Oberleutnant Heinz Halmes (Luftlandebrigade 25)

Source: Author's collection.

     Little is known about the military history of Heinz Halmes. Much of what is known comes from scattered sources including, among others, a 2015 auction in München, Germany of award documents and the soldbuch (pay book) which belonged to Halmes. Halmes was born in Aachen, Germany on April 6, 1923 and his military career, at least what has been found in documentation, started sometime in 1942 when Halmes entered into the Luftwaffe as a Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) and held the rank of Gefreiter (equivalent to a U.S. Air Force Airman rank). His initial posting was with Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 5. This was a unit first formed in May 1942 and consisted of three battalions. I. Bataillon and III. Bataillon trained for Unternehmen Herkules (Operation Hercules, the invasion of Malta) at Truppenübungsplatz Mourmelon (Military Training Area Mourmelon) which was located near Reims, France while II. Bataillon was shipped to Africa and placed under Fallschirmjäger-Brigade Ramcke. However, the Allied landings in Algeria on November 7, 1942 (and the eventual cancellation of the Malta invasion that same month) saw the two battalions in France sent to Tunisia to join up with the II. Bataillon. The regiment saw heavy combat in defensive positions around Medjez El Bab starting on November 20, 1942 and in the face of American armored attacks, gave ground five days later. II. Bataillon suffered severe casualties and further action south of Tunis against British paratroopers saw the III. Bataillon worn down. Enough reinforcements arrived to reconstitute the II. Bataillon but by December 1942, hard, but successful, defensive combat around Tebourba and Fourna stymied the Allied advance towards Tunis. What remained of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 5 was renamed as Jäger-Regiment "Hermann Göring" in January 1943 and operated under Panzer Division "Hermann Göring". It saw extensive combat from April 1943 to May 6, 1943 and suffered very heavy casualties in the fighting. Many of the survivors went into captivity but others, including a sizable number from the remains of II. Bataillon, managed to be evacuated by ship to Italy. The survivors were assembled into II./ Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 5 and placed under the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division where the battalion fought briefly in Italy through September 1943 before being transferred along with the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division to the Eastern Front in October 1943. The battalion saw action around Kirovograd but in January 1944, the battalion was withdrawn and sent to France where it would become Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 16, 6. Fallschirmjäger-Division.

     Prior to the unit change to Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 16, Halmes had been promoted to Unteroffizier (other sources say Oberjäger) which was equivalent to a Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. In this period of time, Halmes had earned the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (Iron Cross 2nd. Class) on December 19, 1942, the Verwundetenabzeichen 3. Klasse (Wound Badge in Black) on May 6, 1943, the Medaille für den Italienisch-Deutschen Feldzug in Afrika (Italo-German Campaign Medal in Africa) on June 30, 1943, the Erdkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe (Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge) on July 10, 1943, the Ärmelband Afrika (Africa campaign cufftitle) on July 14, 1943, and the Fallschirmschützenabzeichen der Luftwaffe (Parachutist Badge) on September 23, 1943.

     As 1944 arrived, Halmes was promoted again, this time to a Fähnrich (officer candidate) and he was made Zugführer (platoon leader) of 1. Zug (1st. Platoon), 11. Kompanie, Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 16. The 6. Fallschirmjäger-Division saw combat during the Normandy Invasion but Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 16 was pulled from the West Front in June 1944 and shifted to Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) on the Eastern Front. It saw brief combat in Lithuania under Kampfgruppe Oberst Schirmer from July 1944 to September 1944. On September 24, 1944, the unit was renamed to Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier-Division 3 "Hermann Göring" while in Radom, Poland. On October 28, 1944, he was made company commander of 11. Kompanie, III. Bataillon, Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 16. By this time, Halmes had received the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (Iron Cross 1st. Class) on April 5, 1944 and the Deutsches Kreuz im Gold (German Cross in Gold) on October 19, 1944. Halmes, for a very brief period of time, had been transferred into Fallschirmjäger-Regiment z.b.V. which was formed on November 25, 1944. By the close of December 1944, Halmes was the company commander for 7. Kompanie, Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 ”Hermann Göring”. In this brief period, Halmes was awarded the Nahkampfspange in Silber (Close Combat Clasp in Silver) and the Panzerkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe 3. Klasse (Luftwaffe Tank Battle Badge 3rd. Class), both dated December 15, 1944. At some point late in 1944, Halmes was promoted to Oberfähnrich (the highest rank of officer candidate) as in 1945, he graduated and was commissioned as a Leutnant. His last award was the Verwundetenabzeichen 2. Klasse (Wound Badge in Silver) which was received on January 24, 1945.

