1. Otto, were you issued with the "Kapmesser" paratroopers knife? The "Kapmesser" - funny, I completely forgot to mention that at all, because I never had one but was at times very keen to have it.
2. Did you join the Hitler Youth and if so, did you enjoy it? Yes I was in the Hitler Youth and enjoied it in the beginning but soon found out , that it all was a bit of a bore and took away a lot of my personal time.
My name is Otto Walter Renger. I was called up to the Reichs-Arbeits-Dienst at the age of 17
in August 1943 and served in the RAD for 3 months nearby a village called Brueckstaedt.
We received mostly pre-miltary training and were digging aircraft shelters and doing some
farmwork.
After my homecoming, I was soon called up for service in the Luftwaffe in
Nov. 1943 and I had my base training in Angouleme/France. This took not quite 3 months and
I was sent to Jump-school in Bar-le-Dux / France. This Jump-School training was broken
off, after an infectious disease had broken out and we were quarantined. In the meantime,
the Allies had landed in Anzio-Nettuno/Italy and we were sent to combat as an emergency unit
to that theatre of war.
I served with the 4th Fallschirmjaeger Division. My initial unit posting was to 7th Company, Sturm Regiment, 4th Division.
I spent all my time as a Fallschirmjaeger in Italy and was part of the
retreat from Velletri/south of Rome up to Medicina near Imola. During my time in Italy I received pioneer and sniper training.
I was taken POW in Medicina by the New Zealand Maori Batallion on the 16 of April 1945 and shipped to Egypt were I spent my time as a POW in Camp 306,
IGPWC 2723, IGPWC 2777 and IGPWC 3113.
I was sent home to Germany in August 1948 and arrived at my parents place on the 3rd of Sept. 1948.
We were not issued with one in Jump-School because we jumped only on a treeless clear acre and meadow. The idea of the Kapmesser was to cut your lines in case you were hanging off a tree etc. The Kapmesser was not realy a combat weapon but still its blade was approx. 15-20 cm long and very much desired by the young Italian boys. (Later it became the weapon for the Maffia) By the way,I never heard or seen anithing of the Maffia in the war)
No, I did NOT have a choice to the branch of service in the army.
4. How did view soldiers of the Waffen SS?
I regarded the frontline soldiers of the Waffen SS no different to other Soldiers. A political status was not presented by them with the exception of the German regulatory press.
5. At school did many boys express their interest at joining the Waffen SS?
Yes,in school there were quite a few boys who expressed their wish to enter the SS as soldiers.
6. Did you ever catch a ride on a Tiger tank?
Yes,I had a 5 km ride on the back of a Tiger-Tank,sitting near the hot exhaustpipe and almost got burned. We hopped on the Tank on a day of retreat in order to regroup somewhere with our unit.
7. Was their rivalry between the regular army units and the paratroopers?
The Infantry regarded the Paratroopers a bit as a "show off" but it was nothing else as an expression between the young and the old. We were too young,they were too old........ nothing serious.
8. Did you witness Allied soldiers being frisked for souvenirs by their German captors?
No, I never seen a German soldier taking souvenirs from Allied prisoners, but taking them from dead ones.
9. Did you ever meet a member of the Ramcke Fallschirmjager Brigade that fought in North Africa?
I never met the man Ramcke in person however I know that on the northern outskirts of Hamburg there was a Gaststaette (pub sounds in German a bit like a cheap establishment) with the Name "RAMCKES-GASTHAUS". I only visited it once on a Friday afternoon coming from Hamburg going to Kiel. I frequented this route because of my job situation that made me travel often to Hambg. I was told by a friend of mine (dead now) that in "Ramckes" I would find a lot of the old-hand Fallschirmjager fellows. The bar counter was taken up by about a dozen men in their forties and I only found a free place at one of the tables. By listening to their loud conversations I could hear that they talked mostly from the 1st Division and considered the 4th Div. as a kindergarten of greenhorns. I kept out of their converstation but could overhear when someone asked for another beer by calling the 60-70 Year old Bartender "Papa noch ein Bier bitte". Since I had never seen General Ramcke's picture, I assumed it was him.
However I now know that it there was no link between the actual General Ramcke and this establishment other than that it was a fallschirmjager meeting place. At that time it was still an offence for the gathering of former "Nazi" veterans, so obscure venues such as these were used for this purpose.
10. Did you ever meet a Waffen SS paratrooper?
No, I never meet a SS Paratrooper personally.
11. Did you ever operate in conjunction with Kriegsmarine ground forces?
No Kriegsmarine in combat role, not on land
12. Was Hermann Goering respected amongst the Fallschirmjager?
Goering was respected by his Hermann Goering Div. people, but later he was not taken to seriously
13. Did you use the MG34 and MG42 machine guns?
I knew the MG 34 and MG 42 very well, but was impressed by the so incredible fast firing MG 42 (23 rounds per second) It sounded like a Spray Gun..
14. Did you use the MP38 and MP40 sub machine guns
Yes , used in practice shooting the MP 38 and MP 40 and later the "F" Gewehr.
15. Did you feel your combat training was adequate to meet the rigours of battle?
No training, no matter how good , will meet the demand of a Man to Man battle....
16. Did you feel a sense of pride at being a fallschirmjager?
In my time,being one of the first d r a f t e d Fallschjg. I felt no special pride since we were nothing but an elite unit by name....
17. Weere there any traditional phrases spoken before a parachute jump
My traditional saying after jumping from the Aircraft was "Please ,dont let me pee in my pants"
18. Was your unit ever supported directly by panzers?
I was never supported by Tanks in a Battle but I was laying only metres away from a new Tiger that fired his gun towards the enemy to empty his Ammo and to be blown up afterwards. The bang of the gun and the shells leaving the barrel was an awesome experience.
19. What was the size of a "Tross" unit (combat supply unit)
The size of a Tross Unit was approx.10 men, mostly older soldiers or coming from Hospital without beeing fully recovered for frontline duty.There was also a "Frontline Tross" Mostly Portable Kitchen unit...
20. Did you ever take any Allied soldiers prisoner?
I never took one Allied soldier Prisoner but I heard a story where a shot-down American Pilot was taken by our Neighbouring Unit and send with 2 Guards to the rear. They were found after a few days by our Milit.Police......drinking and singing in an Italian Trattoria. They had drunk their way through several other pub,s.
21. In your prisoner of war camp were there any Waffen SS men?
Yes we probably had some Waffen SS men in our camp,but they stayed "incognito"
22. In your prisoner of war camp were there German soldiers who had served in other theatres of war apart from Italy?
No there were not many German soldier who served in other Campaigns as in Italy,not that I know of. But yes,there were harrowing tales of atrocities carried out by the Russians against our soldiers.
23. What encounters did you have with New Zealand troops?
I only encountered NZ troops on my day of taken POW by Maori soldiers serving under the british.
Footnote: While history books outline the strategy and tactics of World
War 2 it is the personal accounts of former soldiers that provide a true insight into life
during this conflict.
Many thanks again to Otto Renger for his willingness to share these vivid descriptions of life as a Fallschirmjager in
World War 2.
If anyone reading this would like to provide their own
reminiscences or know of a veteran who would be willing to do so then please contact me
at phil@bphprint.co.nz
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