXXI. Armeekorps on the left, was ordered to cross the Aisne River breaching the French defences and head south. The first main objective was the Canal du Rhine au Marne which was roughly away. The French defenders of the Weygand Line, named after Maxime Weygand, had built strong defences, running parallel to the Aisne and Aisne Canal. The German attack began on 5 June with Heeresgruppe B, under the command of Generaloberst Fedor von Bock, attacking between the Channel coast and the Aisne. Heeresgruppe A, under Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt, to which the 1st Panzer Division was subordinated, was held back until 9 June. Strachwitz in the meantime had been awarded the Clasp to the Iron Cross 1st Class on 6 June for his daring "solo runs". The two regiments of the 1st Panzer Division cross the Aisne on the night of 9/10 June 1940. The two regiments advanced quickly to Neuflize and Juniville, where they were engaged in combat with French tanks. The advance proceeded along La Neuveville to Bétheniville and Saint-Hilaire-le-Petit. The military training grounds at Mourmelon-le-Grand was captured on 12 June. The fortress Langres surrendered to Panzer-Regiment 2 on 15 June and Besançon the following day. The final objective was Belfort, which capitulated after a short resistance. This ended the Battle of France for Strachwitz's regiment. Panzer-Regiment 2 was then stationed at Doubs until 3 July 1940, it was then relocated to Saint Denis, north of Paris, from 3–8 July.
On 21 July the regiment was relocated again, this time in the vicinity of Orléans where it was based for four weeks. The regiment was ordered to detach two Panzer companies and the headquarters unit of the I. Abteilung. These units, augmented by other Panzer companies, formed four Schwimm-Panzerabteilungen for Operation Sea Lion, the planned and aborted invasion of the United Kingdom. The remnants of Panzer-Regiment 2 were then transferred to East Prussia, where they were based at Heiligenbeil, present-day Mamonovo.

Balkans campaign

On 2 October 1940, following the Battle of France, Panzer-Regiment 2 was subordinated to the 16th Panzer Division. Strachwitz asked the divisional commander Generalmajor Hans Hube for the command of a Panzer company, and Hube gave Strachwitz the I. Bataillon, a position he held until October 1942. Strachwitz and his men trained on the new Panzer III with 5 cm KwK 38 cannon. He paid special attention to the training and integration of the replacements crews which joined his unit. In December 1940, 16th Panzer Division was declared a Lehrtruppe, a unit to be involved in experimentation with new weapons and tactics. Via Bavaria, Austria and Hungary they were transferred to Romania, with Strachwitz's I. Battalion stationed at Mediaș.
The division was tasked with the protection of the oil fields at Ploiești, which were vital to the German war effort. They trained some Romanian officers in German Panzer tactics. Apart from training and maintaining their equipment, the soldiers had nothing to do and became bored. In March 1941 Strachwitz was sent back to Cosel in Germany where a new replacement unit was to be founded. He returned via his home town and 24 hours later a telegram from Hube called him back. This was preceded by a series of events in Belgrade. On 25 March 1941, the government of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia had signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the war. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović. As a result, Hitler chose not only to support Mussolini's ambitions in Albania and in the Greco-Italian War but also to attack Yugoslavia. For this purpose the mobilized forces of Panzergruppe I under the command of Generaloberst Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist were ordered to attack Belgrade in what would become the Invasion of Yugoslavia.
Strachwitz's I. Battalion received the order to prepare for the attack on 6 April 1941 at 09:00. His orders were to break through with the Infanterie-Regiment "Großdeutschland" to Belgrade via Werschetz—present-day Vršac. His right flank was protected by the SS-Division "Das Reich" and his left flank by the 11th Panzer Division. The attack was preceded by a heavy artillery barrage and the Germans crossed the border at 10:30. The defences were quickly taken and the German troops reached the Werschetz where they were greeted by cheering inhabitants and a band. Their next objective was the River Danube. They reached the Danube at Pančevo only to find the bridge there destroyed. At Pančevo Strachwitz's unit linked up with the 11th Panzer Division, and he encountered his oldest son, Hyacinth, who was serving with that formation. Strachwitz started confiscating boats and barges in an attempt to cross the Danube. This work had begun when Strachwitz received the order to halt all activities. His unit was ordered to retreat to Timișoara. On 16 April, Hube announced that the 16th Panzer Division would no longer be needed in the campaign and were ordered to regroup at Plovdiv. In early May 1941 Oberstleutnant Rudolf Sieckenius was given command of Panzer-Regiment 2, succeeding Oberst Hero Breusing. The entire 16th Panzer Division was ordered back to their home bases in Germany, with Panzer-Regiment 2 ordered to Ratibor—present-day Racibórz—where their equipment was overhauled. Strachwitz was awarded the Coroana României on 9 June 1941.
In mid-June 1941, the division received new orders to relocate. The 16th Panzer Division crossed the German–Polish border at Groß Wartenberg heading for Ożarów at the Vistula, which was reached on 19 June 1941. The German soldiers initially believed that they were just going to transit through Russia, on their way to the Middle East where they would link up with Erwin Rommel's Afrika Corps. But Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Reichenau, who visited his son, a Leutnant in the 4th company of Panzer-Regiment 2, revealed to them the true objective of the next campaign. It would be Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

