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Sunday, December 3, 2023

Heinz Harmel Huddled inside the Halftrack


Inside the Sd.Kfz.251 half-track, the men of Frundsberg Division seemed tense and were all huddled inside the armored body. Perhaps because of artillery fire falling nearby? SS-Oberscharführer Sven-Erik Olsson (chefsfunker with the Divisionskommandeur) is in the left foreground, while Eichenlaubträger SS-Oberführer Heinz Harmel (Kommandeur 10. SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg") looks towards the rear of the armored vehicle. DKiGträger SS-Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Schulze (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 22) is just behind the MG42. The picture was taken during the Battle of Normandy in the summer 1943. During this time, the aim of the II. SS-Panzerkorps - and the Frundsberg division subordinate to it - was to prevent the Allies from breaking out of the landing area to the east.



Another picture of SS-Oberführer Heinz Harmel (Kommandeur 10. SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg") with his Chefsfunker, SS-Oberscharführer Sven-Erik Olsson (left), taken at the same time frame as above. It's a myth that Olsson was a Swedish volunteer. He was a Baltic German from Estonia, with a Swedish grandfather, which is how he came to have a Swedish name. But he wasn't from Sweden, nor did he hold Swedish citizenship!


Source :
"Panzerdivision Frundsberg: Ukraine-Normandie 1944" by Stephan Cazenave
https://www.facebook.com/groups/152986901863424?multi_permalinks=1697170594111706&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

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