Hans Klein, born in 1921, was a journeyman cabinetmaker before he entered the Luftwaffe’s Hermann Göring Division in 1942. Klein served in Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps in 1942-43, where he obtained the rank of Gefreiter (private first class) and earned the Iron Cross Second Class. He was held prisoner of war by the French in Africa for several months, during which time he nearly died of starvation. Klein then became a prisoner of the Americans, who kept him in the United States until his release. I spoke with Hans Klein in 1992 and 1993 about his time with the Afrika Korps. His experiences and observations about combat in North Africa reveal much about the fighting qualities of one of the Third Reich’s most famous fighting formations.

Early in 1942 I was drafted into the air force’s Hermann Göring Division. I have just read in a book published after the war that the Hermann Göring Division used only volunteers. This is not true — I was drafted directly into it, and I didn’t know any volunteers in my company. The Hermann Göring Division was a fantastic unit, and it was an honor to serve in it. The division had a very good training program. It was a good unit to be in, and the soldiers were very proud. I was sent to Utrecht, Holland, to be trained as a dispatcher.

I’m sorry to say this, but most of the men in my division thought Hermann Göring was a laughingstock by 1942. In the beginning of the war he made the stupid remark that if an Allied airplane ever reached Berlin he would change his name to ‘Meier.’ So his name was Hermann Meier in our conversations, and there was not much respect for him in our division.The first campaign I was involved in was the operation to occupy Vichy France in November 1942. We didn’t receive any opposition at all. They apparently realized that they couldn’t fight us, so we just drove right through. We ended up in Cognac, which is one of the nicest towns in France that you can imagine.

By the end of 1942 the situation in Africa became critical, so it was decided to transfer the Hermann Göring Division over there. We flew from the area of Naples, Italy, and went to Africa in Junker Ju-52s that were rather slow but very rugged airplanes. We were low-level flying, about five or six yards above the waves, all the way from Italy, so we couldn’t be attacked from the ground. We had a fighter escort and were fortunate that there were no incidents during the trip. We eventually arrived in Tunis. I was a messenger. It was my job to carry messages three or four times a week on a motorcycle from the headquarters in Tunis to various Afrika Korps army staffs. I participated in the battles there for half a year until the fighting in Africa ended.

On a typical day in Africa there was constant exchange of gunfire back and forth most of the time, but not more than 50 to 60 shots in either direction. It was just enough to keep the other side off balance. We continually protected ourselves because we were always close to the front lines. We would be right behind the forward observers who weren’t more than a quarter mile in front of the British lines. About half the time we would have patrols into no man’s land, but our activities were constantly changing. If we weren’t patrolling, we were usually sitting in our foxholes to get protection from the low-flying Allied aircraft. We usually received hot meals every day.

Most of our activity was at night. We might lay mines or go out on patrols. If we were on the front line, which was most of the time, every 15 minutes there would be a barrage of 20 to 30 shots fired at us from enemy cannons. We would try to get protection from their fire. We would usually sleep at the most convenient opportunities, between about 1 and 8 in the morning.

Our supplies of food, water and ammunition were not adequate. Most always there was a shortage of things. We were to get four liters of water a day but usually were issued only two. We rarely washed unless we were on the Mediterranean coastline. Two liters isn’t very much.

One night my motorcycle was blown to pieces. We were in our foxholes and under a bombardment when my motorcycle got a full blast. There was nothing much left of it. The Hermann Göring Division was supposed to be motorized, and we were expecting some more vehicles, but the ship got sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. We never got the equipment we needed.

Flies were a problem, and we had no control over them. Nets that we wore over our faces at all times protected us from the flies and allowed us to enjoy eating. To eat some bread with jelly, first you had to get all the flies off the bread and then quickly slip it under your net — hoping not to bring them all inside the net with you. Then there was the tremendous heat in Africa. It was maybe 110 degrees in the sun during the day. It was a terrible strain, but I never saw anyone fall unconscious from the heat. We always welcomed the cooling relief of night, but it was almost as cold at night as it was hot during the day. The African climate was strange. We had to be prepared for night duty, and we couldn’t live without a big heavy coat.

Next to my father, Erwin Rommel was the most important man that I have ever known. He was almost legendary to the soldiers who fought in Africa. We had a natural love for him. I saw him a couple of times when I was doing my duties as a dispatcher. He never spoke to me, but I was in his neighborhood and that alone was a delight for me. We knew that all the decisions he made were kept with the safety of his men in mind. He tricked the enemy, and found devious ways to maneuver around them to protect his soldiers. That’s why we fought so gallantly in Africa. The next commander we had in Africa was General Jrgen von Arnim. He was very intelligent and strong, but he was never able to form a special bond with his men. He was never with us, so we felt separate from him.

There was a great camaraderie among the men in the Afrika Korps. I don’t think there was ever an army that had better morale than we did in Africa. The Italian officers wouldn’t dream of sleeping in the same ditch as their enlisted men. In contrast, German officers were always with us. We were a unit. It was something that gave us a lot of pride. This lasted even when we were prisoners of war in America. The admiration we received from the American newspapers was even part of it. They admired us, and that made us even more proud. Our morale was very high. But I felt sorry for the Italian soldiers I saw. The Italians had a very strong camaraderie with us, but their leadership was just terrible. Our supplies may have been short, but theirs were totally inadequate. Their leadership made no attempts to provide them with the proper food or ammunition. The Italians didn’t stand up and fight, because they had nothing to defend themselves with. The Italian tanks weren’t second but third rate. The Allies had new types of tanks delivered to the front by the hundreds. The Italians were fighting with stuff that was built in 1928, so they couldn’t possibly have won. If the pressure was on them in battle they turned around and walked away. The Italians would much rather be captured than give their lives to a system that could never offer them anything. In contrast, the German army had better supplies, leadership, fairness and camaraderie. It was totally different. Benito Mussolini was not very respected in Germany.

One day we were facing three or four American tanks that went into our minefields. One of them was firing at us and I was able to sneak up to the tank and throw a hand grenade between the tracks. The noise of the grenade made them come out of the tank and surrender to us. That was one of the battles I was involved in where there was immediate danger. I was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class for my actions that day.

Our retreat in Africa was almost constant after the battle of El Alamein. The retreat was very organized on the German side, but the Italians were very disorganized. Their officers wanted to take everything with them in their trucks, including their nice double beds, kitchen equipment, beautiful bathroom outfits and all the luxuries they could carry. That was not the case in the German army. We took only the necessities — so Rommel saved most of his soldiers.

At one point we were encircled for three days in the south of Tunisia near the city of Pond du Fahs. We were under a heavy bombardment, and we were told that we might not be able to break out. There was very little chance of us escaping, so we were told to destroy any of our secret documents or equipment. We were given permission to eat our iron ration, which was a special emergency package that every German soldier had. You were permitted to eat it only as a last, desperate resort. It contained some real good energy-giving dried food and some chocolate. We expected to get killed in the next 15 or 20 minutes. Luckily, the 10th Panzer Division broke the encirclement in five or six hours and got us out.

We then continued the retreat through Tunisia. I rode in a truck, and we were in an area of about 50 to 80 miles long and about 15 to 20 miles wide. That was where all the movement was, and that wasn’t very much. We headed toward the town of Zaghouan where about 25,000 German soldiers from different units were drawing together. The units were pretty much mixed up. Normally there wasn’t much fighting going on. We were usually retreating.

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