War against the Soviet Union

The German offensive against the Soviet Union began early on 22 June 1941 with an artillery barrage. The 16th Panzer Division was subordinated to Heeresgruppe Süd under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Von Rundstedt. The goal, together with the 6. Armee and 17. Armee as well as Panzergruppe I, was to follow the pincers of both armies, heading for Kiev and rolling up the Soviet flanks in the process, and finally encircling them at the Dnieper River. The main objective was to conquer the economically important Donets Basin as well as the oil field in the Caucasus.
German army reconnaissance aircraft spotted the first Soviet formations in the vicinity of the 16th Panzer Division on the morning of 26 June. By this date the division had already progressed beyond the German-Soviet demarcation line and had suffered numerous losses due to mechanical failures caused by the dusty roads. Panzer-Regiment 2 was ordered to engage the Soviet T-26 tanks which were supported by strong infantry units. In the resulting battle Strachwitz was wounded in his left arm, but he remained with his unit. The heavy counter-attack was repulsed and the bridgehead over the Bug River, held by the division's motorcycle battalion, was secured. The logistics system could not keep up and his regiment was not resupplied until 28 June. His unit first encountered the T-34 and a few KV-1 and KV-2 tanks the following day. These tanks had stronger armour and outgunned his Panzer III tanks. Only with the support of the 8.8 cm Flak artillery, deployed in an anti tank role, were they able to repulse the Soviet forces.
During the Battle of Uman Strachwitz received a head injury on 29 July and was hit again by shrapnel in the arm the next day. He received first aid in the field and stayed with his men. The injured arm became infected and he had to receive medical attention in a field hospital on 10 August. He released himself again on 12 August returning to the regiment which had been led by Oberleutnant von Kleist during his absence.
Strachwitz, advancing his Panzer III ahead of his troops, engaged a Soviet supply convoy, destroying a large number of soft-skinned vehicles and several artillery batteries. Strachwitz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his part in this action on 25 August 1941. The presentation was made by Hube in the field on 5 September.
Following the Battle of Uman Panzer-Regiment 2 was given a rest. On 8 September the attack resumed and the regiment crossed the Dnjepr on the night of 11/12 September. Together with the I. battalion of Schützen-Regiment 79 they started their attacked on Lubny and ambushed and destroyed a Soviet supply convoy. The attack on Lubny ended on 14 September. The Kiev pocket was sealed when panzers of the 3. Panzer-Division linked up with Panzer-Regiment 2 on 15 September 1941. The spearhead of Panzergruppe 2, under Guderian and Panzergruppe 1, under Von Kleist had captured 50 Soviet Divisions. Panzer-Regiment 2 was then dispatched to prevent Soviet troops from escaping the pocket. For Panzer-Regiment 2 the battle of Kiev continued until 4 October 1941.

