Description
Soldbuch to Marine Artillerie Obergefreiter Otto Runge
Runge was born into a protestant family in 1924, in the area of Köslin.
His Soldbuch was issued in August 1942 by:
Marine-Artillerie-Ersatz-Ausbildungs-Kompanie Haarlem (Holland)
After a while in training and various other duties Runge was sent to a new unit.
Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung 203
Considered to be the most important battery on the South of the Scheldt.
Marineküstenbatterien are usually large strongpoints and this one was no exception. A German map of March 1944 shows the exact location of the strongpoint, as well as the presence of minefields. Actually, the strongpoint was only protected by a small minefield to its left and by a Grossminenfeld behind it, 113 Virginie.
Despite the importance of the strongpoint, the exact function of some of the smaller remaining bunkers is still unclear. As often, we extend an invitation for comments and corrections.
The MKB Cadzand also played an important role during the liberation fighting in West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the autumn of 1944. More information on this is available on this page.
This battery was undoubtedly the most important one within the Festung Schelde-Süd, considering its modern guns and excellent fire-direction equipment. The attentive reader may have noted the presence of an M195 bunker above, was aw a bunker with an open emplacement on top. Indeed, one of the guns was able to fire 360° as a result of this. Seeing the importance of this construction of another open emplacement was started in mid-September and completed on 1 October. With the Kriegsmarine wanting to keep 2 guns trained on the Schelde estuary, the other 2 were mainly used against the Canadians at the Leopold canal. On 27 October the battery had the doubtful honour of being the only one not yet captured by the Canadians.
Interestingly, on this day Runge was awarded an Iron Cross Second Class
Also on this day, the two guns still inside the bunkers were destroyed by the Germans. With the benefit of hindsight, this may have been too early, especially since the battery only surrendered on 2 November. The FuMO 214 Würzburg Riese (Seetakt) radar was the subject of quite a saga, perfectly illustrating the chaos in those days. On 6 September the Admiral Niederlanden was informed that the radar had been blown up the day before on the orders of Korvettenkapitän Immo Hopman because important parts were missing. On enquiry the admiral learnt that the device had not been blown up, but had been prepared for destruction. The operators of the radars, however, had been ordered to withdraw by the 41. Funkmesskompanie and had taken essential parts with them. The Seekommandant Süd-Holland threatened to have the radar blown up in the parts were not returned. In the absence of such a return the radar was eventually blown up on 13 October, with the approval of the Admiral Niederlanden.
When Cadzand-Dorp was liberated by the Canadians on 28 October 1944, the commander of the 64 Infanteriedivision, general Eberding wanted to evacuate the battery. It took some persuasion by the commander of the MAA 203, Korvettenkapitän Ernst Schleeweis to convince Eberding that the battery could be defended well against attacking infantry.
On 30 October the battery was attacked for the first time by Canadian infantry. As expected, the battery resisted well, using the 2 15cm guns in the open to good effect. In the following Allied artillery response 4 Flak guns were destroyed.
On 31 October the Canadians attacked again. In the process of this attack the Canadians were able to enter the battery from 2 sides, only to be repulsed and pushed back by german counterattacks, supported by the naval batteries Zoutelande and Dishoek on Walcheren. By evening many Germans were wounded. Those still unhurt were exhausted, most weapons were out of order and ammunition was extremely low. Not surprisingly the decision was taken to surrender at the next attack.
On 1 November, however, the Canadians did not attack the battery. Making use of the lull in the fighting the Germans requested the Canadians to take over 20 heavily-wounded soldiers for treatment in hospital, which the Canadians refused. In a further attempt to have their wounded comrades evacuated the Germans requested the Seekomandant to send assault boats to extract the wounded, but this was deemed impossible by the latter.
Just past noon on 2 November, the MKB Cadzand surrendered.
Another source for info:
https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/history/battlehonours/northwesteurope/breskenspocket.htm
Notes:
Finding a Soldbuch related to this battle is quite hard, a really sought after area in our collecting circles. A nice entry confirms Runge fighting against the Canadian Forces at the Scheldt on the 27th of October 1944, the day his unit did not surrender and was the only one still active in the area.
A movie made recently about this battle:
