Battle for Merkendorf

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Battle for Merkendorf
date April 18-20, 1945
place Merkendorf (Middle Franconia)
output Withdrawal of the German troops
consequences Merkendorf is occupied by the US Army
Parties to the conflict

German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire

United States 48United States United States

Commander

Willy Baumgärtel

Charles B. McClelland

losses

between 11 and 80 dead

between 2 and 70 dead

The battle for Merkendorf was a military conflict between units of the US Army and the Waffen SS towards the end of the Second World War over the town of Merkendorf in Middle Franconia . 96 people died in the three-day fighting from April 18-20, 1945, which ended when the Americans took Merkendorf. Many buildings, some of them historical, were destroyed.

prehistory

From March 26, 1945, the 7th US Army began to cross the Rhine near Worms . The associations included the 101st Cavalry Group (mechanized) of the National Guard under the command of Colonel Charles B. McClelland. It was equipped with reconnaissance tanks and a few tank destroyers and took on reconnaissance and security tasks on the flanks of the 7th Army. Here she got caught in smaller ambushes by German troops who tried to delay the advance of the Allies. "Troop A" the 101st was involved in fighting on April 18, 1945 in Wolframs-Eschenbach , while "Troop C" bypassed this place and advanced on Merkendorf.

Weakened units of the German Armed Forces withdrew further and further south in front of the advancing American tank units, also via Reichsstrasse 13 , on which Merkendorf was located. The Army Group B decided to defend Merkendorf. The place was declared a "fortress". The SS combat group "Bataillon Deggingen" under the command of SS-Sturmbannführer Willy Baumgärtel, subordinated to Army Group B, was assigned to the region from Deggingen in Württemberg . Merkendorf was the only community in the wider area that should be defended.

On April 14, some women from Merkendorf protested unsuccessfully against the city's defense. On April 16, defensive structures were built in Merkendorf, including an anti-tank barrier . On the afternoon of April 17th, district leader Gerstner visited the defenses. 150 women and children protested again against the planned defense, but also without success. American troops crossed Reichsstrasse 14 near Ansbach . In Remember Strand Town Hall German officers held a briefing. Destroyed parts of the army of the 2nd Mountain Division withdrew from Ansbach on Reichsstraße 13 and on the Wolframs-Eschenbach – Windsbach state road . Demolition squads destroyed all major bridges on their retreat towards Gunzenhausen , such as the one in Ornbau .

course

At noon on April 18, 1945, American observation planes appeared over Merkendorf. American troops advanced in the direction of Wolframs-Eschenbach-Merkendorf. The Volkssturm , which was supposed to build further defenses around the city, was ordered back from the nearby Mönchswald . For the next few hours the townspeople sought shelter in cellars and makeshift shelters in gardens. The German troops took up positions in and around the place. American tanks advancing on the hill near Gerbersdorf were shot at with machine guns . These returned fire. The town church of Our Lady and other buildings caught fire.

The battle front ran in the northeast to the old town . US tanks bombarded the city. To prevent further shelling, a resident walked towards the enemy with a white cloth and reached the cessation of fire. The Americans occupied Merkendorf with 40 to 50 tanks and armored cars . It burned in 28 places in the city.

The combat battalion "Deggingen" withdrew into the woods about 2.5 kilometers from Merkendorf. The commander of the SS troops decreed that two combat groups had to penetrate Merkendorf during the night from April 18 to 19 in order to destroy the American tanks.

At around 3 a.m. on April 19, a combat group worked its way to the lower gate and the pocket gate and destroyed six American tanks and one armored car in a street fight that was heavy with losses. Another association moved into the suburbs from the south and southeast . Several tanks were destroyed in a fierce battle. In the meantime, the 1st Company of the SS Association advanced to the market square . Heavy fighting broke out again at the lower gate. Due to the ultimate military superiority of the Americans, the SS combat troops withdrew to the Mönchswald again. The American occupation commander issued a curfew for the urban population for the evening. The American associations also withdrew from the city. The night of April 19-20 was quiet.