Towards Stalingrad

Strachwitz was promoted to Oberstleutnant of the Reserves on 1 January 1942. He had left the Eastern Front at the end of November 1941, returning home to receive treatment for the numerous injuries he had sustained over the year. From 1 December 1941 – 9 January 1942 he stayed at hospitals in Oppeln and Breslau. He then went on an extended leave, staying in Groß Stein and Alt Siedel, before returning to the Eastern Front in mid-March 1942. He received the 1939 version of the Wound Badge in Silver on 17 March 1942.
Throughout the summer of 1942 Strachwitz led his tanks in the advance to the Don River and across it to Stalingrad. At Kalach on the Don his regiment claimed the destruction of more than 270 Soviet tanks within 48 hours. His unit was the first to reach the Volga River north of Stalingrad on 23 August 1942. According to Williamson, it was during this campaign that Strachwitz gained the nickname der Panzergraf. By late August, the 16th Panzer Division was assigned to General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus' 6. Armee, and Strachwitz had been promoted to command the entire Panzer-Regiment 2. During one engagement on the northern flank of the Kessel, his unit claimed to have destroyed 105 T-34s.
Strachwitz and his driver, Feldwebel Haase, were severely wounded on 13 October 1942, requiring immediate treatment in a field hospital. A direct hit on their command Panzer caused severe burns. Strachwitz had to hand over command of his I./Panzer-Regiment 2 to Hauptmann Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven. He then had to be flown out and was treated at a hospital at Breslau until 10 November 1942. He received further treatment at the Charité in Berlin from 11–18 November 1942. During this stay he received news that he had been awarded the 144th Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He was ordered to the Führerhauptquartier in December 1942 for the presentation of the Oak Leaves by Hitler himself. He then went to Bad Gastein for a period of convalescence before spending his vacation at home in Alt Siedel. Strachwitz was promoted to Oberst of the Reserves on 1 January 1943. He then learned that Hube had been ordered to the Führerhauptquartier for the presentation of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Strachwitz took the opportunity and reported to Hube, volunteering for service in the Stalingrad pocket. Hube rejected this request, stating that Strachwitz would be better deployed somewhere else.

Großdeutschland Panzer-Regiment

At the end of January 1943 Strachwitz was ordered to the Führerhauptquartier. Talking to General Rudolf Schmundt and Kurt Zeitzler, the Chief of Staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres, he was tasked with the creation of the Panzerregiment "Großdeutschland". The regiment was subordinated to the Infantrie-Division "Großdeutschland" then under the command of Generalmajor Walter Hörnlein. He led the regiment when it took part in the Third Battle of Kharkov, fighting alongside SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser's II SS Panzer Corps. Strachwitz was awarded the Wound Badge in Gold on 16 February 1943 and on 28 March 1943 the Swords to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He received the latter for his leadership at Kharkov and Belgorod. He received the award together with Georg-Wilhelm Postel who had been awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
On 5 July 1943, the first day of Operation Citadel, the German code name for the Battle of Kursk, in the Großdeutschland area of operations, the Panther battalion got bogged down in the mud near Beresowyj and failed to support the Füsiliers attack. Nipe indicates that often Oberst Karl Decker and Oberstleutnant Meinrad von Lauchert have been made responsible for this failure. However, Nipe argues "that it can safely be assumed that Strachwitz was present; thus, any responsibility regarding actions of Großdeutschlands Panzers belongs to the Panzer Count." Following the battle, Decker wrote a letter to Guderian complaining about the unnecessary losses incurred by the Großdeutschland division. In this letter Decker stated that how Strachwitz led his tanks on the first day of Kursk was "idiotic". Strachwitz was wounded again on 10 July. His battle group had been ordered into combat by Hörnlein. The objective was to capture Hill 258.4, about west of Werchopenje. The battle group encountered roughly 30 Soviet tanks on evening of 9 July. An attack proved unfeasible due to the settling darkness. During these events he received news that his son, Hyacinth, had been severely wounded. At dusk on 10 July he ordered the attack on the Soviet tanks. The first T-34s had been destroyed and Strachwitz was directing the attack from his command Panzer and had ordered his gunner to hold fire. Strachwitz was carelessly resting his left arm on the gun-breech. The gunner, without orders, fired the gun, causing the recoiling gun to smash his left arm. Strachwitz was immediately evacuated to a field hospital. Strachwitz's arm was put in a cast and against medical advice he returned to his regiment. When Hörnlein learned of this he gave Strachwitz a direct order to return to the field hospital.
In November 1943, Strachwitz left the "Großdeutschland" on grounds of ill-health, ostensibly due to his injuries. Röll speculates, however, that tension between him and the division's commander, Hörnlein, may have been the true reason for Strachwitz's departure. Otto Carius stated that:

"Gossip mongers maintained that the Großdeutschland Panzer-Regiment was taken away from Strachwitz because he had too many losses. I had justifiable doubts concerning this claim. Graf Strachwitz and his staff were always employed at hot spots on the front, where they had to carry out extremely pressing operations, for which every form of support was provided to them. Painful losses couldn't always be avoided during those types of operations. But it was through these losses that the lives of many soldiers from other units were saved."

