Charley Koenig – 21st Panzer Division – Africa Corps

Charley Koenig and Paratrooper Thomas Blakey at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans

Karl Friedrich Koenig was 19 when he entered combat as an officer candidate in 1943. After arriving in Africa, he fought against both the British and the Americans as a part of the 21st Panzer Division, Regiment 5. Six weeks after he arrived, the Germans surrendered. Karl Friedrich was taken as a POW by the Americans, and transported to the United States. Actively working to improve his English skills and pick up Americanisms, he became a translator and soon went by the name Charley.

After spending over two years in camps in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, Charley and many POW’s were sent back to Europe in 1946. Expecting to return home, they were instead diverted to POW camps in Belgium, and then on to England. Finally, in 1947, Charley returned to Germany where he had a successful career in business, raising four children.

He has been an invaluable partner, sharing his wisdom in regards to peace, healing and reconciliation, as well as gaining the trust of German veterans we have interviewed.

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2 weeks ago

Happy 110th birthday, Hans von Luck!From his London Times obituary dated August 28, 1997:"Hans von Luck was born into the old Prussian officer class....went to army cadet school, from where he was posted to a cavalry regiment. But from this he was uprooted and sent to one of the first motorised battalions in the Reichswehr. At first he was disappointed not to be a cavalryman, but the move ensured that he was in at the birth of Germany's formidable panzer forces. In Saxony in 1932 he met Erwin Rommel who trained him in infantry tactics....From early on in his career he had been a protege of Rommel, who in 1942 had had him brought from the Russian front to North Africa to command his "pet" unit, the 3rd Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion. Poland; 1939. France 1940; Russia 1941-2; North Africa 1942-43; NW Europe 1944; and finally the Eastern front again just before the final collapse in 1945, von Luck had been in the thick of just about every campaign of the war."For von Luck the fight against the British in the desert was always to be the most "sporting" contest of the war. ...Towards the end of the campaign, in a Tunisian desert bivouac, a bedouin suddenly came to von Luck's tent and presented him with a letter. It was from the CO Royal Dragoons and read:Dear Major von Luck, We have had other tasks and so were unable to keep in touch with you. The war in Africa has been decided, I'm glad to say not in your favour. I should like, therefore, to thank you and all your people, in the name of my officers and men, for the fair play with which we have fought against each other on both sides. I and my battalion hope that all of you will come out of the war safe..."Von Luck went on to work at a coffee firm in Hamburg after the war with Karl "Charley" Friedrich Koenig. In time, he was invited by the British Staff College to talk about his time fighting in Normandy, particularly against the British Operation Goodwood. He met Stephen Ambrose, who became a friend, and who encouraged him to write his memoirs, a book which he released under the title: Panzer Commander (in English), and Gefangener Meiner Zeit and Mit Rommel an der Front (in German). It is an understated account, a classic, written by a true officer and gentleman, and is absolutely mandatory reading for anyone wanting to get a glimpse into the "other side of the story."#hansvonluck #Afrikakorps #Normandy #reconciliation #7thPanzer #21stpanzer #panzercommander ...

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Charley Koenig – 21st Panzer Division – Africa Corps

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