Can Anyone identify this RK Holder?

[Doug Nash]

Merkel

I think that in this case, however, Merkel was acting in a tactical capacity, as a commander of a Kampfgruppe or something like that. Perhaps he was up front to help coordinate the evacuation of the wounded soldiers (2,000 men) who were trapped in Kovel. However, I have to disagree with you about having the Doctor up front as being the best way to treat the wounded - that was the job of the Sanitaeter, who administered first aid and then arranged evacuation to the Feld-Lazarett or Verbandsplatz, where a Doctor like Schulz-Merkel would perform any operation that was needed without having to worry about getting his head shot off. A Doctor is too valuable to routinely place in the front line, as it would be too risky. The tank regiment or battalion would have a Doctor assigned to the staff, but normally, according to the German standard operating procedures, he would be placed in the Tross area close to the rear. Being directly up front with the command group of a Panzer Battalion or Regimental-sized Kampfgruppe (like KGr Hoffmann) would be very hazardous, unless he had a very special reason to be there.
Regards,
Doug Nash

[Johnny R]

German doctors were very often in the frontline. That´s were they are of best help to the wounded.

Yes, I have a named tunic for a doctor awarded the IAB and another for a DKIS awarded for treating and retreiving wounded under fire.

[Doug Nash]

Doctors in Combat

Of course, doctors could and did get up to the front lines - if the situation required it, but this was the exception that proves the rule. But what I mean to say is that it was not normal operating procedure to do so. Should the doctor get killed or wounded, you simply could not order up another one, because trained and experienced doctors were very scarce, now as then. In the case of Schulz-Merkel, he recieved his RK for serving as a tank battalion commander, which is definitely not one of a Stabarzt's normal duties!
Cheers,
Doug

[LRRPS]

Another medical officer with the RK:

Oberstarzt Dr. Heinrich Neumann received his RK in 1941, Kreta. Took command when all other officers where disabled, and captured his units assigned target.

[Doug Nash]

Stabsarzt

Exactly - that proves my point. When he did that, he did not do it in the capacity of a surgeon, but as the senior surviving officer. It is expected, if your'e a paratrooper, to take charge and continue the mission in those kinds of situations.

Whenever we jumped at Ft. Bragg or elsewhere, the battalion surgeon always jumped with us - he had to, it was part of his duty. When you are involved in an airborne operation, which is what Operation Mercury was, a doctor doesn't get a choice as to where he lands - if you're airborne, everywhere is a battlefield. But it's hard to operate when bullets are flying.
In the medical corps, you have several levels of treatment - in the front line, it's the medic or Sanitaeter. Then, if you are able to be moved, you get carried on a stretcher or walk to the evacuation point (Truppenverbandsplatz) immediately behind the lines, there they try to stabilize you for further evacuation. If you can't be helped there, you are evacuated to the Field Dressing Station (Verbandsplatz) at Regiment or Brigade, where they treat your wound or if they are able or patch you up enough, they send you further back to the Main Dressing Station (Hauptverbandsplatz) or to the field hospital (Feld-Lazarett). The first place where you were likely to encounter a real doctor would be the Truppenverbandplatz. If the Doctor is hanging around with the battalion commander, he's not where he should be, unless the battalion commander is killed and there's no one else who can take charge.
German Medical Personnel were given military training and were considered combatants, and officers partook of some of the same kind of tactical training their infantry or artillery brothers did. So at least, should the situation require, they could and did act appropriately.

[Gran Sasso]

Some more fotos to confirm it is Dr. Schluz-Merkel:

[Gran Sasso]

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[Gran Sasso]

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