Hello, dear friends, today we will familiarize
ourselves with the diary of a German tank crew member. The text shows perfectly the character of
the author and his attitude to the war. Joachim Scholl was a commander of a Panzer
VI "Tiger" tank with the number "232" in the 2nd Company of the 102 SS Panzer Battalion
"Das Reich". While he was not as famous as some other tank
commanders, he managed to destroy 76 enemy tanks. Remember to rate this video, and here we go. Kursk. Operation "Citadel". This is the moment he decided to start his
diary. July 10, 1943. It is my first fight on a Tiger tank. All night I was reading and re-reading the
instructions for the Combat operation of this fighting vehicle. Looking back at the past training period,
I replayed in my mind various situations. I feel very nervous. I do not remember such a strong concentration
of forces on both sides since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. Anyway, no need to torture myself, it will
happen, and I have to do my best in this battle. There was nothing special about my first battle
on the Tiger. Everything was normal. We were under fire for a few minutes, but
the shelling was disorganized. Several projectiles hit the armor of my Tiger. It was not good news for me... We moved forward about eight kilometers. The advance was badly slowed down by minefields
and bothering enemy planes. Usha scored two victories, but I will nevertheless
gain my hundred marks, that we, me, Gert and Usha, had bet upon who would have the greatest
combat score by war's end. It will be a new day tomorrow. July 11 and 12. Yes, I got my first victory. Okay, it was only a tractor pulling an artillery
gun, but it's still a destroyed weapon. My gunner, Karl, shot about thirty rounds
at it. Heaven only knows where he was trained to
take aim...! Usha scored three more hits. Borov was way ahead of me. I guess he got a much better gunner. I heard that we lost four Tigers in the minefields
today. I've become very wary of moving forward. I am planning to pull back a bit and wait
while Ulrich examines the advance route carefully. July 15. What a day! I think we knocked out five tanks today. In fact, I'm not sure exactly, because there
was so much dust and so many tanks around! It was hard to detect even a target. One moment in the battle, I almost ordered
to open fire on our StuG. It seemed to me that it was the Russian one. I do know for sure that I destroyed a Russian
self-propelled gun, as it was only fifty meters in front of me. Its pieces flew even to my Tiger and banged
on the armor. I mean, this is insane. During training, we were told that we were
supposed to hit targets at long distances. It never had crossed my mind that they meant
THOSE distances. I think we also destroyed several of the enemy's
anti-tank guns, as all of us, including Gert, Karl, and me, were shelling their positions
with high-explosive shells. July 16. It was another day in hell. The Communists gave us hell on the field of
battle. We destroyed a unit of enemy infantry attempting
to outflank our grenadiers. We could hear even inside the Tiger our grenadiers
cheerfully shouting each time another of our shells fell right into the middle of the Russians. With such backing, we felt great. Although I have to say that it was not a pleasure
to watch body pieces flying all over the place. Our loader, Bertie, vomited twice straight
into the empty shell storage cells. He's gonna clean it up himself... Another night has come, I'm trying to sleep. I doubt I'm gonna make it. I cannot get a good night's sleep for three
days. July 19th. This fight isn't going well for us. I heard rumors that the Russian troops are
here much larger than expected. I also heard that the Army tank battalions
of Tiger tanks engaged in fighting far ahead are already suffering heavy losses. It's disturbing and frightening.... Our position is nearly overwhelmed by Russian
troops. We requested artillery and air support as
we were running low on high-explosive shells. We managed to push about two thousand Russians
into a ravine by crossfire. We had already reloaded our machine-gun belts
three times, and three times replenished our stock of high-explosive shells. I had never witnessed so much blood before. Bert leaned down and yelled in my ear until
he figured out the reason for my condition. It was a day I'll never forget. July 20. We had an anti-tank shell hit our side armor
today. It broke the protective visor over the track. What we thought it was the end and that our
track was torn up. But our driver, Robert, said that the Tiger
was still running and handling well. In the meantime Usha dispatched two shells
one by one at the position of the anti-tank guns, and destroyed both of them. We have not yet moved into Prokhorovka. The Communists hold very strong defenses there. I don't believe we are going to take that
