Otto Carius

Otto Carius
Carius in 1944
Born(1922-05-27)27 May 1922
Zweibrücken, Weimar Republic
Died24 January 2015(2015-01-24) (aged 92)
Herschweiler-Pettersheim, Germany
Military career
AllegianceNazi Germany
Branch
Heer
Service years
1940–1945
Rank
Oberleutnant
Units
Conflicts
World War II
Awards
Other workPharmacist

Otto Carius (27 May 1922 – 24 January 2015) was a German tank commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He fought on the Eastern Front in 1943 and 1944 and on the Western Front in 1945. Carius is considered a "panzer ace", some sources credited him with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks, although Carius, in an interview claims he had around 100 kills or less. This was also due to the fact that he did not count kills as a commander, and rather only as a gunner. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

World War II

Carius graduated from school in 1940, a year after the Second World War started. He enlisted in the army and was accepted after twice being rejected for being underweight. He first served in the infantry before volunteering for the Panzer branch. His father called tanks "metal deathtraps."[page needed] Carius was transferred to the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion in 1943 and fought in the northern Eastern Front.

In early 1945 he was made commander of a Jagdtiger company of the 512th Heavy Anti-tank Battalion fighting on the Western Front. On 8 March 1945, the 2nd Company was directed to the front line near Siegburg, where it took part in the defence of the Rhine against the American forces crossing the river, with limited success. After being trapped in the Ruhr Pocket east of the Rhine, Carius ordered all his Jagdtiger destroyed to prevent their capture before surrendering to the US Army on 7 May. He was released from captivity on 21 May.

Carius is a "panzer ace" credited with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks. Most of his kills were on the Eastern Front. He said in his autobiography that his gunner also shot down an attacking Soviet plane (possibly an IL-2) with the Tiger I's 88mm main gun in late 1943 on the Eastern Front.

Later life

After the war, Carius studied pharmacology at University Freiburg and set up a pharmacy which he named the Tiger Apotheke as a tribute to the Tiger tank. He also authored a book about his wartime experiences called "Tigers in the Mud", which was released in 1960. Carius ran his pharmacy until retiring in 2011. He died on 24 January 2015 at age 92.

Works

Awards

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Otto Carius". The Times. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 Carius 2003.
  3. ↑ Stockert 2012, p. 124.
  4. ↑ Forty 2008, p. 103.
  5. ↑ Mocanu, Adrianh (19 March 2020). "When A German Tiger Tank Shot Down A Russian Plane". Defensionem - The War Bible. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "Otto Carius, Famous German Panzer ace of WWII, dies at 92". 24 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Otto Carius: Doromamire no tora". The Hayao Miyazaki Web. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 Thomas 1997, p. 97.
  9. 1 2 Scherzer 2007, p. 257.
  10. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 152.
  11. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 86.
  12. ↑ Carius 2003, document 27.

Bibliography

  • Carius, Otto (2003). Tigers in the Mud. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-2911-6.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Forty, George (2008). Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II. Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-3049-4.
  • Scherzer, Veit [in German] (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945] (in German) (2nd ed.). Ranis: Verlag Veit Scherzer. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. OCLC 891773959. Wikidata Q131160320.
  • Stockert, Peter (2012). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 6 [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 6] (in German) (3rd ed.). Bad Friedrichshall, Germany: Friedrichshaller Rundblick. OCLC 76072662.
  • Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.