Leutnant der Reserve Paul-Georg Kleffel: 4./Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3

     Born on September 7, 1920 in Billerbeck, Germany, Paul-Georg Kleffel's early life isn't much known and in fact, much of what we do know concerns his military career. In 1939, Kleffel joined the German Heer (Army), his qualifications permitting him to apply from the outset as a reserve officer (Reserveoffiziere). He was sent to one of the five Kriegsschulen (War Schools) within Germany to attend the standard eight week training course which Kleffel successfully passed, graduating with the rank of Leutnant der Reserve (2nd. Lieutenant) sometime in 1941. 

     Kleffel was posted to the 4./Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 (4th. Company, 3rd. Reconnaissance Detachment) which was part of the 3. Panzerdivision. The division was the third of the original three panzer divisions created by the German Army, being formed on October 15, 1935. The 3. Panzerdivision saw action during the invasion of Poland, combat in Belgium, and saw action during the Battle of France. Kleffel, however, did not go into battle with the division until Unternehmen Barbarossa (Operation Barbarossa), the invasion of Russia, that kicked off on June 22, 1941. 3. Panzerdivision was under the XXIV. Armeekorps as part of the 2. Panzerarmee which itself was under Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Center).

     Kleffel remained with the 4./Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 for the entirety of the war but curiously, much of his early combat career on the Eastern Front isn't well documented. In fact, the two volume series “Armored Bears: The German 3rd. Panzer Division in World War II”, written by veterans of the 3rd. Panzer Division, makes no mention of Kleffel until his actions in 1943-1944. What we do know is that his first position in the 4th. Kompanie was as a Zugführer (platoon leader). It was during this time that Kleffel was decorated with the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (Iron Cross 2nd. Class), Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (Iron Cross 1st. Class), Nahkampfspange in Bronze (Close Combat Clasp in Bronze), and the Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 (Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal) which is more often referred to as the Ostmedaille (Eastern Medal). The latter, a campaign medal, was received for service in Russia between November 15, 1941 and April 15, 1942. On November 16, 1943, Kleffel (now a Oberleutnant der Reserve;1st. Lieutenant) was awarded with the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (German Cross). This decoration was received for either repeated acts of bravery under fire or for examples of exceptional military leadership. A part of the prerequisite to being awarded this medal was to already have earned the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse which Kleffel had.

     On April l13, 1944, now Kompaniechef (Company Commander) of the 4th. Kompanie, Kleffel and his unit was situated in a wooded area to the east of Orhei (today in the Republic of Moldova). There, they spotted Soviet infantrymen advancing through the woods and Kleffel understood that if the Soviets were allowed to establish themselves there, it would pose a very real threat to the German defensive lines to the south of Orhei. Without orders, Kleffel moved to attack, committing eight Schützenpanzerwagen (SPW), the term German officers used for the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 (Sd.Kfz 251) half-track. As the half-tracks crested a hill, Soviet anti-tank guns greeted them but skillful use of the terrain and mobility of the half-tracks allowed Kleffel to maneuver to the flank of the Soviet infantry where the machine-guns tore into the Soviet troops, sending them into a panic. Not one to pause, Kleffel pushed the attack against the routed infantry, chasing them despite driving into the effective range of the Soviet guns. The Soviet troops, part of a regiment, were decimated but before the Soviets could mobilize a counter-attack, Kleffel pulled his half-tracks back to his line. For this action, Kleffel was presented with the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) on May 14, 1944. Kleffel, during his combat career, was wounded seven times though interestingly, his known decorations do not include the Verwundetenabzeichen (Wound Badge). Even if the injuries were relatively minor, it would have certainly been enough to warrant the Verwundetenabzeichen 3. Klass. In addition, sometime in the latter half of 1944, Kleffel was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain).

     Kleffel survived the war but whether he served any time as a POW is not known. He finished an apprenticeship and starting in 1949, he worked in the film industry until 1956 when he joined the Bundeswehr. Entering into service as a Hauptmann, in keeping with his rank from World War Two, Kleffel completed his general staff training and became the G3 (operations) staff officer for Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 from 1959 to 1963. He then spent a year at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Leadership Academy) until 1964 when he transferred to, interestingly, the 3. Panzerdivision as their Chief of Staff. Promoted to Oberst (Colonel), Kleffel became a planner in 1968 at the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (Federal Ministry of Defense) until taking over as the commander of Panzergrenadierbrigade 16 whose command he held until April 30, 1972. Following that command, Kleffel moved to lead the III. Korps until September 1973 when he then assumed command of the 12. Panzerdivision until September 30, 1976. Kleffel would hold several other positions until he retired from the Bundeswehr on September 30, 1980. Bundeswehr decorations he received included the Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Cross of Merit 1st. Class) in 1973 and the Großes Verdienstkreuz (Commander's Great Cross of Merit) in 1979.

     After retiring, Kleffel became the manager for Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (Johanniter Accident Aid), a Christian charity organization. He remained as manager until 1987. Paul-Georg Kleffel died in Bonn, Germany on February 19, 2020 at the age of 99.

     The photograph here is likely a postwar autograph card. It shows Kleffel as a fresh Leutant der Reserve as denoted by his schulterstücke (shoulder boards) and he is wearing the Dienstanzug für Offiziere (Service Uniform for Officers) in the Modell 1936 style, evidenced by the dark, blue-green collar. That is could be postwar is that the photograph is cropped in such a way as to not show the swastika of the adler (eagle) above the right breast pocket. The display of the swastika in Germany was banned following the approval of Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code), Section § 86a in the 1950s.

