German sailor who refused to obey Nazi orders to blow up Bordeaux dies aged 91 . . . in France



A wartime German sailor who refused to obey a command to blow up the French port of Bordeaux for his Nazi masters has died at the age of 91 - in his adopted homeland of France.



Heinz Stahlschmidt was that rare thing in the Third Reich; a man who followed his conscience instead of his orders when the tide of war began to fall back on the regime he served.

By his actions he not only saved thousands of lives, but a vital component of the post-war economic recovery of France.



Heinz Stahlschmidt, pictured in Bordeaux, is credited with saving the French port during World War II. He died today aged 91

Bordeaux was the country's most important harbour city, vital to its prosperity and the lynchpin of the wine trade with Britain, then as now the biggest international importer of the region's celebrated wines.



But while was recognised as a hero by France - and awarded the country's highest civilian decoration of the Legion d'Honneur - he was regarded as a traitor in a post-war Germany.

He was struck from the list of naval personnel regarded as eligible for a pension and his name erased from honour rolls of the German navy, despite the fact that he had survived three sinkings of warships in the service of the Reich.

France was never so ambivalent: his courage in defying his Nazi masters earned him undying gratitude and he was referred to today in newspapers as the 'Bordeaux Choltitz' - Choltitz being the commander of Paris in the war who refused Hitler's orders to destroy the entire capital rather than let it fall to the Allies.

Stahlschmidt died in his adopted homeland of France as Henri Salmide, his new name for a new life, after a long illness.

He returned only once to Germany, to his birthplace at Dortmund, in 2001, preferring to spend his days among people who appreciated his valour and humanity.

The son of a plumber, who volunteered for the German navy in 1939 upon the outbreak of war, Stahlschmidt was posted to shore duties after three times being rescued from a watery grave as his vessels were sunk beneath him.

Heinz Stahlschmidt was awarded the Legion d'Honneur after his brave actions in Bordeaux

In Bordeaux in 1944 it fell to Sgt. Stahlschmidt - a weapons and demolitions expert - to lead a detachment that defused British sea mines laid to try to stop German vessels from entering the Bay of Biscay.

In August of that year the Allies were steamrolling their way through France following the successful June landings in Normandy on D-Day.

On August 19 the order came from Berlin to destroy the entire port infrastructure - stretching over seven miles - before retreating. The date was fixed for August 26.

Stahlschmidt, ordered to carry out the devastation, struck first on 22 August. A bunker at Rue Raze in the docks was filled with detonators, explosives, plungers, timers and other hardware needed for the spiteful demolition.



He destroyed the lot with dynamite.

He said years later he was 'sorry' that some German soldiers had died in the mammoth blast that shook practically the whole of Bordeaux.

But he added; "My family were Huguenots (protestant Christians) and I acted according to my Christian conscience. I could not accept that the port of Bordeaux be wantonly destroyed when the war was clearly lost,'

Stahlschmidt then deserted, presenting himself to the resistance in the city and offering himself up as their prisoner after telling them what he had done.



They protected him from a vengeful high command who branded him a traitor and gave orders to military police to either arrest or shoot him on sight.

Heinz Stahlschmidt became a French citizen in 1947 under the name of Salmide and a Knight of the French Legion d’Honneur in September 2000.

French historians estimate that he saved 3,500 lives by refusing to carry out the orders to obliterate the wharves, cranes, warehouses, dry docks and other installations of the port.

He took a job in the port fire brigade where he worked for over 30 years, married a Frenchwoman and raised a family. He was honoured with the award after a campaign by French war veterans that began in 1990.