settlement. We destroy the enemy's assault guns in large
numbers. Usha said that we wouldn't count them in our
bet. This made me upset and angry, since I am already
ten victories behind him in this case. July 21. It's nine o'clock in the morning - Can you
imagine it? Our terror-causing tank ... has broken down. Robert believes it's a transmission problem. We're waiting to be evacuated to a repair
shop. I hope we don't have to change to a Panzer
3 or anything like that while we wait for our tank to be fixed. 11:00 a.m. - We are getting towed to the repair shop
by a Tiger tank from the 503rd Battalion. The crew has known us for quite some time. Their commander was killed recently, so I
leave them alone with their thoughts. 2:00 p.m. - We arrived at the repair shops. There are 8 Tigers in line for repairs from
different units. Some of them had numerous projectile damage
marks on their armor, so I thought we were still the lucky ones. I approached Johann Föhn. He had recently graduated and married a Chinese
woman he met during his studies in Berlin. Right now, he's just a silly 20-year-old kid. I have no intention of getting married until
the war is over. The repairmen said we had to wait about three
days for them to get our tank in order. So, we reported to Headquarters, and asked
for a little rest. I need to rest; I see those mutilated bodies
in the ravine to this day. July 23. Something happened to us. We were driving back to our unit. The road took us through a small village. Robert spotted one of the policemen kicking
an old Russian man. He jumped out of the vehicle and ran the policeman
to the ground. The policeman's fellow came over, and Robert
was taken away, probably for charging. Oh, great, I was left without a driver, because
these policemen are trying to extend their influence everywhere and anywhere. I went up to the second policeman and said
that if they wouldn't return Robert to me, I would take them to the front line and show
them that ravine with the mutilated bodies. In return the policeman shrugged his shoulders
and said he had seen things worse. Where can these policemen see worse things
if they have never even been on the front line? But I refused to argue, and Robert was released
by our commander. July 24. Robert came back again having some pretty
noticeable scratches on his face. He'd probably gotten a kick out of the policemen. They let him go without permission to leave
the location of his unit. Where is he supposed to go? I mean, how can he possibly leave the location
of his unit? I made a complaint alleging that Robert suffered
physical injuries that seriously impede his ability to do his job. Our tank still hasn't been repaired. The chief engineer said it will take two more
days to repair. I am very upset, Usha during this time has
made more in the number of victories. July 25. Finally, our tank is repaired. The mechanics worked all night, because the
strongest special order came: " To return all tanks to the front urgently". Generally, the things are going quite badly. On our way back we got an order to tow another
damaged "Tiger" for repair. Excellent, it turned out to be Usha's tank! Now I have a great chance to overtake him
in terms of results. We made jokes on our way to the repair shops,
sometimes he was angry about the mess that was going on at the front. He said that no one knows the whereabouts
of neighboring units, and the Russians are pressing in like a solid brown wall. In his words, the Russians are completely
ignoring their losses. Sadly, our forces are pretty beaten up, too. He also mentioned that there were only three
tanks left in the second Company. July 27. I didn't hit any targets today. We have been shooting all day, but because
of the thick dust clouds and smoke, I have no idea what we have hit there, or if we have
hit anything at all. I am very tired, and the crew is pretty tired,
too. Robert has twice almost fallen asleep on the
move. Karl said we wiped out a couple of guns, one
T-34 and a lot of Infantry. I can't confirm any of that, though. But I'll make these victories known anyway,
as I'm still in this contest for 200 marks. July 28. Today we were ordered to withdraw and regroup. It was the first time since the beginning
of Operation Citadel that I had seen the whole company in full formation. We lost a few tanks, most of them due to technical
problems, but some were destroyed in minefields. Young Gert was badly wounded and was sent
to Berlin. Usha said that Gert's right arm would be cut
off and the bet would now remain just between the two of us. I said that Usha had won that bet, and we
would have a new one when Gert came back. In fact, I didn't have such a great need for
