The Rat House ETO (id:#66794)

(ASL 16 - Twilight of the Reich ID: 304)   [next]   [previous]

Berlin, Germany 1945-04-26 (21 others)

Overview:

By midday on 26 April, it was apparent that the German assault in the areas of Neukölln and Tempelhof Airport had ground to a halt given the fierce response by Col. General Vasily Chuikov's 28th and 29th Guards Rifle Corps. To stem the deteriorating situation, SSS-Hauptsturmführer Henri Josef Fenet, commander of the SS-Sturmbataillon "Charlemagne," ordered the remnants of his unit, along with the few survivors of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 "Danmark," to form a defensive perimeter the Neukölln Town Hall (Rathaus). located along Berliner Strafe in the heart of Neukölln, this centre of resistance was formed around a core of hardened SS veterans and initially supported by several assault guns from SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 "Hermann von Salza" plus a lone Königstiger from schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 503. This decision led to the creation of a major salient into the Soviet lines as contact with friendly units on both the left and right flanks around the Rathaus was severed. The only relief for the beleaguered Germans came with the late arrival of several hundred Hitlerjugend, aged 14 to 17. According to one witness, these youths "burned with an indescribable enthusiasm to emulate the exploits of their elders," but the truth was that these "Wagnerian choir boys" paid a huge cost in loss of life, as they seemed wholly indifferent to the dangers they faced as they went from rubbled block to rubbled block in search of Soviet AFV's to destroy with their nearly endless supply of panzerfäuste.

Defender: German (SS) (Kompanie 2, SS-Sturmbataillon and SS-Waffen-Grenadier-Division 33 "Charlemagne," and SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 "Hermann von Salza,")  

Errata (source)