The US Army Special Forces, known as Green Berets, were created in 1952 by the US Army Psychological Warfare Center, headed by Brigadier General Robert A. McClure. The original 10th Special Forces Group was formed in June 1952, and was commanded by Colonel Aaron Bank. Its formation coincided with the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which is now known as the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Aaron Bank had served with various Office of Strategic Services (OSS) units, which included Jedburgh teams advising and leading French Resistance units before the Battle of Normandy, or the D-Day invasion of 6 June 1944. This is the reason why Colonel Aaron Bank is considered the father of the Special Forces. The 10th Special Forces Group was deployed in Bad Tölz, Germany the following September, the remaining cadre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina formed the 77th Special Forces Group, which in May 1960 became 7th Special Forces Group.

Motto: De Oppresso Liber

Ballad of the Green Berets (video)

The tunnel rats were American and Australian infantry soldiers whose task was to carry out underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong guerrillas had built a complex system of tunnels in which they hid themselves and their weapons when their were under attacks. They were extremely dangerous, with numerous booby traps and enemies lying in wait.

When one of these tunnels were discovered, tunnel rats were sent in to kill any hiding enemy soldiers and to plant explosives to destroy the tunnels. Equipped with only a standard issue .45 caliber pistol and a flashlight, tunnel rats were usually short o small men in order to fit in the narrow tunnels. It has been claimed by Mangold and Penycate that the tunnel rats were almost exclusively phlegmatic and collected White or Hispanic soldiers with steel nerves. The successful application of tunnel rats took place in January 1966 during Operation Crimp, a combined US-Australian action against the Cu Chi tunnels in Binh Duong Province.

Tunnel Rats in Vietnam

The Volkssturm was a German national militia which was created during the last months of the Second World War. On October 18, 1944, as the tide of the war had changed, Adolf Hitler founded this fighting militia. Males, who were not already serving in some military unit, between the ages of 16 to 60 years were conscripted as part of a German Home Guard. The word "Volkssturm" derives from the two German words "Volk" plus "Sturm;" that is to say "people" + "storm," storming people.

During the Battle of Berlin, Volkssturm units fought fiercely in many parts of the city. This battle was particularly devastating to its formations, since many members fought to the death to defend their country against the Soviet invasion. Another important Volkssturm battle was the Battle of Königsberg.

Volkssturm members being trained in the use of the Panzerfaust (video)

The 1st Panzer Army was a World War II German tank army, which was an important armored component of the Wehrmacht field forces. Known as the 1.Panzerarmee in German, it was created on November 16, 1940. The first designation of this Panzer unit was 1st Panzer Group, or Panzer Group Kleist, since it was under the command of Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist.

The 1st Panzer Army remained attached to Army Group South until July 1944. By that time German troops had been pulled out from the Ukraine, and the Soviets were threatening Warsaw. In March 1944, the 1st Panzer Army was encircled by two Soviet fronts in the Battle of Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket. Nevertheless, a successful breakthrough was made, saving most of the manpower but losing the heavy equipment. Until May 1945, the 1st Panzer Army fought its entire time on the Eastern Front. The 1st Panzer Army was disbanded on May 8, 1945. Its last commander was General Wilhelm Hasse.

Insignia of the 1st Panzer Army

The German 6th Army was a field army which was created after the Franco-Prussian war and the German unification by the second half of the 19th century. The glorious 6th Army had its baptism of fire during World War I and its nemesis during World War II at the hands of the Russian winter, collapsing at the Battle of Stalingrad, for which it is best known. It was mostly composed of infantry elements. As a field army, the German 6th Army was a formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group. It consisted of a headquarters, which usually controlled at least two corps, and a variable number of divisions.

When Operation Barbarossa was launched on June 22, 1941, the 6th Army was the spearhead of Army Group South in its drive into Soviet territory. In January, 1942, Friedrich Paulus was appointed commander of the 6th Army, replacing von Reichenau, who had suffered a heart attack. The new commander led the 6th Army during the ferocious Second Battle of Kharkov, which took place in the spring of 1942. The victory at Kharkov sealed the 6th Army’s destiny as it was selected later that year by the German High Command for the attack on Stalingrad. As the German 6th Amry could not capture the city fast, the Russian winter came and the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, which was a Soviet counter-attack by Soviet that surrounded the Germans in a pincers movement from November 19 to November 23, 1942. Thus 6th Army was trapped. A relief operation, called Operation Wintergewitter, conducted by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein failed to provide the Germans with adecuate military and food supply. By January 31, 1943, the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus had been reduced from 800,000 men to 85,000, and on February 2, Friedrich Paulus surrendered.

The 6th SS Panzer Army was a military unit of the Waffen-SS. It played a very important role in the Battle of the Bulge, which took place from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945. Created in the Autumn of 1944, the 6th SS Panzer Army belonged first to the German Army (Heer) and was known as the 6th Panzer Army, or 6.Panzer-Armee in German. In November 1944, it was transferred to the Waffen-SS, just a month before the Ardennes Offensives and was put under the command of Sepp Dietrich. It did not receive the SS designation until after the Battle of the Bulge, but the SS designation came into general use in military history after the World War II for the formation as assembled prior to that campaign.

When the Ardennes Offensive was called off, the 6th SS Panzer Army was transferred to Hungary. Then, in March 1945, it launched Operation Frühlingserwachen, which was the German offensive around Lake Balaton. During this operation the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf was part of this Panzer Army. In April 1945, towards the end of the war, the 6th SS Panzer Army defended Vienna during the Soviets Vienna Offensive. When the war ended, on May 8, 1945, the 6th SS Panzer Army was in Austria in the area between Vienna and Linz.