a hundred marks yet. We are heading back to the city of Belgorod. We met a group of infantrymen on our way. They seemed tired and sad. I felt sorry for them, so I asked them to
climb up on the armor. They settled down behind the turret. Robert talked all the way until Karl and I
grew impatient and told him to shut up. As an officer, I wasn't supposed to do that. I hadn't lost control of myself, but after
this month of fighting I would never be the same anymore. Battles for Kharkov and Bobruisk. Kharkov. August 21, 1943. We retreated and fought for two days. There was some damage to our tank, but it
was nothing serious that would affect its operational capability. Karl is becoming a great gunner. He is still not so confident with targets
at long ranges, but today he hit a T-34 at a distance of 1,800 meters. He makes me very proud of him. He destroyed four tanks today before their
crews had a chance to figure out who was firing at them. This is our best day so far! I suppose our bet with Usha is not going to
be finalized that fast. I currently have 18 confirmed destroyed enemy
tanks behind me. In addition, over 50 guns and other equipment,
and a lot of Russian soldiers. Usha says he already has 30 destroyed Russian
tanks behind him, but I know he is cunning, and claims destroyed guns as destroyed tanks. August 22. Today we got two hits in frontal armor. One of them hit the observation device of
our driver. I don't want to imagine what Robert felt. Glad that my position in the battle is not
right next to him. We feel much more confident now, because none
of those T-34s are able to hit through our frontal armor. Three guns were destroyed by Karl today, as
well as several loaded trucks. We already got a nickname: "Truck Specialists." So, what can I do? Where can I find a few normal tanks if they
have been out of sight for a long time? I cannot find the right words to say about
my commander, who sent us far ahead as part of a platoon. August 23. I wiped out my last entry in my diary. Today our tank was assigned as leader because
our previous leader, young Föhn's Tiger, got stuck in a ravine. Idiot! Our Tiger has already been hit at least ten
times today. And each hit was followed by a loud metallic
sound. One of the shells made a hole in the ammunition
box. We destroyed two T-34s, a gun and... five
more trucks. I hinted to the commander that I wasn't keen
on being the leading tank. He laughed and told me to take it easy. And I do worry. August 24. That idiot, Föhn, pushed his Tiger into the
mud so that the gun buried itself in the ground almost half its length. The mechanics managed to get everything of
value off the tank before the crew destroyed it. It's unforgivable carelessness and waste,
in a time when we so badly need all of the tanks we have. My Tiger is under repair again. There's a small problem with the fuel system. It shouldn't take long. I had a talk with a guy from a new battalion
equipped with Panther tanks. He mentioned that their tanks were no worse
than the Tigers, as long as they were running. I laughed at that and laughed until he said
that he had destroyed about a hundred Russian tanks. Bertie and Usha said he must be lying, and
that they had only heard of Karius and Knispel from the Army Battalions fighting on Panthers,
getting any closer to that number of victories. August 25. There was a big battle today. We lost several medium tanks. There were no Tigers lost. I was again the rear of the platoon. I couldn't hit many tanks from this position,
but I didn't have any hits either, except the machine gun and rifle hits. When the Tiger was on the move, I couldn't
even hear those hits, but I could definitely see the tracers approaching us from all sides. After a couple of our shots, the shelling
ceased. I guess the Russians are afraid of the Tigers:
everyone we see on our way is running away wherever they can. The leading Tigers have already destroyed
a large number of T-34s and guns. Usha even shot up a couple of those new KV-1
box-like tanks. It was easy, he said, because they are so
tall, they are visible from several kilometers away. August 27. We broke down again, problems with the transmission
again. The engine also runs somehow abnormal, Robert
says there's dirt accumulated in the carburetor. I am not very good with these things; I have
no inclination for mechanics. We were towed back towards Kharkov, back to
the location of the repair base. We were going to have some beers tonight. I can't wait anymore. August 28. I failed to drink beer.... We were given a new Tiger and sent back to
the front lines. The Russians made a massive attack on our
positions. They kept up artillery fire on us for several
hours. I do not like artillery bombardment, as I
have no means of doing anything about it. Our artillery fired in return. I hope they hit the Soviet artillery positions. We were waiting in a small wood along with
