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Oberfähnrich Heinrich Rondorf
* ? + ? Suicide after the war
One of the neglected tank drivers of the German Panzerwaffe. According to most authors and sources, Of. Rondorf is credited with a total of 106 "kills", i.e. tanks destroyed.
We know that he was a Zugführer in the 3rd /s.Pz.Abt. 503 later 1./s.Pz.Jg.Abt512. Unfortunately, thanks to the fact that this tanker did not receive the Knight's Cross for his combat achievements (a certain parallel with a colleague from the same unit Fw. Kurt Knispel), it is impossible to get details of his combat career (without a detailed study of German archives).
A total of 106 victories puts him at 8-9 in the table of (according to the author) top aces. In the top ten of these aces are, together with Of. Rondorf are the other three "hundred killers". The first of them is the aforementioned Fw. Kurt Knispel (168 v.) in first place and just behind Of. Rondorf is Feldwebel Gärtner (103 wins) in an imaginary tenth place. Although not directly related to Of. Rondorf, I will pause here with the tank aces of the s.Pz.Abt. 503. The above mentioned K. Knispel is treated here in a separate biography. According to the website, Oblt. Karl (or Günter ?) Piepgrass an impressive 120 victories!! Similarly, the internet attributes about 110 victories to Oblt. Richard Freiherr Von Rosen, 103 kills to Heinz Gärtner and finally an even hundred to Oblt. Otto Sachs. That would be a total of five tankers from s.Pz.Abt. 503 with a hundred or more than a hundred victories. While of course this may not be true and one can speculate on the victories achieved globally there is one interesting fact. Both Rondorf, Knispel and Gärtner (for whom their kills are "confirmed") had low ranks!!! For von Rossen, the table states that he was Oberleutnant and admittedly with only 30 kills!!!
Late in the war, Rondorf is transferred to the 1st /s.Pz.Jg.Abt512 armed with heavy tank fighters Jagdtiger. According to some sources, he already had the rank of Leutnant at that time. During the surrender of the 1st /s.Pz.Jg. at Abt.512 Iserlohn (Germany) on 16 April 1945, three Jagtigers are captured by American photographers and cameramen (besides the escorting Sd.Kfz.250, 251 that was also a M3A1 White Scout Car). The first of them is "X1", which was the machine of Oberleutnant Albert Ernst, "X2" just Heinz Rondorf, the last was the machine marked "X8" (Zug Off.-Anwärter - waiting) of Sepp Tarlach. It is his "X-2" that has five white stripes painted on the barrel (from a distance it appears as two thicker ones) marking the victory achieved on this type.
Decoration : Iron Cross II. class(Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse): 07.12.1939 Iron Cross I Class (Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse): 08.08.1943 Deutsche Kreuz in Gold: 11.05.1944 (awarded on 19.05.1944)
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Rondorf-Heinrich-t85736#317051
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Scherf & Rondorf....
zdroj: forum.panzer-archiv.de
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Rondorf-Heinrich-t85736#332571
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Based on email communication with great-grandson of mr. Rondorf, I have changed the rank in the above text from Oberfeldwebel to Oberfähnrich
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Rondorf-Heinrich-t85736#747540
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