Most know the famous surrender of German Lieutenant General Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke at the Battle for Brest in France. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brest was largely surrounded and infiltrated by partisan guerillas who succeeded in killing one of Ramcke's junior officers in the seat next to him as they drove through an ambush. Commanding about 35,000 German troops Ramcke led the defense of Brest from 11 August until 19 September. Ramcke refused early requests to surrender and followed orders to hold out as long as possible. On the final day of battle, it was only after escaping a strafing attack during a personal reconnoiter of the area, and the entry of American forces into the bunker, that General der Fallschirmtruppe Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke surrendered, on the same day as he was awarded the Swords (99th Recipient) & Diamonds (20th recipient) to the Knights Cross.
The man responsible for taking Ramcke prisoner was one of America's highest decorated soldier, Brigadier General Charles D.W. Canham. For his actions on Omaha Beach, and the fighting to take Saint Lô, he received the United States' second highest award for valor in combat, the Distinguished Service Cross.
Soon afterwards Canham was promoted to Brigadier General and was named as the Assistant Division Commander of the 8th Infantry Division. It was in this capacity during the surrender of the German garrison at the Port of Brest that Canham unknowingly gave the 8th Infantry Division its motto. Upon entering the headquarters of Lieutenant General Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, a famed leader of German paratroops, Ramcke demanded to know the lower ranking Canham's credentials as a condition of surrender. Unruffled, Canham pointed to the dirty and tired American soldiers he had brought with him to witness the surrender and said,................................."These are my credentials."
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The account of this event, which was reported in the New York Times, saw in this spontaneous statement of a combat leader the greatest tribute ever paid to the real power of the American Army,.....the individual soldier.
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By the end of World War II, Canham had earned every award for valor less the Medal of Honor from the United States. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by General Bernard L. Montgomery of the British Army and several awards for valor from France.
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The little known surrender of Ramcke's Sword as his final concession of defeat and surrender...
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General Canham physically accepted Ramcke's Damascus Imperial Sword as his final formal personal gesture of surrender and that of his 35,000 troops.
Is that a Wonderful Story or what..??!
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That Sword was given to his grandson, my friend John Canham. We feel it was time to tell this story, get some feedback and maybe some additional stories surrounding this piece of history. We will show images of it as we become more comfortable with doing so.. who knows...we may possibly allow a collector or one of Ramcke's relatives to acquire it from us.
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We will be shooting images of it after the thanksgiving holiday. You can see it's "twin sister" listed as:
“Grosse Degen” Imperial Sword (KWEP 1-2-A) on this page:http://www.germaniainternational.com/kweapons.html. It is virtually identical.
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We would love to talk to people that know more about this story...and would especially like to speak to some of General Ramcke's relatives.
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We would hope that some blade weapons experts or collectors can talk to us about our swords value...both from its standard physical value to the value that comes from an item with such a "provenance" and historical significance that this sword has.
Looking forward to hearing from many people. Thanks for taking the time and reading "my story"...!
Al Clark
alclark@usa.com
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