Thomas and Paul. Thomas had just recently joined us at the
front, and Paul had already hit one KV-1. Usha was right, the KV-1 is an easy target. While Paul reloaded, we hit the KV-1 too. We also destroyed two guns and our, now routine,
norm of trucks..... August 29. Today we had to retreat. The impression is that the Russians have an
endless number of soldiers and tanks, and they are running into us one wave after another. There were at least several hundred T-34s
and KV-1s on the battlefield. I was pretty scared. It was the first time I felt like I was done
here. I would not like to be left for dead in Russia. Karl kept firing until we ran out of shells. After that, we had nothing to do but turn
around and pull back to our infantry positions. We saw a group of infantrymen coming toward
us to cover us from the advancing Russians. After this episode, I had the respect and
gratefulness for these men. August 30. We talked with Usha and Paul for a long time
today about yesterday's events. They believe we need more Tigers. I agreed. Paul said that the idea is good as long as
the Russians don't have a tank that is equally strong. I made up my mind that this diary would never
leave my breast pocket. Usha was given the Panzer Assault Badge and
we were all honored with war merit crosses. I am very proud about that. Bobruisk. October 3, 1943. It was another big battle. I was sick of being on the defensive. Though it's easier to destroy the enemy in
defense. Bertie camouflaged our Tiger. The frost is severe today. I have three coats on, and I am almost hardly
scribbling these lines, as my fingers are not bending at all. October 5. We are still in ambush, and the fallen snow
makes us almost invisible. We have heard that tomorrow there will be
a battle, as our reconnaissance men have found a concentration of Russian troops to the east
of us. I cannot realize how these Russians can even
think of fighting in such weather. October 6. It seems that the reconnaissance men were
right. The cowardly Russians made an attempt to attack
us this morning. Our camouflage did a great job. We killed them with machine guns before they
realized what was going on. I think they assumed that they were just machine
gun crews, because their T-34s kept coming at us without slowing down until Paul and
I threw off our camouflage and pulled our Tigers towards them. We managed to get three of them down when
they finally realized the situation and started to retreat. We pursued them to the end of the hill, and
left them to our infantry. We were still keeping up a fire on them, but
they were falling back on the reverse with as much speed as they had been advancing a
few minutes before. We chased up the retreating Russian infantry,
which was not so fast, and moved through their lines. There was already a considerable amount of
frozen blood on the track guards. October 8. We had the superiority today. The Russian Cossacks were advancing on us
today. The overheating of the barrels of our machine
guns was extreme. Usha commented that the barrel of our hull-mounted
machine gun was as red as the Communist flag. The day after we returned, we changed the
barrels of all our machine guns. Bertie was displeased that he had to go outside
all the time and fix the camouflage in the cold. I made it clear to him that he was the youngest
among us, he had the lowest rank, and furthermore, it was his direct duty. We pushed him outside and, after five minutes
of his moaning, we went out to help him. We were wrong to do that. I heated up for an hour afterward. October 9. Our tank was totally frozen today. We used a flame-thrower to melt the ice and
mud that blocked the tracks. Ulrich snatched a portable heater from the
Luftwaffe communications station. I suppose they were not very happy about it,
but the heater fit very nicely in our ammunition box. We changed the barrels on the machine guns,
and together with Paul we destroyed a Russian artillery battery. This was such an easy thing to do, we just
climbed to the top of the hill, and fired on it from there. It was wonderful to see the guns that had
been bothering us blown to pieces. What I especially enjoyed was the second explosion
when their shells detonated. October 10. Paul and I were given orders to annihilate
several more Russian artillery batteries. Three armored personnel carriers with infantry
were sent from the division to help us. A Luftwaffe reconnaissance officer reported
that he had found two batteries of rocket mortars 10 kilometers away from us on top
of a hill. With ease we destroyed the rocket launchers,
which exploded into fireballs. For fun, Usha aimed at a concentration of
trucks that, I think, were carrying the rockets. A powerful explosion destroyed and crushed
everything in and near the trucks. It melted the snow around the Russian positions