Battle for the Narva Bridgehead

The severe injury to Strachwitz's left arm forced him to retire from the front line. After a stay in the hospital at Breslau and a period of convalescence at home he received a teleprinter message commanding him as "Höheren Panzerführer" to the Army Group North. Strachwitz reported to the commander-in-chief of the 18th Army, Generaloberst Georg Lindemann, who was tasked with the leadership of Army Group North.
On 26 March 1944, the Strachwitz Battle Group consisting of the German 170th, 11th, and 227th Infantry Divisions and tanks, attacked the flanks of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps south of the Tallinn railway, supported by an air strike. The tanks led the attack and the East Prussian grenadiers followed, penetrating the fortified positions of the Soviet rifle corps. By the end of the day, the Soviet 72nd and parts of the 109th Rifle Corps in the Westsack of the bridgehead were encircled. The rest of the Soviet rifle corps retreated, shooting the local civilians who had been used for carrying ammunition and supplies from the rear.
As Strachwitz had predicted, the rifle corps counterattacked on the following day. It was repelled by the 23rd East Prussian Grenadier Regiment which inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets. Two small groups of tanks broke through the lines of the rifle corps on 28 March in several places, splitting the bridgehead in two. Fierce air combat followed, with 41 German dive bombers shot down. The west half of the bridgehead was destroyed by 31 March, with an estimated 6,000 Soviet casualties.
The Ostsack of the Krivasoo bridgehead, defended by the Soviet 6th and the 117th Rifle Corps, were confused by the Strachwitz Battle Group's diversionary attack on 6 April. The attack deceived the Soviet forces into thinking that the German attack intended to cut them out from the west flank. The actual assault came directly at the 59th Army and started with a heavy bombardment. The positions of the 59th Army were attacked by dive bombers and the forest there was set afire. At the same time, the 61st Infantry Division and the Strachwitz tank squadron pierced deep into the 59th Army's defences, splitting the two rifle corps apart and forcing them to retreat to their fortifications. Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Govorov was outraged by the news, sending in the freshly re-deployed 8th Army. Their attempt to cut off the Tiger I tanks was repelled by Lieutenant Günther Famula, who received a posthumous Knight's Cross for these actions, keeping their supply lines open. On 7 April, Govorov ordered his troops to switch on to the defensive. The 59th Army, having lost another 5,700 troops from all causes, was withdrawn from the bridgehead. For these successes Strachwitz received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds on 15 April 1944. News of the award had reached his headquarters on the early morning of 15 April via teleprinter message. The official presentation was made a few weeks later by Hitler.
The advance brought the Strachwitz Battle Group hope of destroying the entire bridgehead. However, the spring thaw meant that the tanks were impossible to use. The 8th Army repelled the German attack, which lasted from 19–24 April 1944. The Germans lost 2,235 troops, dead and captured, in the offensive, while the total of German casualties in April, from all causes, was 13,274. Soviet casualties in April are unknown, but are estimated by Mart Laar to be at least 30,000 men from all causes. The losses exhausted the strengths of both sides. The front subsequently stagnated with the exception of artillery, air, and sniper activity and clashes between reconnaissance platoons for the next several months.