Hitlerjugendführer: Leader in the Hitler Youth

     In 1933, the Hitlerjugend (HJ; Hitler Youth) became the official youth organization of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; National Socialist German Workers’ Party). Starting at age 10, boys were expected to participate in the HJ and once in, received indoctrination on NSDAP ideology and as time went on, the HJ became a para-military organization with military training taking more and more precedence over more mundane activities such as camping. As German armed forces suffered more and more losses, it was only a matter of time before the HJ became a manpower pool to be tapped. At first, HJ boys took the places of adult firefighters, postal workers, railroad personnel, etc. who were called to arms. By 1943, plans were in place to begin using the HJ in combat, the most notable being the 12th. SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. When the Volkssturm (the German militia) was organized in October 1944 and any man aged 16-60 was conscripted into it, HJ youth were among them. It was said that HJ combat squads fighting in the last gasp for Germany amongst the rubble during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 were the fiercest of fighters, in part to their entrenched ideological beliefs in German superiority.

     While not a great photograph, it shows an HJ leader (the HJ armband can just be seen on his left arm) with a full complement of para-military awards. On his right breast pocket is the HJ Proficiency Badge. This was considered a very prestigious award, showing both the physical and ideological proficiency of the wearer. On his left breast pocket is the round Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP (NSDAP party badge) which displayed his membership in the NSDAP and beside it is the HJ membership pin. Below the party badge is the political SA-Wehrabzeichen (SA Sports Badge) which was awarded for excellence in physical fitness and athletic competition. The final award is the Deutsches Reichs-Sportabzeichen (German National Sports Badge) which was the military equivalent to the SA Sports Badge.

     Interestingly, the German Sports Badge (first appearing in 1913) is still able to be earned today and is the oldest German decoration still being issued. Today, it is a civilian issued award, given through the Deutsches Sportabzeichen (German Olympic Sports Confederation). The award is open to German military personnel and military men and women from allied nations (including the United States) as well as civilians. To earn it in one of three grades (Bronze, Silver, Gold), points must be earned in five events which test swimming, jumping, endurance, speed, and physical strength. To earn the badge in Bronze, at least 4 points must be earned, Silver is a minimum of 8 points, and Gold a minimum of 10 points. The badge, as it was during the war, is still held in high esteem and its awarding is a requirement for admission into some German police services.

The Libyan Civil War: Rebel BMP-1 Turret Technicals

     Two Libyan rebel NSTVs (Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles) or “technicals” as such vehicles are known in professional military circles. During the Libyan Civil War, rebels made heavy use of technicals as did pro-Gaddafi forces. The rebels utilized technicals as a means to create high mobility vehicles to rapidly deploy troops as well as conduct hit-and-run engagements. Such vehicles were a necessity given the rebels had very little in the way of vehicles capable of mounting heavy weapons and genuine armored vehicles and tanks were a rarity in rebel forces. 

     These two technicals are fitted with turrets removed from BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles (likely taken from captured but non-functional BMP-1s). The turret houses a 73mm 2A28 "Grom" low-pressure, smoothbore semi-automatic gun along with a coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. From other images of similar “tank trucks”, a square metal support frame is locally fabricated upon which the turret is placed, the entire support frame secured to the bed of the pick-up truck. It is unlikely the electric turret traverse is kept (no doubt to save weight) and so the turret has to be turned manually. One such truck, involved in the Battle of Galaa in June 2011, showed that when firing, the weapon operator manually loaded the gun (as the automatic loader was either not present or discarded) and dismounted the truck although a simple computer chair was situated beneath the turret for the gunner. The operator reached his arm up into the turret and used his hand to trigger the gun. Upon firing, recoil was experienced on the truck though not to a significant degree though how many shots the support frame could take before failing is not known. 

     It is doubtful that these “tank trucks” fire the gun while on the move and are more likely used as mobile, direct fire artillery as the gun can fire a high-explosive round in addition to a HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) round. In most cases, the 1PN22M1 6x/6.7x magnification image intensifying monocular periscope sight used by the BMP-1’s gunner is kept (seen to the left of the gun on the turret top). The flat rail on top of the gun mantlet is for the fitting of a 9M14 Malyutka (NATO codename AT-3 Sagger) ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile) though no rebel “tank trucks” have been seen with a Sagger mounted.

The Russian OSV-96: The 12.7mm "Burglar"

(Mustafa Karali, Associated Press)

     Taken in 2012, a rebel fighter in Syria took the time to pose for Associated Press war photographer Mustafa Karali. He is holding a captured Russian OSV-96 sniper/anti-material rifle which had been seized from Syrian army forces during combat actions in the city of Maraat al-Numan. The OSV-96 is the refined and improved result of the initial rifle designated the V-94 “Volga” which was designed in the early 1990s by the Instrument Design Bureau (KBP in Russian abbreviation). 

     The OSV-96 fires a special 12.7X108mm cartridge (with the nomenclature of 7N34) to ensure accuracy at long range. If need be, the OSV-96 can fire more standard 12.7X108mm ammunition but typically at the cost of accuracy at range. The weapon uses a free-floating barrel and a sizable muzzle brake to reduce recoil. The weapon has a nickname, “Взломщик”, which means “Burglar” in English. 

     Entering service with Russian forces in 1996, users today also include India’s elite Marine Commandos (MARCOS), Belarus, Vietnam (who makes the rifle under license), and as illustrated by this photograph, Syria (rebels and government).