for a considerable distance. The infantry, assisted by us, finished the
crushing of the Russians. October 11. We were totally frozen. At night the temperature fell below twenty
degrees Celsius. The fuel is frozen in the engine, and the
tracks are completely icy. In addition, a blizzard came through just
now. I don't think the Russians will launch an
attack today. I think I want to go to Africa. October 12. We're still frozen. The snow is so deep that it is quite a problem
in moving around. We were attacked by Cossacks today but we
beat off their attack. It is rumored that we will be moved near Kiev. There are large heaters around the tank in
an attempt to thaw it out. October 16. Ulrich got frostbite. It looks terrible. The medics treated his wounds hastily, but
his left arm is still inoperable. Still in that condition, though, he can handle
a radio and a machine gun. Finally, our Tiger was unfrozen, and we wiped
out another artillery battery that the Russians had set up behind the farm. It was easy: the Russians made such noise
with their truck engines that they never even heard us coming. Only three shells and one machine-gun belt
were enough to destroy them. The infantry captured a dozen prisoners. Some of them were almost children. This led to the thought that if the Russians
started using children, the state of their forces was not so good. October 24. The fighting in our area has subsided, so
we are being moved to help the forces near Kiev. I feel bad for the mechanics who have to change
tank tracks in the cold. I was seriously afraid of being left without
tracks if the shelling starts now. I don't even want to think about it. November 3, 1943. We engaged in battle on the way from the arrival
station. The Russians advanced pretty far. We regained control, but the situation is
still serious. We launched our attack at night. I like the local nights, in contrast to the
local frost. The snow gives us easy target recognition. We opened fire straight at a concentration
of Russian infantry. I hope none of them were kids like the ones
we saw among the prisoners at Bobruisk. November 5. It was another day of severe fighting. We had a mission for fourteen hours with no
break. The Russians won't let us through that easily. I destroyed two more KV-1s and one gun. Karl got them at long distance. He is becoming more and more skillful, taking
aim at long range. It seems we have some problem with the turret
pivot mechanism. I am quickly detecting the targets, but by
the time our turret is turning around, the target is either gone or has already been
destroyed by someone else in our Company. Robert believes it's the grease that's frozen. November 6. Today we find ourselves in the midst of the
battle. The Russians are coming at us from all over. We got about ten hits on various parts of
the Tiger. I hate that metallic sound when a shell hits
the armor. We had a good fight. We destroyed three T-34s and lots of guns
and trucks. We came across a crowd of Russian infantrymen. By the time we opened fire on them, they almost
wiped us out. All around us, it was chaos! I accept congratulations from the commander
and Usha, although they destroyed more tanks today than I did. I realized that the second bet was not a good
idea. November 9. I am very proud today. I was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for
the battles I fought a few days ago. Usha and Paul, both gave me congratulations. All of us are being assigned to form our own
Battalion. We are to be called the one hundred and second
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion "Das Reich". Good, with our new Tigers we have to return
to Moscow to join the battle. On November 11th, his Tiger was hit during
the fighting on the outskirts of Kiev. The crew left the tank. The Russian infantry opened fire: Bertie and
Ulrich were not wounded, Joachim was shot in the right leg, Karl was wounded in the
shoulder, and Robert was tragically killed at once. They made it to their troops, and were sent
to Berlin for treatment, and they spent Christmas in the hospital. After treatment they were sent to Italy where
the new One Hundred and Second SS Heavy Panzer Battalion "Das Reich" was being formed. A period of reorganization in Italy and military
service in France before the Allied landings in Normandy. Italy. January 3, 1944. It has come to our attention that the African
Corps has surrendered. I am not glad about that at all. Things are getting very bad. The pain I have in my right leg is almost
gone, something that can't be said for my heart. Our new driver is arriving today with the
rest of the battalion. There are so many young men in the arriving
reinforcements. It worries me that if we are so much dependent
on young recruits already, it means that our losses at the front are very high indeed. It should be noted that the Hitler Youth are