Final battles

Strachwitz led an ad-hoc formation in Operation Doppelkopf as part of Dietrich von Saucken's XXXIX Panzer Corps counter-offensive following the major Soviet final stages of advance in Operation Bagration. Von Saucken's goal was to relieve the encircled forces in the Courland Pocket. Strachwitz's attack on 18 August 1944 was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment from the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen; forces inside the pocket attacked to link up with Strachwitz's force. His troops reached the 16. Armee at Tukums by midday.
This previous paragraph is inconsistent with the factual events, although the fog of war surrounds the circumstances of Graf von Strachwitz's formation which was known as Panzer verbande Strachwitz the following facts are clear. The formation consisted of PZ Brigade 101, Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Martin Gross and was led by Graf Strachwitz and his Panther and Grenadier force between 15 August and 23 August. Their mission as the far northern arm of operation Doppelkopf was to clear a land line between German Army forces located in the Kurland Peninsula and isolated by two Soviet Divisions. The salient was some thirty miles wide existing from west of Tuckum east to the western side of Riga. Soviet forces had seized Tuckum and up to the Baltic coastline after clearing German forces from Mitau and Schaulen 26 July through 31 July. Although vastly smaller than the other Panzer forces of Doppelkopf, which were division sized the Strachwitz force was limited to some 80 armored vehicles. It would be the only successful force of the offensive however through the bold and daring field leadership Strachwitz displayed. This attack is launched on 19 August and is supported by the formations own attached artillery west of Biksti, the multi-stage operation takes Tuckum 20 August where that attack has naval artillery fir support from 2nd Baltic Task Force. and North west of Riga is marked.
During a visit to a division command post on 24 August 1944 Strachwitz was badly injured in an automobile accident. The vehicle rolled over and the other occupants were killed. He sustained a fractured skull, and broken ribs, legs, arms and hands, and he was in critical condition. He was immediately taken to a field hospital, before being transferred to a hospital at Riga. He was then flown to Breslau in a Junkers Ju 52 for further treatment, where he was visited by his son, Harti. The doctors informed him that it would take him eight months to recover fully. Refusing to accept this, he worked out his own rehabilitation plan, and after seven days, Strachwitz signed himself out of the hospital, officially having himself transferred to the hospital at Oppeln. On the drive back he lost consciousness at almost every turn, arriving at his manor in Alt Siedel on 28 November 1944. Here he convalesced until 23 December 1944.
The Red Army started the Vistula–Oder Offensive on 12 January 1945. The attack began with an intense bombardment by the guns of the 1st Ukrainian Front against elements of Army Group A, initially under the command of Generaloberst Josef Harpe. Within a matter of days the Soviet forces involved had advanced hundreds of kilometres, taking much of Poland and striking deep within the borders of the Reich. The offensive broke Army Group A, and much of Germany's remaining capacity for military resistance. The Soviet forces crossed the Silesian border on 19 January and Harpe was relieved of his command and replaced by Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner on 20 January. Schörner established his headquarters at Oppeln. Here Strachwitz, on crutches, went to see Schörner, requesting a front command to defend his homeland. Schörner declined the offer and Strachwitz insisted on another assignment. Bending to the request, Schörner initially kept him in his staff where Strachwitz conceived the plan of creating a specialized Panzerjagdbrigade. The 3rd Guards Tank Army conquered Groß Strehlitz on 23 January 1945. The following day Groß Stein fell into the hands of the advancing Red Army and Strachwitz's palace and entire estate were confiscated. Schörner yielded to the demands of Strachwitz, and authorized the creation of the Panzerjägerbrigade. These brigades were not mechanized units but rather infantry soldiers deploying hand-held weapons such as the Panzerfaust. On 30 January 1945, he was promoted to Generalleutnant of the Reserves and organized his staff of the Panzerjäger-Brigade Oberschlesien at Bad Kudova—present-day Kudowa-Zdrój in Kłodzko Land.
His staff searched for volunteers in the Unteroffiziersschulen and supplementary units. They were able to bring together roughly 8,000 volunteers, mostly from the threatened territories of Pomerania, East Prussia and Silesia. Strachwitz's tactics quickly made news within the Wehrmacht, and even Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Commander-in-Chief, West as of 11 March 1945, expressed an interest. Strachwitz subsequently had one of his officers transferred to Kesselring's staff.
Following a visit of the commander of the Panzerjagdverbände of Army Group Vistula, Oberst Ernst-Wilhelm Freiherr Gedult von Jungenfeld, all of the Panzerjagdverbände were to be centralized under Strachwitz' command. In April the Panzerjagdeinheiten of Army Group Centre were all put under his command, this included Panzerjagdverbände A, B and C, the Heeres-Panzerjagdbrigaden 1 and 3, two Volkssturm-Panzerjagdbrigaden and the Panzerjäger-Brigade Niederschlesien and Free Ukrainians. Strachwitz deployed his men in small combat groups, sometimes operating behind Allied lines, which lured Soviet tanks into traps and attacked them with Panzerfausts. Combat reached its peak in April 1945, and some of his men were credited with more than ten enemy tanks destroyed each. The German front line of Army Group Centre at the time was in mid-Silesia along the Zobten, and via Schweidnitz and Jauer to Lauban. The main Soviet thrust was towards Berlin and Dresden, threatening the German troops in Silesia with encirclement. Strachwitz and his men fought under the command of Schörner until the German capitulation on 8 May 1945.
In the aftermath, Strachwitz led his men in a successful breakout from their encirclement in Czechoslovakia to the U.S.-held region of Bavaria, where they surrendered to U.S. Army forces near Felgen. Strachwitz was taken to the prisoner of war camp at Allendorf near Marburg, where he was interned together with Franz Halder, Guderian and Adolf Galland.

