heinrich severloh

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    Heinrich "Hein" Severloh, also known as the Beast of Omaha, (23 June 1923 – 14 January 2006) was a soldier in the German 352nd Infantry Division stationed in Normandy in 1944. Severloh became notable for a memoir he published in the German language WN 62 – Erinnerungen an Omaha Beach Normandie, 6. Juni 1944 , in 2000 and translated into English as WN 62: A German Soldier's Memories of the Defence of Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944, in 2006. In the book, Severloh claims that - as a machine gunner - he inflicted over 1,000 and possibly over 2,000 casualties to the American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. However, Severloh's claim is not viewed as credible by either US or German historians. Total US casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) from all sources along the five-mile length of Omaha Beach on D-Day are estimated at 2,400.


    Early life


    Severloh was born into a farming family in Metzingen in the Lüneburg Heath area of North Germany, close to the small city of Celle.


    Service in the Wehrmacht


    Conscripted into the Wehrmacht on 23 July 1941, at the age of 18, Severloh was assigned to the 19th Light Artillery Replacement Division in Hanover. In August, he was transferred to France to join the 3rd Battery of the 321st Artillery Regiment, where he trained as a dispatch rider. In December 1942, he was sent to the Eastern Front and assigned to the rear of his division to drive sleighs. As punishment for making dissenting remarks, he was forced to perform physical exertions that left him with permanent health problems and necessitated six-month convalescence in a hospital. After this, he went on leave to his family's farm to help gather the harvest.
    In October 1943, Severloh was sent for non-commissioned officer training in Brunswick, but was recalled after less than a month to rejoin his unit which had been reclassified as the 352nd Infantry Division and was stationed in Normandy.


    Omaha Beach



    Omaha Beach extends for 6 miles (10 km) from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer. The beach defences at Omaha consisted of eight concrete bunkers containing 75 mm or greater artillery, 35 pillboxes, 18 anti-tank guns, six mortar pits, 35 Nebelwerfer (multi-barrel rocket launchers), 85 machine gun nests, 6 tank turrets and supporting infantry.
    Infantry deployments on the Beach consisted of five companies concentrated at 15 strongpoints called Widerstandsnester ("resistance nests"), numbered WN-60 in the east to WN-74 in the west. Severloh was part of WN-62, the largest strongpoint defending Omaha Beach.
    The American plan of attack divided Omaha Beach into ten sectors, codenamed Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green, and Fox Red. WN-62 at the eastern side of Omaha Beach overlooked both Easy Red and Fox Green sectors.


    = Widerstandsnest 62

    =

    WN-62 covered an area 332 m (1,089 ft) long by 324 m (1,063 ft) between 12 and 50 m (39 and 164 ft) above the beach, depending on the distance from the shore, with a good overview of the beach area. The foxhole Severloh fired from was 170 m (560 ft) from the sea wall and around 450 m (1,480 ft) from the landing area of the first wave of Higgins Boats.
    On D-Day (June 6, 1944) WN-62 was manned by 27 members of the 716th Static Infantry Division and 13 members of Severloh's 352nd Division, whose task was to direct fire of the 10.5 cm howitzer artillery batteries located five kilometres inland at Houtteville.

    Defences included two type H669 concrete casemates, one empty and the other with a 75 mm artillery piece, a 50 mm anti-tank gun, two 50 mm mortars, a twin-barrelled 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun on an anti-aircraft mount and two prewar Polish Ckm wz.30 machine guns. Another 50 mm anti-tank gun covered the rear, and the perimeter was ringed by barbed wire and anti personnel mines.
    Severloh was assigned to a Senior Lieutenant Bernhard Frerking as an orderly. While Frerking coordinated the artillery fire of the battery at Houtteville from a bunker, Severloh says he manned an MG 42 machine gun, and fired on approaching American troops with the machine gun and two Karabiner 98k rifles; while a sergeant whom he did not know, kept him supplied with ammunition from a nearby ammo bunker until 15:30. He claimed to have fired over 13,500 rounds with the machine gun and 400 with the rifles.
    Interviewed in 2004, he said: "It was definitely at least 1,000 men, most likely more than 2,000. But I do not know how many men I shot. It was awful. Thinking about it makes me want to throw up."


    = Surrender and captivity

    =
    Severloh retreated to the nearby village of Colleville-sur-Mer with Kurt Warnecke where they surrendered the next day. Lt. Frerking, along with others from the artillery observation post, was killed near the communications bunker by American fire.