great fighters, so it's not all bad. This is such a boring place. The Italian soldiers like our tank, many of
them take pictures in front of it. I do not enjoy taking pictures. This place is still very boring, the nearest
town is 20 kilometers away, but we are not allowed to go there. In any case, it is better somewhere else than
on the cold Eastern Front. January 4. Today I got to know our new driver. His name is Helmut. He was assigned to us from the Totenkopf Division
and he is older in age than I am. He has been fighting in Russia, and seems
to be a great guy who knows perfectly how the Tiger operates. I am very pleased as many others got timid
young kids. I was assigned to the 2nd Company of our new
Battalion. We were given a new Tiger and assigned the
number "two hundred and thirty-two". It had a zimmerit coating over the entire
hull (this is for mine countermeasures) and camouflage coloring. I liked it. Usha wandered around and showed off that he
had painted rings of destroyed targets on the gun of his Tiger. He began to tease me and said that I shouldn't
worry about it, because it was necessary to draw only rings according to the number of
destroyed tanks, and I, as we know, am a truck specialist, not a tank guy. I decided to draw rings of destroyed targets
too. That's about 27 tanks in all. But I decided to draw a truck with the number
100 inside to provoke Usha. We made another bet with him before going
to France. January 6, 1944. We are ready to be sent to France. There we would practice and train to repel
a possible American and British landing in France. Usha said he had a conversation with a Panzer
4 loader who had served in the African Corps. The man told him that American and British
tanks can be very easy to destroy, especially those called Shermans. He said they burst into flames from the first
hit. The African Corps soldiers call them "Tommy
cookers" because the crews never practically have time to leave the tank when it catches
fire. I prepared myself to face them in the future. Usha said that American and British tanks
can't break through any point in the Tiger's armor at all. It looks like we will have a good time with
them. January 10. We are taken by rail to France. That's great! It is almost like, being at home in Berlin,
I went on a holiday somewhere. This is a nice comfortable passenger train. They feed us very well, and we have plenty
of time to catch a good night's sleep. I won one hundred- and fifty-marks playing
cards. I feel great, it's the first time since our
first bet that I've beaten him to win his money. Even if it was just playing cards. The spirit of our battalion is very high,
I feel just fine. My leg pain is finally gone. We smuggled a lot of wine onto the train,
which we bought from an Italian farmer. Tonight, we intend to get drunk. It is still two days' way to France. January 11. Oh, what a headache. This Italian wine is so mild, but you lose
control of yourself completely after two bottles. Take my advice, don't drink on the train. Now I have a noise and a ringing in my head.... We are already in Germany. The landscape is different. There are craters and bomb damage all around
the Ruhr. Paul says the Americans are bombarding us
continuously. I must not forget to talk to a Luftwaffe liaison
officer about it. I had a nice talk with our new commander,
his name is Thomas. He is young but ambitious. He goes with our platoon. I think his Tiger will be on my left flank. It seems to me that I can trust him. France. January 13, 1944. So, here we are in France. Four years had passed since I had been here
for the last time. Over that time I've changed from a small box-like
Panzer 2 to a Tiger tank. I wish I had a Tiger back then, 4 years ago. I gambled my money away playing cards that
night. Note to self, you never play cards with Usha
again if you've already beaten him once. Also, destroy as many tanks as possible so
you don't see that nasty grin on his face and earn the moniker "Truck Killer". January 16. The tank is ready. We are off to do maneuvers in cooperation
with the local Infantry Regiment. It would be a great experience for them to
engage in combat alongside our Tigers. We were warned that we should have a good
tank guard organized, as there are quite a few partisans around. They call themselves a resistance movement
and can be quite dangerous. I am finding that hard to believe. I think that if they are so capable of resisting,
why didn't they do it 4 years ago. If things were as they told us, we would not
be enjoying the French wine now. January 17. The military training went pretty well. We would have performed even better if Thomas
hadn't chosen the wrong direction, and almost got stuck in the mud. I would not like to be in his shoes now. There was a rumor that we may be sent to the