Involvement with the German resistance

In 1969, Peter Hoffmann, a Canadian historian of German descent, published a book with the title "Widerstand, Staatsstreich, Attentat — Der Kampf der Opposition gegen Hitler" . This work lists Strachwitz as being part of the German military resistance to Nazism. With Generals Hubert Lanz, Hans Speidel, and he is shown as being associated with "Plan Lanz", as testified by General der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz. According to Lanz, the plan was to arrest or kill Hitler in early February 1943 during Hitler's scheduled visit to Armeeabteilung Lanz. In his account, Strachwitz's role was to surround Hitler and his escorts shortly after Hitler's arrival with his tanks. Lanz stated that he would have then arrested Hitler, and in the event of resistance, Strachwitz's tanks would have shot and killed the entire delegation. Hitler cancelled the visit and the plan was dropped. Author Röll casts doubt on this account citing that Strachwitz's cousin, Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, who attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1943, had recounted that Strachwitz had expressed the belief to him several times that killing Hitler would have constituted murder. Röll concludes that Strachwitz was too much a Prussian officer to consider assassinating Hitler.

After World War II and final years

Strachwitz was released by the Allies in June 1947. He had lost his wife, his youngest son and his estate during the war. Alda had been killed on 6 January 1946 in a traffic accident with a US military truck in Velden an der Vils. Strachwitz, still a US prisoner of war in camp Allendorf near Marburg, was denied permission to attend the funeral. Harti, who had lost a leg, was killed in action shortly before the end of the war on 25 March 1945 near Holstein. Strachwitz married again on 30 July 1947 in Holzhausen. With his new wife Nora, née von Stumm, he had four children, two daughters and two sons, born between 1951 and 1960.
He and his wife accepted the invitation of Husni al-Za'im to move to Syria to work as an agricultural and military advisor to the Syrian Armed Forces. This he did from January to June 1949, a period during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in which Syria fought. Strachwitz, bragging about his military successes in the Soviet Union, had a very difficult time with the Syrian officers, and his agricultural suggestions were ignored as well. When Adib Shishakli seized power, Strachwitz and his wife left Syria. In the meantime, they had received a visa for Argentina, where they hoped to find another advisory position. Via Lebanon, they arrived in Livorno, Italy, where they changed their plans and ran a winery. They returned to Germany in 1951 with a Red Cross passport. Strachwitz settled on an estate in Winkl near Grabenstätt in Bavaria and founded the "Oberschlesisches Hilfswerk" supporting fellow Silesians in need.
Strachwitz lived out his final years quietly and died on 25 April 1968 of lung cancer in hospital in Trostberg. Der Panzergraf was laid to rest in the village cemetery of Grabenstätt, beside his first wife. The Bundeswehr provided an honour guard as a mark of respect. Heinz-Georg Lemm delivered the eulogy.

Career summary

Awards

Strachwitz is often credited with the German Cross in Gold awarded on 29 May 1943, this however was awarded to his son, also named Hyacinth, who received this award as Oberleutnant in the 4./Panzer-Regiment 15.

Promotions

Citations