I always suspected that this was not an exclusive club to the SS and have read the odd account with very little detail of a member of the BEF being murdered by a member of the Wehrmacht but the following is the certainly the most detail I have come across to date. I have a book unread as yet about the murder of French Colonial Troops and I will add any significant details of those when I read the book but for now from ATB's Blitzkrieg in the West - Regrettably, even at this late stage in the campaign when victory was well assured, German behaviour towards their defeated enemy was still far from magnanimous. On many occasions in the Vosges, just as we have seen before in the north, surrendering French soldiers fell victim to summary justice, whether charges such as the use of illegal ammunition were trumped up or not. On June 17th culprits in 1. Panzer-Division executed seven soldiers of the 61 e'me R.R. who had just surrendered at Sainte-Suzanne near Montbeliard, and two days later men of 6 Panzer-Division were guilty of a similiar offence against ten soldiers of the 55 e'me B.M. at Dounoux, just north of Epinal. Then on June 20 troops of the 198. Infanterie-Division behaved even worse in Domptail (ten kilometres west of Epinal), shooting many men of 146 e'me R.I.F. as they gave themselves up. Oberleutnant August Schrempf was identified as one of the officers of the unit responsible for the shooting of six men in front of a barn and twenty others in a nearby meadow, and he was sentenced to death, in absentia, for complicity in murder by the French in 1959. Later he was traced as living in Stuttgart but was never extradited for trial.
I believe your suspicions are valid. And then some Would that as yet unread book be "Hitler's African Victims: the German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940" by Raffael Scheck? A good friend of mine has it and allowed me to use it in a debate I was having with someone who claimed only the SS committed atrocities, never the Wehrmacht. Of course, once the information in Scheck's book was put forward the debate changed to atrocities committed by the Japanese who until then I was not aware had participated in murders of Colonial French troops in France in 1940. Forgive the sarcasm. The book new will set you back about 45 quid but used copies are on amazon for 14 quid. I look forward to reading your analysis of the whole topic.
Hitler's African Victims: the German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940 Yep thats it. I paid around £15 for a new copy a few weeks ago. No returns on google for this chap 'Oberleutnant August Schrempf' other than a medal awarded around 41-43 with another unit. Cheers Andy
Scheck's book came out in 2006, softback in 2008. I am interested to see what may have changed between the hardcover version and the 2008 reprint, especially figures But Heimbrent, there is no need to wait to have your question answered re his 2005 article. If you google the author's name his website with all his contact details is the first entry up
No returns on google for this chap 'Oberleutnant August Schrempf' other than a medal awarded around 41-43 with another unit. If you drop the rank you'll find a bit on him as Doktor August Schrempf. The dates and units match your timeframes and other units. Close to 70 Schrempfs in the Stuttgart area. Someone could write a book on the number of war criminals not brought to trial.
If you drop the rank you'll find a bit on him as Doktor August Schrempf. The dates and units match your timeframes and other units. Close to 70 Schrempfs in the Stuttgart area. Someone could write a book on the number of war criminals not brought to trial. I wish someone would write one on Allied War Crimes.
I've just read a very short account of six Senegalese soldiers captured north west of Les Andelys, probably in Igonville south of Rouen which would be dated around the 9th June. The Senegalese PoW's were made to sit at tables outside the village cafe then each one was shot in the back of the head. As their heads fell forward they were snatched back and they had their throats slit.
I've just read a very short account of six Senegalese soldiers captured north west of Les Andelys, probably in Igonville south of Rouen which would be dated around the 9th June. The Senegalese PoW's were made to sit at tables outside the village cafe then each one was shot in the back of the head. As their heads fell forward they were snatched back and they had their throats slit. Ref the above. From an interesting looking and cheap book called: The Greater Share of Honour by Kim James The three men crouched low, their eyes flicking from side to side to make sure that they were not also in danger of being surrounded but continually gazing at the spectacle wondering what would happen. Surprised they saw the six or seven Senegalese made to sit down on the chairs on the terrace with their hands on the tables as if they were to be served coffee. Then each man got a German standing behind him and an officer shouted some orders. To their horror each man was shot in the back of the head and as his head fell forward it was snatched up and everyone had his throat cut. Harry loosed off the Bren gun, which stopped almost immediately. Jack snatched the spare to relaod it and Harry shot off the whole magazine killing most of the German party.