Eastern Front again. That's not good news at all. There are too many bad memories I have with
the Eastern Front. We decided to name our new Tiger "Freda",
in honor of the mother of the fallen Robert. We agreed it was a good name. I miss Robert. We better be careful. I heard there's a homosexual in First Company. I don't want to give him any idea that I'm
one of them, since I don't have a significant other. I must find a sweetheart as soon as possible. January 19. I have a birthday! We had a few shots that night celebrating
my 30th birthday. My crew presented me with a new diary with
the rune "Das Reich" on the cover. I am very impressed with it; it has a black
leather cover and it fits in my breast pocket. Usha presented me with a model of the truck..... Hog! That guy's really got a nerve! I also got new gloves (I hope it's not for
sending me to Russia) and a new pencil set. The birthday celebration went much better
this year than last year. My morale is still great, despite rumors of
an upcoming transfer to Russia. January 21. We moved on our tank to some small farm. The British fighters and bombers in the sky
are getting to be a common thing. Today we saw a Messerschmitt in the sky. It was the first plane we had seen since the
day we arrived in France. I am beginning to lose sight of what the Luftwaffe
even looks like! January 23. We're still performing our maneuvers in the
rain. I hate this. It means Bertie is going to clean the tank
when we get back. He still moans if I order him to do something
like that. But now his moaning is much quieter. I have already had some nightmares about my
days on the Eastern Front. Each one showed torn bodies and dead soldiers. Tomorrow I'll discuss it with the physician. May 23, 1944. We trained today. My Tiger was repaired, and I was glad to settle
into my seat after a four-week break. We are on the march again. There's speculation and rumors of an Allied
invasion at Calais are going strong still. I hope this is true, as the expectation and
inactivity has begun to weigh me down. I've had enough of training with wooden targets. Another reinforcement has headed for the Eastern
Front. I saw them. They are very young, but they are eager to
fight. June 1, 1944. We're on the move again. The commanders believe we should expect the
Allies to come in this week. I don't think so, the weather's terrible. For three days now, it's been raining like
hell and the wind's getting worse. The good news is that the rain has washed
our tank. Bertie's got a cold. They've put him in quarantine. This week is terribly boring. The latest replenishment seems to me to be
a little too eager to fight. I think they will be killed in the first battles. We were ordered to paint over our rings of
destroyed targets that we had put on the barrel of the gun at one time. They explained it was for camouflage purposes. That's absurd. But an order is an order, so I sent Bertie
to paint over the rings. June 4. Today we pushed closer to the town of Calais. I hate redeployment on the railroad, as our
tank needs to have its tracks changed and the outer row of rollers removed. The mechanics stacked the removed rollers
on the back of the hull. Something I am not very happy to take up there
also these 2-ton tracks! We were eager to face these British and American
tanks, about which the Italians said that they were quite weak. I can't wait to add more points to my score. I have twenty-seven tanks destroyed by now. I don't expect I'll be able to beat Walter
or Usha, because they have better gunners than my Karl. But I am about to give it a good shot for
that. June 6. The sneaky Allies have landed in Normandy. That's a far away from us. We are still waiting for the order to be sent
to the front. The more rapid divisions are already there. The lucky ones... The Allies intensified their aviation operations
and we had to shelter our Tigers in the woods. Two tanks from the last reinforcements we've
already lost. They were not fast enough to get to cover. They had too much wine last night, and now
they've fallen into an eternal sleep. We all ask ourselves the same question: why
are we sitting here instead of heading for Normandy. I can't wait any longer. June 9. Finally, we're on our way to Normandy. Those bloodthirsty Allied planes are wiping
out our lines. We lost another 4 tanks. From now on, we will only advance at night. Our grenadiers are on the front lines. We have to reach there tomorrow night, if
things go well and none of us dies from enemy planes. June 10. Finally we reached the front. Our first mission in months. Karl missed his target and let two Churchill
tanks go, what an idiot! After all, one was hit, as well as two small
armored personnel carriers. That's good to return to active combat operations,