     What happened to Halmer following World War Two isn't known. However, this photograph of him shows that he survived any captivity and entered into the Bundeswehr as, not surprisingly, a paratrooper. On his left shoulder is the patch for Luftlandebrigade 25 ”Schwarzwald“ (Airborne Brigade 25 “Black Forest”) of the 1. Luftlandedivision. His rank, as denoted by the two rank pips on his shoulder boards, is that of a Oberleutnant (1st. Lieutenant). His ribbon bar consists solely of his World War Two decorations as per the 1957 regulations. The top row, from the left, is his German Cross, Iron Cross 1st. Class, Iron Cross 2nd. Class, and the Close Combat Clasp. The second row is his Wound Badge in Silver, Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge, Luftwaffe Tank Battle Badge, and the Africa Campaign Title. The last row is his Parachutist Badge and the Italo-German Campaign Medal in Africa.

     Halmer died on July 14, 2009 in St. Ingbert-Hassel, Germany at the age of 86.

The British FV4004 Conway: Not Good Enough

     When Soviet IS-3 heavy tanks belonging to the 71st. Guards Heavy Tank Regiment appeared before Western eyes on September 7, 1945, rolling down the Charlottenburger Straße in Berlin to celebrate the Allied victory over Germany, it would send a ripple of panic through the U.S. and Britain. With its pointed and well sloped front hull boasting 200mm thick armor and its low, rounded turret fitted with the heavy hitting 122mm D-25 gun, the “Shchuka” (“Pike” as the Soviets nicknamed the IS-3) became the boogieman that haunted the dreams of tank designers and tank crews. The IS-3 was the catalyst for two heavy tanks designed to beat it. The first was the U.S. M103 heavy tank which entered service in 1957 and the second was the British FV214 Conqueror which saw service starting in 1955. For the British, the delays in getting the FV214 into operational service saw the experimentation with heavy guns on existing tank chassis in order to put something into the field that both had the range and the hitting power to defeat the IS-3. One of these designs was the FV4004 Conway.

     The chassis to be used was that of the Centurion Mk.3 main battle tank and outside of the turret, the remainder of the Conway was exactly the same as the Centurion. The weapon to be used was the L1 120mm rifled gun and because the breech of the L1 was so massive, a completely new turret had to be built as the standard Centurion turret could not mount it. The turret itself was tall, a necessity to fit both the breech and allow the gun crew to operate, and was not thickly armored. By consequence, the turret, while larger and with a heavy gun, did not impose much of weight increase and so the mobility of the Conway remained good with a top speed of 21.5mph as provided by its Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The ammunition for the L1 usually consisted of Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) and High-Explosive Squash-Head (HESH). The ammunition was in two parts, the projectile and the brass propellant case. For the APDS round, the projectile was 21.4lbs. while the case was 60.9lbs. The HESH ammunition was 35.3lbs. and 41.5lbs. respectively. Because of the size of the complete rounds, the ammunition the Conway could carry was very limited. The APDS round could penetrate 390mm of flat steel armor at 1,000 yards or up to 120mm of armor at a 55 degree slope. The HESH round, on the other hand, could cause spalling on armor up to 120mm thick at a 60 degree slope at any range and this made it effective in long range tank duels in which the HESH round would not be as vulnerable to the sloping of the IS-3's armor.

     A single prototype of the Conway was completed in either 1949 or 1950 and was tested. However, by 1951, it was decided to discontinue work on the Conway. It isn't known the exact reasons as to why but it could be speculated that the limited ammunition capacity and the high profile of the Conway were not conductive to a tank destroyer. Another concern was that the APDS round could not reliably knock out the IS-3 at range leaving only the HESH ammunition which, while more capable at longer ranges, also did not guaranty target destruction. This is evidenced by the FV4005 “Centaur” project which essentially took up where the Conway left off, the new design meant to utilize the even larger L4 183mm gun which was thought to be the “one shot, one kill” weapon the British needed.

     Today, the Conway survives and is on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England. Following the cancellation of the Conway in 1951, only the turret remained so the Conway at the museum is the original turret and gun but on a different Centurion Mk.3 chassis.