Since we had no mobile supply columns, we had to improvise. The mayor of Passau helped by providing us with a number of lorries out of which we rapidly built up the necessary fuel columns. For the rest, the Austrian petrol stations along our road of advance were requested to keep open.
Despite all General Veiel’s efforts it was not possible to cross the frontier punctually at eight. It was not until 9 o’clock that the first units of the 2nd Panzer Division drove past the upraised frontier barriers, to be received with joy by the population on the Austrian side. The division’s advanced guard consisted of the 5th (Kornwestheim) and 7th (Munich) Armoured Reconnaissance Battalions and the 2nd (Kissingen) Motor-cycle Rifle Battalion. This advanced guard moved fast through Linz, which was reached at noon, towards St. Pölten.
I went with the main body of the 2nd Panzer Division, while the Leibstandarte ‘Adolf Hitler,’ which had now joined us after its long drive from Berlin, brought up the rear. The flags and decorations on the tanks proved highly successful. The populace saw that we came as friends, and we were everywhere joyfully received. Old soldiers from the First World War had pinned their decorations to their chests and saluted us as we drove by. At every halt the tanks were decked with flowers and food was pressed on the soldiers. Their hands were shaken, they were kissed, and there were tears of joy. No untoward incident marred the occasion that had for so many years been longed for by both sides, the much postponed anschluss. Children of one nation, split by unfortunate politics into two during so many decades, were now happily united at last.
We advanced along one road, the road that leads through Linz. Shortly before twelve I arrived in Linz, paid my respects to the local authorities and partook of a quick luncheon. Just as I was leaving the town in the direction of St. Pölten I met the Reich leader of the SS, Himmler, who was accompanied by the Austrian ministers Seiss Inquart and von Glaise-Horstenau. They informed me that the Führer was due to arrive in Linz at about 15.00 hrs., and they asked me to arrange for the closing of the roads into the town and of the marketplace. I therefore ordered my advance guard to stop in St. Pölten, while with the troops available from my main body I made the necessary preparations in and about Linz. The garrison troops of the Austrian Army asked permission to participate in these duties, which was granted. Soon the streets and squares were filled with some 60,000 people. The crowd was enormously enthusiastic and excited. The German soldiers were loudly and repeatedly cheered.
It was almost dark by the time Hitler entered Linz. I was waiting for him just outside the city limits and was thus a witness to the triumphal nature of his entry into that town. I also heard his speech from the balcony of the town hall. Neither before nor since have I ever seen such tremendous enthusiasm as was shown during those few hours. After his speech Hitler visited a few men who had been wounded in the riots that preceded the anschluss and then repaired to his hotel, where I reported to him to announce the continuation of my march on Vienna. It was plain that he was deeply moved by the way the crowd in the market-place had received him.
I left Linz at about 21.00 hrs., arriving in St. Pölten at midnight. I ordered my advanced guard to move off again at once, and going myself at the head of the column drove through a blinding snowstorm into Vienna, which we reached at approximately 01.00 hrs. on the 13th of March.
In Vienna a great torch-light procession in celebration of the anschluss had just ended, and the streets were full of excited and happy people. So it was no wonder that the appearance of the first German soldiers was the signal for frantic rejoicing. The advanced guard marched past the Opera House behind an Austrian military band and in the presence of the commander of the Vienna Division of the Austrian Army, General Stumpfl. After the march past was over renewed cheering and rejoicing broke out once again. I was carried to my quarters. The buttons of my greatcoat were instantly transformed into prized souvenirs. We were treated with great friendliness.
After a short rest I set off, early in the morning of the 13th of March, on a round of visits to the commanders of the Austrian Army, by all of whom I was most courteously received.
The 14th of March was fully occupied by preparations for the great parade ordered for the 15th. I was put in charge of these arrangements and so had the pleasure of working for the first time in co-operation with our new comrades. We had soon come to agreement as to how the parade was to be organised and the next day we had the satisfaction of seeing how well this first public demonstration went off in a Vienna that was now part of the German Reich. Formations of the Austrian Army opened the march past. They were followed by alternate German and Austrian units. The enthusiasm of the crowd was enormous.
On one of the following evenings I invited a number of the Austrian generals whom I had met in the past few days to a small dinner party at the Hotel Bristol, hoping thus privately to strengthen our new public comradeship. I then set out on a tour of the country to visit the various mechanised units of the Austrian Army and to decide how best they could be incorporated in our new united army. I recall with particular vividness two visits I then made. One was to Neusiedel-am-See, where a Motorised Jaeger Battalion was in garrison. The second took me to Bruck an der Leitha where the Austrian Army’s Tank Battalion was stationed. This latter was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Theiss, a particularly fine officer who had suffered considerable physical injury as a result of a severe tank accident. His troops made a first-class impression and I soon struck up an easy relationship with his young officers and men. Both morale and discipline in these two units were so excellent that their incorporation into the Reich Army could be anticipated as both profitable and pleasant.
We wished to show the Austrians Germany besides showing the Germans Austria, thus strengthening the feeling of unity. So a number of soldiers from the old Austrian Army were sent on short visits to the original Reich. One of these formations went to my former garrison town of Würzburg, where my wife arranged that they be received and entertained.