otherwise we've been too relaxed. We lost another tank as a result of an airstrike. Our ammunition supply trucks are stuck somewhere
and are not showing up, so our advance goes much slower than we had hoped for. June 14. We sit in the woods ambushed. The intended march near the British troops
has not yet begun. At least we have full ammunition. I heard Usha destroyed six targets today. He's way ahead of me now. It seems I'm about to lose my 100 marks. We haven't fired for two days. We eliminated a few infantrymen with machine-gun
fire. June 15. Today we made an attack on a British column. Karl finally started to focus his sights on
the targets. We destroyed four Cromwell tanks and six trucks. The British called in the air force, and the
planes that flew in started bombing our woods. But Ulrich conducted excellent maneuvering
and drove us out of the fire. It is getting dark now. I think I know another good place for an ambush. I'm planning to take my platoon there and
set up an ambush for tomorrow. We joined a couple of Panzer 4 from the Hitlerjugend
Division. I like these young guys who are good at fighting
despite their young age. We intend to use them as bait to draw the
British into our trap. Our platoon now only has two Tigers, ours
and Thomas's. We lost two more tanks from the new reinforcement
in the previous ambush during an air raid. June 16. Well, our plan worked: those stupid Allies
rushed for Panzer Four of the Hitlerjugend. We lost one of them, and its crew kept fighting
as ordinary infantrymen. We destroyed three Sherman tanks. It seems to me that they were French tanks
because they had big red-white-and-blue identifying marks and French names. Thomas shot down another four tanks, after
which the others turned away. We need to hurry up and find a new place to
ambush so we don't come under bombardment. We should be back at the base soon to replenish
ammunition and refuel. June 17. We returned to headquarters. I was reassigned to Usha's Company and promoted
to the rank of Hauptsturmführer. Of course, I am glad, but I can't figure out
why I got the next rank. Over there, in the Leibstandarte, they say,
Wittmann, wiped out a whole column of Allies. He's a lucky guy. As they say, the British were just moving
right down the road. I wish I had targets like that too. Although, there are so many enemy tanks around
that Usha says we could easily do what Wittmann did. The British have moved up to the town of Caen,
so we need to push forward there too. June 19. We lost another 2 tanks in the air attacks
today. We are fed up with this! I haven't seen a single one of our planes
in the sky since the Allies landed. Where the hell are they? Our commanders have made an official complaint
to that fat Goering. Surely, he'll be able to hide from the air
raids in an underground bunker... if he makes it through the door. June 20. I destroyed 8 tanks today. Those were Cromwells and Tommy Cookers. The British pay absolutely no attention to
their losses. They have attacked three times today, each
time losing more and more tanks. I have never had such efficiency since my
time on the Eastern Front. We haven't lost a single Tiger. I saw one of those new King Tigers. Wish I'd never served on one of those. Most of the men of our division are here. June 21. I destroyed another 6 tanks. The British began attacking in waves again. I don't see any Allied aviation. Guess maybe Goering received our letter. We've lost three Tiger due to breakdowns. I hope they removed the engines in time. On June 22, 1944, Joachim, Karl and Bertie
were captured by Canadian troops after an Allied plane broke one of the tracks of their
Tiger. The radio operator Helmut Jurgens and driver
Ulrich Gansheime were both killed in this attack. Joachim's diary was found and returned to
him after he was interrogated. It is probable that a Canadian war correspondent
had copied his comments about Goering and used them in his reports for Canadian newspapers. However, this has not yet been proven. Joachim was sent to the infamous Comrie Nazi
POW camp in Scotland because he was a Waffen SS officer. At first, the cellmates almost beat him up
for his negative comments about Goering, but after he explained that it was just his anger
at the Luftwaffe's inaction, and he continued fighting and destroying Allied tanks after
those comments, he was treated better. The Luftwaffe cellmates remained silent at
all. He described his time in the camp quite well,
despite the fact that the guards were Polish men who hated the Nazis very much. He felt more wary of his own countrymen. Joachim was released from the camp in 1946
and stayed in Scotland forever. He had a long life and died in February 2001,
at the age of 87. That is all for today! If you enjoyed the video, please give it a
like and support the channel by subscribing! Goodbye everyone, see you soon!
