Shaun Winkler and I had the incredible honour today of meeting Lt. Ernst Sachse who served with the Fallschirmjäger II. and III. Btls of LL-Sturm Regiment. He lives in South Africa and will be 97 year on the 3rd May.
He has a very clear sharp mind with a great sense of homour. Shaun and I spent 2 hours with him enjoying a coffee followed by a good German liqueur, which he insisted had to be finished before he would show us his photos and awards.
Here below is some of the detail of our discussion together with photos. Shaun, I am not the FJ specialist, so please add or correct any of the detail as you see fit.
Lt. Sachse first joined the 68th Inf Div at the start of the war. Shortly afterwards he joined the Fallschirmjäger LL- Sturm Regiment. He spent time in the II. Btl. 8. Kompanie under Oblt Reinhardt with whom he was good friends and who also survived the war. Later as he was promoted, he was transferred to the 12. Kompanie under Oblt Gansewig who was killed in Crete. He was also good friends with Oblt Gansewig and described him as a “good chappy”.
Lt. Sachse was involved in an accident when his parashoot went into s spiral during a jump and broke bones in both his legs. As a result he did not participate in Crete.
After that he was deployed with his Battalion to the Neva River near Leningrad to break the encirclement of the 1st Inf. Div. He says this was about the 22 to 24th September 1941. On day 4 of this battle he was wounded when he took a few bullets and was then evacuated to a hospital near his home. He explains that this battle was so intense that at the end of day 4, the only officer standing was the Battalion doctor who then took command and they battled to get a Battalion together in the Regiment which would normally have 4 Battalions.
After his recovery, he was posted to Smolensk. He explained how they held the line with 1 man for every 100 meters and on one particular night the Russians crept up on them in dense fog. He anticipated the attack and instructed his men to hold of shooting until he gave the command, which he did when they were within “hand grenade throwing distance”. He added, that looking back he is mostly surprised at the blind faith his men had in him.
At some point in time he was again wounded and after recovery he was deployed to the German High Command in Berlin. He did not enjoy the administration job and asked for a transfer back to the front line. He was then given the job of establishing new units in France and it was at this time that the Normandy invasion happened. During battle he was again wounded when he took a splinter in his leg and “the American tanks chasing him were a bit faster than he could run with a splinter in his leg”.
He was then taken prisoner and was shipped off to England. In the POW Camp he met up with a Submariner and a Nachtjager. The 3 of them planned an escape, however, someone in the camp leaked their plans to the camp authorities and the 3 were immediately shipped off to the USA where he ended in a POW camp near Mexico. He was later shipped to a POW camp about 150kms from Washington. During this time his family assumed he was MIA.
An incredible once in a lifetime encounter with a very unassuming man, living a quiet life in an old age home where no one knows what he has experienced in life.
Shaun and I could not believe what had just experienced.
André
He has a very clear sharp mind with a great sense of homour. Shaun and I spent 2 hours with him enjoying a coffee followed by a good German liqueur, which he insisted had to be finished before he would show us his photos and awards.
Here below is some of the detail of our discussion together with photos. Shaun, I am not the FJ specialist, so please add or correct any of the detail as you see fit.
Lt. Sachse first joined the 68th Inf Div at the start of the war. Shortly afterwards he joined the Fallschirmjäger LL- Sturm Regiment. He spent time in the II. Btl. 8. Kompanie under Oblt Reinhardt with whom he was good friends and who also survived the war. Later as he was promoted, he was transferred to the 12. Kompanie under Oblt Gansewig who was killed in Crete. He was also good friends with Oblt Gansewig and described him as a “good chappy”.
Lt. Sachse was involved in an accident when his parashoot went into s spiral during a jump and broke bones in both his legs. As a result he did not participate in Crete.
After that he was deployed with his Battalion to the Neva River near Leningrad to break the encirclement of the 1st Inf. Div. He says this was about the 22 to 24th September 1941. On day 4 of this battle he was wounded when he took a few bullets and was then evacuated to a hospital near his home. He explains that this battle was so intense that at the end of day 4, the only officer standing was the Battalion doctor who then took command and they battled to get a Battalion together in the Regiment which would normally have 4 Battalions.
After his recovery, he was posted to Smolensk. He explained how they held the line with 1 man for every 100 meters and on one particular night the Russians crept up on them in dense fog. He anticipated the attack and instructed his men to hold of shooting until he gave the command, which he did when they were within “hand grenade throwing distance”. He added, that looking back he is mostly surprised at the blind faith his men had in him.
At some point in time he was again wounded and after recovery he was deployed to the German High Command in Berlin. He did not enjoy the administration job and asked for a transfer back to the front line. He was then given the job of establishing new units in France and it was at this time that the Normandy invasion happened. During battle he was again wounded when he took a splinter in his leg and “the American tanks chasing him were a bit faster than he could run with a splinter in his leg”.
He was then taken prisoner and was shipped off to England. In the POW Camp he met up with a Submariner and a Nachtjager. The 3 of them planned an escape, however, someone in the camp leaked their plans to the camp authorities and the 3 were immediately shipped off to the USA where he ended in a POW camp near Mexico. He was later shipped to a POW camp about 150kms from Washington. During this time his family assumed he was MIA.
An incredible once in a lifetime encounter with a very unassuming man, living a quiet life in an old age home where no one knows what he has experienced in life.
Shaun and I could not believe what had just experienced.
André
Comment