Ernst Barkmann

Ernst Barkmann
Ritterkreuzträger SS-Oberscharführer Ernst Barkmann
Born	25 August 1919 Kisdorf, Segeberg, Holstein, Germany
Died	Kisdorf, Segeberg, Holstein, Germany
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1936–45
Rank	Oberscharführer
Battles/wars	Operation Barbarossa Operation Citadel Ardennes Offensive
Awards	Full list
Other work	Fire Chief, Mayor
Signature	100px

Ernst Barkmann (later Ernst Schmuck-Barkmann) (25 August 1919 – 27 June 2009) was a German tank commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He is known for the actions undertaken at “Barkmann’s corner,” in which it was claimed he halted a major U.S. Army armoured advance in Normandy on 27 July 1944, for which action he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

This narrative has been challenged by the military historian Steven Zaloga in his 2015 work Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II. He analysed the Allied war records, and was unable to locate the losses claimed by Barkmann. He attributes the myth of Barkmann's corner to the "propaganda efforts of the Waffen-SS".

Military career

Barkmann was drafted in 1939. He joined the SS-Standarte 2 Germania regiment, a unit of the SS-Verfügungstruppe, and served during the occupation of Poland and Soviet Union. He was posted for a time as an instructor of SS volunteers in the Netherlands. In winter 1942/43 he was posted to SS Regiment Das Reich, part of SS Division Das Reich on the Eastern Front. Das Reich was attached to II SS Panzer Corps, under Army Group South. Barkmann served with the regiment during the large-scale operations against the Soviet forces' mobile spearhead under command of Markian Popov and took part in the Third Battle of Kharkov. In July 1943, his division took part in Operation Citadel, the operation to eliminate the Kursk salient, later being transferred to the Mius river line. In the course of these operations, Barkmann was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross.

In February 1944, Das Reich was ordered to France to form a part of the 5th Panzer Army, the armoured reserve for the expected Allied invasion. Following Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion, the division reached the front in early July and fought against the American forces near Saint-Lô. Barkmann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

After the launch of Operation Cobra, his unit, alongside the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, fought to hold open an escape route for the trapped German forces. After the collapse of the pocket, Das Reich fell back towards the West Wall. Barkmann participated in the Ardennes Offensive in December 1944 and the fighting on the Eastern Front in the spring of 1945. Barkmann surrendered to the British forces south of Vienna.

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

• SS-Sturmmann (1 June 1940)
• SS-Rottenführer (1 July 1941)
• SS-Standartenjunker (?)
• SS-Scharführer (?)
• SS-Unterscharführer (1 September 1943)
• SS-Oberscharführer (31 August 1944) effective as of 1 August 1944

Awards and decorations

At the time of his capture in 1945, Barkmann was authorized the following awards:

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (14 July 1941)
  • 1st Class (1 August 1944)
• Eastern Front Medal (?)
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black (1 September 1941)
  • in Silver (15 September 1944)
  • in Gold (25 January 1945)
• Infantry Assault Badge (18 February 1942)
• Panzer Badge "25"
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 August 1944 as SS-Unterscharführer and Panzer commander in the 4./SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 "Das Reich"
• Honour Chevron of the Old Guard (?) Member of the Hitler youth in 1933

See also

• Waffen-SS in popular culture

References

Bibliography

• Ripley, Tom (2001) SS Steel Rain: Waffen-SS Panzer – Battles in the West 1944–45. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-1168-4, ISBN 978-0-7603-1168-4.