"On the 17.01.1943, Zehnder's Bataillon was holding a dominant rock
position in front of Tuapse in the West Caucasus, one which the Soviets
had been attacking continuously for two weeks. At this time the
Bataillon was reinforced by a company of Turkish soldiers, who did not
speak much German but were nonetheless competent shooters. On this day
the MG of a German squad was knocked out. Zehnder grabbed an intact MG
and ran to the beleaguered squad under intense hostile fire, an action
which likely saved the men involved.
Later on, in the afternoon, Zehnder found himself in the leftmost
position of his sector with only one other rifleman and a Turk. Below
the position, he suddenly spotted an advancing Soviet assault group of
forty to fifty men. With the Turk giving covering fire, Zehnder and his
fellow soldier stormed down the ridge and overran the Soviet soldiers. This independent and decisive action thus led to the prevention of a
Soviet penetration in this particular sector, and Zehnder was recognized
for it with the award of the Knight's Cross." from his Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross on March 7th, 1943 as Oberjäger of 1./Gebirgsjager-Regiment 13.
Another bold enemy elite,
Brian & Mel
Where did those Turkish soldiers vome from ???
ReplyDeleteTurkish to soldiers in Russia ???
ReplyDeleteTurkish volunteers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkestan_Legion
Delete