Shortly afterwards my dear wife managed to come to Vienna, so we were able to celebrate her birthday, March the 25th, together.
The German armoured troops learned a number of important lessons from the occupation of Austria.
The march had been carried out, in general, smoothly enough. Breakdowns among the wheeled vehicles were few, but among the tanks rather more numerous. I can no longer recall the exact figures, but they were certainly not as high as 30 per cent. Until the 15th of March parade almost all the tanks were in good condition. In view of the great distances that they had then travelled and the speed of the march past, the number of breakdowns was not disproportionately high; but to those who knew nothing of tanks, and also to Colonel-General von Bock, it seemed so. Therefore after the parade the young armoured force was subjected to much harsh criticism from certain quarters. It was alleged that tanks were now proved incapable of performing any lengthy and sustained advance. In fact the proper targets for criticism were quite different. In order correctly to evaluate the performance of the panzer troops on their march to Vienna, the following points must be borne in mind:
(a) The troops were in no way prepared for this operation. At the beginning of the march they were just starting company training. The theoretical training of staff officers, which had been intensively carried out within the 2nd Panzer Division during the previous winter, was to have been completed by the exercises in the Moselle previously mentioned. Nobody had contemplated an unexpected winter operation of divisional size.
(b) The higher command was equally unprepared. The decision was taken purely on Hitler’s initiative. It was all a matter of improvisation; for the Panzer Divisions, which had only been in existence since the autumn of 1935, this was bound to be very difficult.
(c) The improvised march to Vienna meant that the 2nd Panzer Division had to cover about 420 miles, the SS-Leibstandarte ‘Adolf Hitler’ about 600 miles, within the space of some forty-eight hours. In general these tasks were performed satisfactorily.
(d
) The most important weakness to make itself felt was the insufficiency of maintenance facilities, particularly for the tanks. This weakness had already become apparent during the autumn manœuvres of 1937. Proposals to remedy this state of affairs had, however, not yet been fulfilled by March of 1938. This mistake was never made again.
(e) Fuel supply had been shown to be a fundamental problem. Shortages which here became apparent were immediately put to rights. Since no ammunition had been used, our ammunition supply system could only be judged by analogy with the fuel supply. This sufficed, however, to make us take various precautions.
(f) It was in any case proved that our theoretical belief concerning the operational possibilities of panzer divisions was justified.
(g) The march had taught us that it was possible without difficulty to move more than one motorised division along one road. Our views concerning the setting up and the operational employment of motorised corps had prevailed.
(h) It must, however, be stressed that the experience gained applied only to the alerting, moving and supplying of tank units; we had added nothing to our knowledge of tank warfare. Still, the future was to show that here, too, the German armoured troops were on the right course.
In his valuable and highly significant Memoirs, Winston Churchill gives a very different picture of the anschluss. 1 It is worth quoting in full:
A triumphal entry into Vienna had been the Austrian Corporal’s dream. On the night of Saturday, March 12, the Nazi Party in the capital had planned a torchlight procession to welcome the conquering hero. But nobody arrived. Three bewildered Bavarians of the supply services who had come by train to make billeting arrangements for the invading army had therefore to be carried shoulder-high through the streets…. The cause of this hitch leaked out slowly. The German war machine had lumbered falteringly over the frontier and come to a standstill near Linz. In spite of perfect weather and road conditions the majority of the tanks broke down. Defects appeared in the motorised heavy artillery. The road from Linz to Vienna was blocked with heavy vehicles at a standstill. General von Reichenau, Hitler’s special favourite, Commander of Army Group IV, was deemed responsible for a breakdown which exposed the unripe condition of the German Army at this stage in its reconstruction.
Hitler himself, motoring through Linz, saw the traffic jam, and was infuriated. The light tanks were disengaged from confusion and straggled into Vienna in the early hours of Sunday morning. The armoured vehicles and motorised heavy artillery were loaded on to the railway trucks, and only thus arrived in time for the ceremony. The pictures of Hitler driving through Vienna amid exultant or terrified crowds are well known. But this moment of mystic glory had an unquiet background. The Fuehrer was in fact convulsed with anger at the obvious short-comings of his military machine. He rated his generals, and they answered back. They reminded him of his refusal to listen to Fritsch and his warnings that Germany was not in a position to undertake the risk of a major conflict. Appearances were preserved. The official celebrations and parades took place….
Winston Churchill was evidently misinformed. So far as I know, no trains ran from Bavaria to Vienna on March 12.1 The ‘three bewildered Bavarians’ must therefore have flown there. The German war machine was held up in Linz by my orders for the reception of Hitler, and for no other reason. In any event, it reached Vienna that same afternoon. The weather was bad; it began to rain during the afternoon, and that night there was a violent snowstorm. The single road from Linz to Vienna was in process of being relaid; in consequence it was torn up for miles on end while other parts of it were in very poor condition. The majority of the tanks arrived safely in Vienna. Defects in the heavy artillery could not have appeared since we did not possess any heavy artillery. At no time was the road blocked. General von Reichenau had only assumed command of Army Group 4 on the 4th of February, 1938, and could therefore hardly be held responsible for the equipment of troops whom he had only commanded for five weeks. Also his predecessor, Colonel General von Brauchitsch, had only held that post for so short a time that even he could not be made to bear any blame either.