On the morning of April 20, German soldiers again came into the city and tried to stop the Americans. Many residents fled to the surrounding villages in a panic. When the Americans advanced on the morning of April 21, there were no longer any German soldiers in town. They had the barricade in the upper gate cleared away and finally occupied Merkendorf.

consequences

After the collapse of the front near Merkendorf, the combat group "Deggingen" was ordered to the Gunzenhausen – Cronheim - Wassertrüdingen railway line to take up positions there.

A total of 96 people were killed in the fighting around Merkendorf, of whom 12 were civilians, 70 American soldiers and 14 soldiers from the Waffen SS. The civilians and soldiers killed were buried in the Merkendorf cemetery . A planned relocation of the soldiers to the Nagelberg military cemetery near Treuchtlingen was not carried out at the request of the City of Merkendorf.

Both in the old town and in the suburbs, numerous buildings were completely destroyed or badly damaged during the fighting. A total of 39 buildings burned down, four were badly damaged and 23 slightly damaged.

Number of dead

  1. ↑ The number and composition of those killed is controversial. The documentation of the 101st Cavalry gives on page 37 80 dead SS soldiers with only two killed US soldiers, while Stephen G. Fritz on page 178 in "Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, And The Death Of The Third Reich" on German reports refers, the eleven dead, 24 wounded and 29 missing among the attacking Waffen SS soldiers indicate that the Americans lost two dead and four missing after Fritz. Koch names a total of 96 dead in War and Peace - Merkendorf 1944–1949 .

literature

  • August Schuler: War at home: Battle for Merkendorf / Mfr. Destruction and rebuilding. Experiences u. Memories e. Involved. Emmy Riedel Verlag, Gunzenhausen 1952.
  • Wilhelm Koch and Heinrich Helmreich: Merkendorf - historic small town in the Franconian Lake District. Published by Stadt Merkendorf 1988, pp. 73–82.
  • Wilhelm Koch: War and Peace - Merkendorf 1944–1949. Publisher City of Merkendorf. Merkendorf 2006.
  • 101st United States Army Cavalry Group: Wingfoot - Official History - IOIST CAVALRY GROUP (MECHANIZED) , August 1945.
  • Stephen G. Fritz: Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, And The Death Of The Third Reich. , 2004, University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 978-0-8131-2325-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

Note: Individual references at the end of a chapter prove its entire content.

  1. ^ Koch: War and Peace - Merkendorf 1944–1949. P. 65 f.
  2. ^ Koch, Helmreich: Merkendorf - historical small town in the Franconian Lake District. P. 80.
  3. ^ The last offensive (p. 321) at ibiblio.org, accessed November 16, 2013
  4. ↑ Louis DiMarco: 101st Cavalry on louisdimarco.com, accessed April 3, 2013
  5. ↑ 1-101cav.tripod.com: "WITH THE 101st CAVALRY IN WORLD WAR II", viewed at 1-101cav.tripod.com, accessed April 4, 2013
  6. ^ Koch, Helmreich: Merkendorf - historical small town in the Franconian Lake District. P. 74 f.
  7. ^ Koch, Helmreich: Merkendorf - historical small town in the Franconian Lake District. P. 76 f.
  8. ^ Koch, Helmreich: Merkendorf - historical small town in the Franconian Lake District. P. 78 f.
  9. ↑ Willy Sommer ( Memento from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on weltkriegsopfer.de, accessed on November 16, 2013
  10. ^ Koch, Helmreich: Merkendorf - historical small town in the Franconian Lake District. P. 79 f.
  11. ↑ Schuler: War in the home: Battle for Merkendorf / Mfr. Destruction and rebuilding. Experiences u. Memories e. Involved. Emmy Riedel Verlag, Gunzenhausen 1952