1940: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: Company Commander - Western Front, (Holland, Belgium, France)

1941: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: O-1, 1st Battalion - Balkans, Greece

1941: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: First Special Missions Staff Officer - Russia

1942/43: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: Commander, Assault Gun Battery - Russia

His younger brother Rolf joins the Assault Gun Battery from an artillery unit in the Waffen SS Division "Das Reich".

Heinz receives a severe head wound during Operation Zitadelle in the Kursk salient (July 1943). 8 months convalescent leave.

1944: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: Battalion Commander, 101st Heavy Tank - Russia, Normandy - 6 months convalescent leave, (recurring complications of the head injury.)

His brother Rolf joins the 101st Heavy Tank

1944/1945: First SS Armored Division, LSSAH: Battalion Commander, 501st Heavy Tank - Ardennes, Hungary



I am absolutely convinced that, in is heart, Heinz was much, much more a soldier than a National Socialist. His loyalty and commitment were first to his country and secondly to his comrades. On many occasions in the circle of friends he said that, "after this war is won, we have another one on our hands: against the Nazi party." In the 26 letters to his bother Harald he does not mention the party once. They demonstrate what really moved him: The terror and suffering of the war, the dying, his exhaustion, desperation and his determination. Most of all they express his hatred for and fear of the "Red Horde" from whom he must protect Germany. He had experienced what they were capable of and he, like most of the Germans were familiar with the stories of the atrocities committed by them all along the eastern front and towards the end of the war, against millions of German refugees. He once wrote: "When this is over, we are all going to collapse like empty potato sacks." I believe that, at this, the final stage his primary loyalty was to his men - considering the situation, there could not have been anything else. That and total physical and emotional exhaustion...



What happened at the end is telling and, in my opinion represents his final legacy: I had no idea until, about a year ago an American military historian e-mailed me and told me that Heinz had not been killed by a single, small, errand Russian bomb, as I, all of us, had been told all these years. According to him, Heinz had shot himself after having been relieved of his command. Although devastating information, it made sense. It also affected me deeply because it provides the final punctuation of futility to the life of a man who not only had given everything, but had been one of the best, most respected and heroic. Now, as a final consequence he clearly acknowledges that all had been for naught. Agte in his book "Michael Wittman and the Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte " perpetuates the bomb story. When I questioned him about that, he claimed he had never even heard of another version. Wolfgang Schneider on the other hand, in his book "Tigers in Combat II" clearly relates the truth: "March 20, 1945: "The battalion commander (worn down by illness) is relieved of his command. During the procedure of handing over his command there is an enemy air raid. According to the official statement, Obersturmbannfuhrer von Westerhagen is killed by an aircraft bomb; but in fact he shoots himself with his own pistol. (He was 34 years old.) Sturmbannfuhrer Kling is appointed to be the new commander." - Reference: Schneider...



When I wrote Mr. Schneider, he quotes 2 witnesses who came forward by name, unfortunately they are both now dead. Nevertheless, I believe him. While Agte has a very personal association with the Leibstandarte, Schneider was and is a historian with a focus on historical correctness. It is my personal opinion that this lame "bomb" fable diminishes Heinz von Westernhagen as a man and a soldier and that he deserves better!



"SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Heinz von Westernhagen received a surprise order to leave his Tiger battalion and join the officers' reserve. With a heavy heart he was forced to hand over his battalion. There was bitterness and disbelief in the battalion staff over this decision." - Reference: Agte.



The background and circumstances of Heinz' relief from command have never been explained and, in my opinion, are highly questionable. Why? He was universally recognized as the superb combat commander of one of Germany's highest regarded medium sized heavy armor units and as an outstanding leader of men. (As a matter of fact, there is no question and it has been acknowledged that it was his leadership and his personality that made the 101st /501st into the formidable fighting unit it became.) Furthermore, tactically there could not have been a worse time, (the Russians were attacking mercilessly), to relieve a proven and beloved combat commander in the middle of an engagement. It makes absolutely no sense - unless Heinz's loyalty to his men went beyond the "required" loyalty to the "Thousand Year Reich"...



It could well have been his debilitating head wound-it also could have been something else. Did he begin to doubt and object to the senseless dying of his men? In my opinion, it was not the bullet that killed him. It was his sense of honor and the commitment he had to his men who had followed him through years of hell. Having to leave them at this, the darkest hour must have been unbearable and unacceptable to this model soldier. His loyalty truly was his honor...



Whatever really happened, clearly, there were a number of very good reasons to hide the truth: Firstly, an attempt had to be made to keep it from his men already deeply shocked at losing their beloved leader who had been with them since the early days. Under the prevailing circumstances, the consequences if they found out could have been disastrous. (Coincidentally, not long afterwards when the time for surrendering had come, Jochen Peiper spoke to them and specifically told them that suicide should not be an option "because the country still needed them.") Secondly, it was considered to be defeatism at its worst and I am convinced that the people involved decided to spread the lie in order to protect Litty, his pregnant wife. Still, they could not even get the story straight. Rolf, his brother, told me that he always thought that the "bomb story" was a very flimsy fabrication, (he, as a matter of fact believes it to be entirely plausible that Heinz was shot by one of the fanatics who were still around and who objected to his point of view.) Furthermore, Heinz's son Heiner told me that he had never heard that version of his father's death. He had always been told that it had been a bullet (!!) from a sniper. I am absolutely convinced that the version of his suicide is true. Beyond that, it makes sense: Heinz had given everything he had. He was finished, emotionally and physically. The debilitating head wound he had received while in command of the assault guns during Operation Zitadelle in Russia bothered him greatly. Rolf told me that in the final months of the war, Heinz regularly had to be flown to Berlin to the hospital for treatment. He could not sleep anymore and had absolutely no appetite-there was nothing left of him and yetÂ…he kept driving himself, kept fighting a war which he must have known could not be won. Under these circumstances and considering his sense of duty, the consequences were inevitable...



Heinz von Westernhagen was a brave and decent man who deserves to be remembered with respect, love and understanding. In a different time and under different circumstances he would have been a hero. He is one of mine!