As described above, I met Hitler in Linz. He showed not the slightest signs of being infuriated. It was perhaps the only occasion on which I ever saw him deeply moved. While he addressed the enthusiastic crowd below, I was standing next to him on the balcony of Linz town hall and I was able to observe him closely. Tears were running down his cheeks, and this was certainly not play-acting.
At the time we only possessed light tanks. Heavy tanks were as nonexistent as heavy artillery, and therefore could not have been loaded on to railway trucks.
No general was ‘rated,’ at least not to my knowledge. The alleged retorts could thus hardly have been given; or if they were, I know nothing about this either. For myself, I was treated with uniform politeness by Hitler during these March days, both in Linz and in Vienna. The only person to find fault with me was Colonel-General von Bock, the commander-in-chief of the occupying forces; this was because of the decorations which I had ordered to be put on the tanks and which he regarded as contrary to regulations. When I explained that Hitler had given his permission for this, the matter was instantly dropped.
This same war machine, which now ‘lumbered falteringly over the frontier,’ proved itself capable in the spring of 1940, after only minor improvements, of giving very short shrift indeed to the out-of-date armies of the Western Powers. It is apparent from Winston Churchill’s Memoirs that he is anxious to prove that the political leaders of Great Britain and France could have gone to war in 1938 with a good prospect of achieving victory. The military leaders of those countries were considerably more sceptical, and with reason. They knew the weaknesses of their own armies, though they could not see the way to building up their strength afresh. The German generals wanted peace too; not, however, out of weakness or fear of new inventions, but because they believed that their country could peacefully achieve its national aims.
2nd Panzer Division remained in the Vienna area, and from the autumn of that year began to receive Austrian replacements. The SS-Leibstandarte and the staff of XVI Army Corps returned to Berlin in April. The area around Würzburg was now empty, and it was here that in the autumn of 1938 a new Panzer Division, the 4th, was set up under General Reinhardt. In addition, the 5th Panzer Division and the 4th Light Division were also formed.
During the summer months of 1938 I carried out the peacetime duties of a Corps Commander. These consisted principally in visiting the troops under my command. In this way I managed to get to know both officers and other ranks and to lay the foundations for that sentiment of mutual trust in wartime of which I have always been particularly proud.
In August I was able to occupy the house in Berlin which was allotted to the commander of XVI Army Corps. In that same month occurred the visit of the Hungarian Regent, Admiral Horthy, who was accompanied by his wife and by the Prime Minister, Imredy. I took part in the reception at the station, the parade, the dinner party which Hitler gave, and the gala presentation at the opera. After dinner Hitler sat down for a time at my table and discussed tank problems with me.
Hitler was disappointed by the political results of Horthy’s visit. He had doubtless hoped to persuade the Regent to sign a military pact, but in this he was not successful. Unfortunately he made his disappointment fairly obvious, both during the speech he made and by his behaviour after dinner.
From September 10th to 13th my wife and I were present at the National Party Day (the Reichsparteitag) at Nuremberg. During this month the tension between Germany and Czechoslovakia had reached its climax. The atmosphere was heavy and threatening. This was most vividly expressed in Hitler’s great closing address in the Nuremberg congress hall. The immediate future looked ominous indeed.
I had to go straight from the Parteitag to the troop-training area Grafenwöhr, where the 1st Panzer Division and the SS-Leibstandarte were located. The next few weeks were filled with training exercises and inspections. Towards the end of the
month we began to prepare for the march into the Sudetenland. In view of the refusal of the Czechs to agree to any concessions, the danger of war increased. The situation grew more and more serious.
The Munich conference, however, cleared a way for a peaceful solution, and so the incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Reich took place without bloodshed.
I had to make one personal sacrifice to the political situation. October 1st marked my wife’s and my silver wedding anniversary. I spent the day alone at Grafenwöhr, while she was equally alone in Berlin, since both our sons were with their regiments on the border. But we received the finest possible present—the fact that peace had been preserved.
The Incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Reich
For the march into the Sudetenland, XVI Army Corps had the 1st Panzer Division and the 13th and 20th (Motorised) Infantry Divisions under command. The occupation was to be carried out in three stages. On the 3rd of October the 13th (Motorised) Infantry Division, commanded by General Otto, occupied Eger, Asch and Franzensbad; on the 4th of October the 1st Panzer Division entered Carlsbad; and on the 5th all three divisions moved up to the demarcation line.
Adolf Hitler spent the first two days of the occupation with my corps. The 1st Panzer and the 13th (Motorised) Infantry Divisions had moved up during the nights of the 30th–1st and lst–2nd, the former covering a distance of 170 miles from Cham to Eibenstock in Saxony, the latter coming from Grafenwöhr so as to be on time for the bloodless occupation of the Egerland. From the marching point of view this was a fine performance.
Panzer Leader Page 8