The New Zealand Edge : Heroes : Warriors : Nancy Wake



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From Mailbox April/May 2002

AUSTRALIA
Re-your page on Nancy Wake under "Pitched Battle". Whilst I don't in any way doubt Nancy Wake's personal bravery and contribution to the Allied cause against the evils of Nazism, the quoted German losses (1400 dead) in your site seem most extraordinary in comparison to the Maquis losses (100), particularly when you consider the fighting quality of well-trained and heavily-armed SS troops against poorly-trained and lightly-armed Maquis in hasty retreat. How were these heavy German losses verified? Which German units sustained these losses?

22,000 SS men would indicate a sizeable unit of at least divisional strength. The only SS division anywhere near the Central Massif in June 1944 was the 2nd Panzer Division "Das Reich". After the Allied landings in Normandy, that division was ordered to transfer from its rest and refit base in Montauban (south-central France) to Normandy. Whilst in transit, that Division encountered continual Maquis harrassment, resulting in the horrific reprisals against the population of Oradour sur Glane and Tulle. Maquis operations against that Division then ceased. That SS Division's losses were 35 men.

British author Max Hasting's book "Das Reich - The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division through France June 1944" (Pan Books 1981)makes interesting, well-researched reading, particularly in relation to German troop positions in France in June 1944, the combat reputation and effectiveness of the 2nd SS Panzer Division, the Maquis harrassment actions against that Division, and their respective losses. He also comments on the French Resistance's gross exaggerations of damage and losses inflicted on the German military. You may find it interesting reading!

With respect, Karl Lintzen, Australia.

Thank you for writing. The quoted German losses come from Russell Braddon's book "Nancy Wake - The Story of a Great War Heroine" (p140). The figure is repeated in Peter Fitzsimmon's book "Nancy Wake: A Biography of our Greatest War Heroine" (p233). Fitzsimmon quotes 15,000 "crack" troops. Neither figure is referenced to a source. The specific details of the battle are not documented in either book.

Fitzsimmon's book carries this account: "What was startling when the first reports came in minutes later was the extraordinary strength of the German numbers. The scouts said the approaches to their mountain top were simply noir du monde allemagne, black with the figures of approaching Germans. This was an accurate description of the fifteen thousand crack German troops who had been sent out after the Maquis this time. These troops were supported by a thousand armoured vehicles, heavyweight mobile artillery, and ten planes in the skies above ready to strafe and bomb whoever got in their way." (p227).

We will append your note to the Nancy Wake story. Ed.