Re: Friendly fire WWII
Hello Brian:
I don't think I've seen the following incident reported before, but it is quite a job to confirm that. It's from a secondary source, but what better place to look for more information than here?
Franz Kurowski's Panzer Aces includes the following in its account of Franz Bake's service. The book dates the incident as taking place early on 13 July 1943 and involved the headquarters staff of the 6th Panzer Division, taking part in the Kursk offensive:
"The headquarters staff of the 6th Panzer Division hurried outside to watch the attack. The Stukas bombed the forward Russian lines, while the following He 111 bombers dropped heavy bombs on the troop concentrations in the rear. At the end of the attack one He 111...dropped its bombs when directly over the headquarters of the 6th Panzer Division. All of the officers and commanders standing the open were either killed or wounded... Total casualties from the disaster were fifteen dead and forty nine wounded.'
There are names of some of the killed, including a Major von Bieberstein, commander of the 114th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.
Hope that's of some use.
Finally, IMHO Panzer Aces is full of absurd stories pitched at 12 year olds - it's not on my recommended list!
Cheers
Don W
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