    Severloh was first sent as a prisoner of war to Boston, United States. In December 1946, he was transferred to Bedfordshire, England as forced labor working on road construction. Severloh was returned to Germany in March 1947 after his father wrote to the British military authorities saying he was needed to work back on the farm.


    Later life and death


    In the 1960s, an American military chaplain, David Silva, who had been wounded by three bullets in the chest on Omaha Beach, was contacted by Severloh - who had found his name in the Cornelius Ryan book The Longest Day. They later met several times, including at the 2005 reunion of Allied Forces in Normandy. On 5 June 2004 RTL showed a two-hour documentary in co-production with CBC Radio: "Mortal enemies of Omaha Beach – the story of an unusual friendship," by the filmmaker Alexander Czogalla.
    In 2000, Severloh's memoir, WN 62 – Erinnerungen an Omaha Beach Normandie, 6. Juni 1944, ghostwritten by Helmut Konrad von Keusgen, was published. An extended version was published in 2002.
    Severloh died 14 January 2006 in Lachendorf near his home village of Metzingen, aged 82.


    Widerstandsnest 62 today



    The remains of Resistance Point 62 lie just east of the American Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and close to the viewing platform. On the top of one casemate is a monument to honor the 5th Engineer Brigade and further toward the beach is the needle honoring the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One).


    Gallery

















    References




    Bibliography


    Severloh, Heinrich (2006). WN 62: A German Soldier's Memories of the Defence of Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944 (English Language). Hek Creativ Verlag. ISBN 978-3932922237.
    Severloh, Heinrich (2004). WN-62 – Erinnerungen an Omaha Beach Normandie, 6. Juni 1944 (German Language). Hek Creativ Verlag. ISBN 978-3-932922-11-4. OCLC 56831668.
    George Bernage: Omaha – 6. Juni 1944, Editions Heimdal, France (August 2002), ISBN 978-2-84048-154-6


    External links


    Widerstandsnest-62 on WikkiMaps
    Large panorama shot taken from Severlohs position (on flikr)

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heinrich severloh

Daftar Isi

WWII: The Beast of Omaha and how Many Kills Did He Get?

May 22, 2020 · Severloh's count is wildly inflated. A simple look at a map makes that pretty clear. Figure 1: German defenses on the Eastern side of Omaha Beach. Severloh was in strongpoint …

D-Day: Why is Hein Severloh's story that extraordinary killing

Jan 22, 2021 · Given this, the only conclusion we can draw is that Severloh, at best, overestimated his claims. Severloh was also not the only machine gunner at his strongpoint. …

6 June: The Legacy of Heinrich Severloh : …

Jun 6, 2024 · Karl Richter highlights the potential farce of today’s 80th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, emphasising its implications for European…

Heinrich Severloh’s claims must be nonsense right?

Jan 11, 2019 · I think he's said that he's shot 1-2k. We have over 10,000 casulties from D-Day, 2-5k of those occurred at the beach which Heinrich Severloh was defending (Omaha), the …

Til of Heinrich Severloh aka "the Beast of Omaha" a german

Jan 11, 2020 · More like the liar of Omaha. This is simply impossible. A MG42 couldn't handle to keep the fire rate of 1.200RPM for no more than 60 seconds of action, because soon after that, …

TIL After German soldier Heinrich Severloh, aka "The Beast of

Nov 9, 2013 · TIL After German soldier Heinrich Severloh, aka "The Beast of Omaha," was believed to have killed over 1000 American soldiers on Omaha Beach during WWII, he …

German machine gunner Heinrich Severloh "The Beast of Omaha …

Nov 1, 2020 · German machine gunner Heinrich Severloh "The Beast of Omaha" meeting up with David Silva, a US soldier who stormed Omaha beach and was wounded by 3 bullets. The two …

German MG-42 operator during the Allied Invasion of Normandy, …

May 11, 2021 · German MG-42 operator during the Allied Invasion of Normandy, Heinrich Severloh, meets up with David Silva on Omaha beach, a US Infantryman who stormed the …

On the same beach 60yrs after the D-Day landings, David Silva …

Sep 27, 2020 · On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the landing in Normandy, a one-hour documentary was broadcast on June 6, 1984, by the American broadcaster ABC. As part of …

Heinrich Severloh (german soldier) and David Silva (american

Jun 6, 2014 · Heinrich Severloh (23 June 1923 – 14 January 2006) was a soldier in the German 352nd Infantry Division stationed in Normandy in 1944, sometimes referred to as The Beast of …