[Krotos]

Hey all,

Actually, Basileus' quote from Kurt Meyer makes my point for me. Meyer was hardly what one could term "the average soldier" or leader.

Here is a summary of Meyer taken from his Allied interogators.

"Meyer embodied the conception of the fanatical Nazi who would fight to the death for his beloved Fuhrer. Few German officers could claim more combat experience than Meyer, who had begun his service with the SS in 1933 as a member of Hitler's elite bodyguard. In 1939, he fought in Poland, and in 1940, in Holland and France. As a regimental commander he played leading role in the Greek campaign. According to his interrogation report, when Hitler invaded Russia he was at the forefront of the drive to the east.
"For three years he fought in Russia reaching almost the furthest point to be achieved by German forces, deep in the remote Caucasus. Three times he was completely encircled by Russian forces, during the retreat, and fought his way out with a handful of survivors...To him the battle of Caen-Falaise was magnificent in the best Wagnerian tradition. As he described his actions and those of his men, it seemed as though he liked to consider himself as Siegfried leading his warriors to their deaths."

Fom: Interrogation of SS Major General Kurt Meyer, n.d. ,German Generals Collection. Liddell Hart Papers, King's College, London.

I don't think men of Meyer's metal were or are all that common.

Krotos