After spending a day and night near the Baie de Somme, I decided to explore the region a little more with my little family. So I returned to Bourdon, among other places. The weather was beautiful and warm—after all, it was summer and late afternoon, perfect for the little one's snack, which would leave me some free time. I stayed in the cemetery for about 45 minutes. To save time and avoid any problems, I had printed out a short list of graves to visit, including that of a Totenkopf officer who fell during the Battle of Arras in 1940.
Karl-Heinz Brohl at the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig
Karl-Heinz Brohl was born on August 21, 1915, in the Pasing district of München, Bavaria. On April 24, 1935, at the age of only 19, he entered the new SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig, at the same time as Joachim Peiper, who was part of the same class. It seems that this was the very first class at this school, as it was officially inaugurated at the end of June 1935. Heinrich Himmler attended the ceremony, accompanied by Minister-President Dietrich Klagges and SS-Gruppenführer Friedrich Jeckeln. The photos below are taken from the newspaper “Braunschweiger Tags Zeitung” of July 1, 1935. The article does not mention an SS-Junkerschule but a Reichsführerschule der SS.
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| Late June 1935. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler salutes SS-Standartenführer Hausser, Commander of the Reichsführerschule Braunschweig (Brunswick in Lower Saxony). |
To be accepted into this school for future SS officers, run by SS-Standartenführer Paul Hausser, several criteria had to be met :
Applicants had to be under 23 years of age, at least 5'9" tall, and not wear glasses.
The training was rigorous and intensive. The program included theoretical and practical courses on tactics, intelligence, command, and weapon handling. Many well-known officers graduated from this school, such as Hans Mühlenkamp, Rudolf von Ribbentrop, Otto Baum, and Sylvester Stadler.
It is important to note that none of the cadets were members of the NSDAP; however, they were able to join later. This is why Brohl's party card, issued on March 1, 1938, only bears the number 5,506,906. Peiper also did not join until 1938.
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Reichführer SS Himmler and Paul Hausser review the SS-Männer, future SS-Führern already accustomed to bearing arms. I wonder if Brohl is in the ranks ? |
The training course ended on January 31, 1936, after which Brohl went to Dachau to attend a Zugführer-Lehrgang, a training course designed to prepare him for a position as a section leader. On April 20, 1936, he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer in the LAH (Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler) in Berlin.
In 1937, he became a member of Lebensborn e.V., an association founded on December 12, 1935, to provide support to the wives and families of SS officers and police officers. By the end of 1938, the association had 8,000 SS members and 4,000 police officers among its ranks.
On January 30 1938, Brohl was appointed SS-Obersturmführer in Sturmbann I./4.Kp. (MG.), a unit under the command of SS-Obersturmführer Martin Kohlroser, an “old hand” who had participated in the Munich Putsch in 1923, wearing the SA uniform. In reality, largely promoted thanks to his militant past, Kohlroser proved to be very incompetent in military matters.
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The artillery guns of the 2nd Battery of the I./SS-Totenkopf-Artillery Regiment undergoing training at the Müsingen military training ground in February 1940. The men are equipped with long coats, which must be quite light given the winter weather. |
In July 1939, Brohl was transferred from the 4th Company of the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler to the SS-Totenkopf, which was certainly in need of officers. He took command of the 2nd Battery of the I./SS-Totenkopf-Artillerie-Regiment, equipped with 75 mm and 105 mm guns towed by Sd.Kfz.8.
Death south of Arras
On May 21, 1940, in the midst of the French Campaign, British and French forces positioned to the west and north of Arras organized a counterattack against the 7th Panzer Division, the Grossdeutschland Regiment, and the SS-Totenkopf Division, positioned to the east and south of the city, respectively. The aim of the maneuver was to attempt a breakthrough to the south, where General Gaston Bilotte's 1st Army Group was positioned. Bilotte, who remained in Belgium, had an accident on the night of May 21-22 and succumbed to his injuries a few days later.
At 2:30 p.m., the SS-Totenkopf Infantry Regiment 3 set off with the SS-Totenkopf Aufk.-Abt and the support of the I./SS-T-Rgt's guns, including Brohl's battery.
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The Totenkopf artillery guns go into action against the Tommies. |
The British launched a veritable armored fist, with nearly 100 tanks and 2,000 men divided into two columns. The French were not to be outdone with their Somua S35 and Hotchkiss H39 tanks and accompanying infantry. For the Germans, the clash was inevitable. Within the 4.Kompanie of SS-T.IR 3, the first casualties were already being counted, including the young SS Grenadier Berthold Beer, whose head was torn off by a shell.
“A shell hits our vehicle and blows off Berthold Beer's head. In the confusion, we don't immediately notice this horror. It is only after stopping the two British tanks that we realize what has happened to our comrade.”
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| The grave of SS-Grenadier Berthold Beer |
The British tanks quickly confronted the Totenkopf's anti-tank guns, but the 37 mm guns proved ineffective against the Matildas. The two British columns joined forces and pushed the Waffen-SS back towards Mercatel.
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the Mercatel sector, six years after the battle |
The division's artillery did not remain inactive: positioned in the Boiry-Becquerelle sector, near Mercatel, Brohl's guns fired on sight at the British tanks, but there were too many of them. A hail of shells and grapeshot rained down on the men of the Totenkopf. Brohl and his men were forced to abandon their positions; they ran across the fields, but the enemy machine guns wreaked havoc. The young SS-Obersturmführer fell, mowed down with his men.
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A British Matilda tank south of Arras in May 1940 |
At the end of the day, the Battle of Arras was lost for the Allies, who were forced to retreat. It was now time to race to Dunkirk and save themselves, at least for the British, who are used to it.
May 21 was also a terrible day for the Totenkopf, which suffered 39 dead, 66 wounded, and 2 missing. After Brohl's death, the second battery was placed under the command of SS-Ostuf Dr. Erich Richberg.
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The hour of the funeral for the men of the Totenkopf |
Karl-Heinz Brohl is buried in the military cemetery in Bourdon.
In the 1960s, SS-Obersturmführer Brohl was buried in the German military cemetery in Bourdon (Deutscher Soldantenfriedhof Bourdon), in block 19, row 11, grave 395, alongside two Gefreiter.
In block 19, row 11, grave 426, you will find SS-Sturmmann Dr. Albert Lehmann, born on 24 June 1912 in Hamburg and also deceased on 21 May 1940 in Boiry-Becquerelle.
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| Grave of SS-Obersturmführer Brohl in Bourdon |
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| Grave of SS-Obersturmführer Brohl, Bourdon |
The German military cemetery in Bourdon
In 1961, the association began to gather together in Bourdon the graves of soldiers buried in cemeteries in towns and villages in the Nord, Pas-de-Calais, and Somme departments.
The cemetery was officially inaugurated on September 16, 1967, and is sponsored by the North Rhine-Westphalia section of the Volksbund.
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| Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Bourdon |
Many of the 22,216 German soldiers buried there fell during the campaign in France in May-June 1940, including numerous members of the Waffen-SS “Totenkopf” division. It must be said that with the creation of the Dunkirk pocket, the region saw some terrible fighting.
Another section contains soldiers killed in late August and early September 1944, particularly after the crossing of the Seine.
Finally, there is a significant number of Luftwaffe pilots, particularly from the Jagdgeschwader fighter units. The graves of these pilots span four years of war in this area. Numerous articles are devoted to them on the blog.
A national cemetery on the side of the road.
As I was driving, I saw a large military cemetery on the side of the road, and out of curiosity I stopped. It was the Targette National Necropolis, a cemetery that holds French and British soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II, and even some Belgians. Despite the sunshine and beautiful weather, the sight of these thousands of crosses can only evoke sadness and a sense of waste. Fortunately, my great-grandfather, who fought throughout the entire war, survived, despite being drafted into the worst units that existed in the French Army: I am referring to the Special Groups and Bat'd'Af.
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| La Nécropole nationale de la Targette, in the foreground, the british graves |
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| the grave of Jean-François Heller du 2e Cuirassiers |
I only stayed for a few minutes, photographing a few crosses at random. Later, when I looked at them on my computer, I found one belonging to a French soldier from the 2nd Cuirassiers who had fallen during the Battle of Arras. His name was Jean-François Heller, born on September 11, 1916, in Reuilly in the Indre department. He was only 23 when he was killed in Dainville on May 21, 1940.
Where can you see the Allied tanks from the Battle of Arras ?
As we have read, there were British and French tanks, which fortunately can be seen at the unmissable Armored Museum in Saumur. To illustrate this point, I have chosen, Cocorico! a photo of the French Somua S35 tank, as it played a role in the Battle of Arras.
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| Somua S 35 in Armor museum Saumur |
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