It’s the 17th of January, 1945 in the outskirts of the French town of Herrlisheim. A German motorcycle races across open ground. Obersturmführer Erwin Bachmann holds on to the sidecar, Panzerfaust in hand.
The fighting in the area has been brutal and the Panzer Kompanie fighting for the town has lost contact with high command. Scanning the scenery Bachmann spots something. Two Panther tanks right on the edge of the town.
“There they are! ” The motorcycle approaches the parked tanks. The driver stops by the soldiers as Bachmann hurriedly asks.
“What are you doing? Where’s your commander? ” The Commander is right there, sitting against a wall, wounded and covered in bandages.
Bachmann asks him, “What is the situation? ”. To which the commander explains they were pushed back by a force of Shermans, which remain somewhere nearby inside the town.
Bachman is steadfast in his response. “We’ll hunt them down! Men!
Follow me. ” Bachman is holding the Panzerfaust at the ready. The town is completely desolate, only the engines and tracks daring to pierce the chilling silence.
They approach a junction and Bachmann orders the convoy to a stop. He walks the last few feet, hugging the wall of the buildings before peeking down the road. Nothing.
He signals his Panthers forward and orders them to take position on the town square. With the tanks in position, he turns to their commanders and informs them he’s going to explore on foot. The two men look at each other, but say nothing as their superior walks away, alone and with nothing but a pistol.
Bachmann walks for a couple of blocks. It’s deeply unsettling, the homes all around him spot heavy damage, with windows blown out and even collapsed walls. He comes to a 90 degree turn on the road and rounds the corner.
Bachmann freezes as just before him are two parked Sherman tanks with their crews. The Americans spot him, and he hears them shout, they scatter and pull out their Thompson machine guns. Bachmann runs for his life.
Shots ricochet on the cobblestones but he escapes back around the corner as shots ring out behind him. Back at the Panthers both commanders are keeping a careful eye on their field of fire when they suddenly spot Bachmann running back in haste shouting, “Shermans! ” Bachmann goes straight for the Panzerfaust as the Panther commanders prepare to move.
“What are your orders? ” But the Obersturmführer fears the Americans will encircle them. “Hold your position, I’ll make them come to us.
” He runs back up to the bend on the road and spots a hole in the wall in the corner. Thinking quickly, he sneaks inside searching for a firing spot. Luck smiles on Bachmann, and he finds a window with a clear view of the Sherman tanks.
They’re still parked exactly where they were, but the American soldiers are gone, probably having taken position inside their machines. Carefully, he shoulders the weapon and takes aim at the lead tank. He slows his breathing; he’s only got one shot at this.
With the enemy square in his sights, he gently squeezes the trigger. The weapon fires with a deafening boom, launching the shaped charge rocket straight at the enemy. It smashes into its side armor, and the warhead detonates, the power of the explosion punches straight through.
Chaos breaks amongst the Shermans but Bachmann doesn’t wait around and makes his way out as quick as he can. He runs for his tanks, barking orders to push and attack. Under Bachmann's orders a panther sets off up the right hand street to engage the Americans head on.
Meanwhile Bachman on foot and the second panther move up the left-hand street. The tank creeps up Rue de l'Eglise with Bachman trotting at the left. A church bell strikes 3pm.
Across the street with perfect timing Bergers cannon approaches the front of the American column. It inches forward and sees the column of a smoking Sherman at the front. But behind the Americans are bunched up.
He attempts to target a Sherman and on the strike of the third bell the gunner lets loose. The shell erupts from the Panther. The shot misses but runs down the line of Shermans.
There is panic… The Sherman’s under attack in the narrow streets try to maneuver for position. Scraping each other and the buildings they try and get into a position to return fire. .
. Behind the Americans across the street Bachmann and the tank commander Mulradt hear the battle. The Panther driver hits the gas leaving Bachman in the dust.
But It’s a perfect pincer movement. Now behind the Shermans the other Panther approaches the corner. The gunner quickly targets the rear of a Sherman.
The Gunner fires. Panther's shell impacts and catches a Sherman from behind, blasting it’s engine housing. Bachman sprints to the corner to see the American crew evacuating the burning Sherman.
The Panther’s turret swings around, the commander is eager to bag another. The Shermans that were backing up hit the brakes as they realize they’re now under attack from front and rear! But then just as the Panther is about to fire, Backmann orders : “Stop!
”. In the dust of battle an American officer waves something white. It looks like his undershirt.
Bachmann said, ‘I quickly told Mülradt to radio Berger and tell him to hold fire. ’ He said: “I walked out into the center of the street and looked up and down the column of American tanks. There were six of them, not including the burning tank.
The Americans were penned in and their guns were useless in their tight column disposition. Mülradt got down from his tank to assist me in the roundup. He brandished his Schmeiser submachine gun even though he was outnumbered sixty to one.
Suddenly Bachmann sees Mulradt running towards him white as a ghost. There’s more! Pointing to the side street they were shocked to see another 6 Shermans!
The crews are thankfully all surrendering. Thinking that they too were boxed in by a superior German force instead of just 2 Panthers. One of the American tankers spoke some German and stepped forward.
Bachmann asked, “Are there any more surprises? " The interpreter pointed to a side yard in which a group of 20 German prisoners from the 553rd Volksgrenadier Division. 12 Shermans and 20 prisoners!
Bachmann said, “I took charge of the group and ordered them to pick up the American weapons and to keep them as their own. “I considered what to do with the windfall of American tanks at a time when Germany had so few of its own. The drivers stepped to the front of the American prisoners.
I told them that they were going to drive their tanks to a German base. As motivation I would place a German soldier armed with a pistol behind each driver. When the dust settled Bachmann’s actions with just 2 Panthers resulted in the capture of 60 American tank crew members, the release of 20 German POW’s, and the capture of 12 completely intact Sherman tanks.
Obersturmführer Erwin Bachmann would be awarded the Knight’s Cross for his valiant leadership, and the tank crews would be awarded the Iron Cross for their excellent performance. The captured Shermans would go on to serve for the German army, being used in anger against the allies in the dying months of the war. Erwin Bachmann would survive the war and passed away on the 18th of February, 2010.
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