The Waffen SS Division Totenkopf was the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf, which was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. The division was famous because of its insignia and the fact that most of the initial enlisted men were SS-Totenkopfverbände, or SS concentration camp guards. The Totenkopf division was numbered with the "Germanic" divisions of the Waffen-SS. These included also the SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, and SS-Panzer Division Wiking.

The high casualty rates meant by late 1943 virtually none of the original cadre were left. However, while the division’s record in the brutal Eastern Front fighting to follow is quite clean, its reputation lingered. After surrendering to the US 11th Armored Division, Third Army, at Linz in May 1945, the members of the division were marched to Pregarten where they were turned over to the Soviets. The senior officers were executed by the NKVD, others were also executed as they were shipped to Siberia. Only few of them survived captivity to return to German.

The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was the 12th German Waffen SS armored division, which fought during the last phase of World War II. The majority of its enlisted men in the Hitlerjugend Division were very young men, teenagers, drawn from members of the Hitler Youth born in 1926. The division first saw action on June 7, 1944, as part of the German defense of the Caen area during the Normandy campaign.

As the German Military was having a serious shortage of manpower after the surrender of the 6th Army at Stalingrad in February 1943, plans were put forth to create a 12th division in the Waffen-SS. Unlike some other divisions which were made up of foreign volunteers, this division would be created using the all German members of the Hitler Youth.

In September 1943, over 16,000 recruits had completed their basic training and were listed on the rosters of the SS Panzergrenadier Division Hitlerjugend. When the division was further training continued in Beverloo, Belgium, it was notified that it was to be formed as a panzer rather than a panzergrenadier unit. In October 1943 the division received its final designation, 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. Many of the recruits were so young that they were supplied with sweets and candies instead of the standard tobacco and alcohol ration.

In April 1944 the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend moved into its reserve area northwest of Paris and was declared fully operational. On D-Day, June 6, 1944 it was ordered to operate on the left flank of the 21st Panzer Division and throw the enemy west of the Orne into the sea and destroy him. When the Allies took the Normandy beaches and its surrounding areas, the SS Division Hitlerjugend, which consisted of 20,540 men, marched into the area to the north and west of the city of Caen.

The British and Canadian troops had been ordered to capture Caen within 24 hours of the D-Day landings. On the morning of June 7 the Hitlerjugend Division attacked and delivered many stinging defeats to the allies on that first day of battle. This SS Division fought so ferociously that they kept the allies from taking Caen for over a month. The British and Canadian outnumbered these young German SS soldiers both in men and material, but the fighting spirit of this elite division stopped operations ‘Epsom’ and ‘Goodwood’ in their tracks.

After the invasion battles the division was sent to Germany for refitting and on December 16, 1944, was once again sent to the front. The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend fought against the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge, in the Ardennes forest. After the failure of the Ardennes counteratack, the division was sent east to fight the Red Army near Budapest, but eventually withdrew into Austria.

The SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend surrendered to the Americans in Enns on May 8, 1945 with a strength of about 10,000 men. Proud and defiant until the end, they refused to drape their vehicles with white flags as ordered by the Americans and instead marched into captivity as if on the parade ground.

The Order of Alcantara originated as a small religious-military fraternity founded in 1156 by two brothers from Salamanca, Suero and Gomez Fernandez. Based at the small town of San Julian del Peral, near Ciudad Real, it received Papal approval by Bull of Alexander III of 29 December 1177. This, while granting Gomez the title of Prior, did not define either the rule by which the brothers must live or their spiritual obligations although, they were given permission to receive Chaplains. In 1183 their superior was given the title of "Master" and they were bound to a moderated rule of Saint Benedict, to enable them to fulfill their martial duties.

The knights of Alcantara were inevitably drawn into the civil wars between the Kings of Aragon, Castile, Leon and Navarre, despite the fact that they were in breach of their vows in that they had to take up arms only against the Muslims. At the same time there were quarrels within the Order itself and, in 1318, a group of knights petitioned the Master of Calatrava, as Reformer of their Order, to intervene on their behalf. The Master of Alcantara, Ruiz Velazquez, refused to accept the superior jurisdiction of the Master of Calatrava and prepared his defenses against attack. After a bitter struggle in which many were killed on both sides, a truce was declared and each took their complaints to the Chapter-General of the Cistercian Order. As a result the Master, Grand Commander and Clavero, who refused to accept this decision, was removed. Suer Perez de Maldonado was then elected as Master of the Order.

When Suer Perez died, his brother Ruiz succeeded him but then resigned, leading to the election of one Master, Gonzalo Nunez, sponsored by Alfonso IX of Castile and Leon, another elected by the knights at Alcantara, Ruiz Perez. The King’s candidate, Gonzalo Nunez, still claimed the title of Master so the King persuaded Master Perez to accept a visitation of the Superior of the Cistercians and the Master of Calatrava, who recommended Perez’s resignation and Nunez succession, which duly followed. Nunez proved to be a brave and capable leader of the Order, distinguishing himself and the Order against the Moors until he fell foul of the King’s mistress. Alfonso, wishing to arrest Nunez, ordered him to Madrid but the Master refused and fortified the various castles of the Order. Although the King imposed another Master in the person of Nuno Chamizio, Nunez could count on the support of the majority of the knights at first and allied himself with the King of Portugal.

Unfortunately for him the knights were unwilling to continue to resist the royal authority and when he was declared a traitor by King Alfonso, they abandoned him to his fate. In 1338 he was beheaded and his body burned. Despite a temporary union under one Master, the Order continued to be divided by internal squabbles and once more found itself in conflict with the Crown during the reign of Pedro the Cruel. These divisions continued through the fifteenth century until 1473, when the Duchess of Plasencia obtained a papal brief appointing her son, Juan de Zuniga, Master of the Order, using the pretense that the post was vacant. The knights and two other rival Masters refused to accept this act, but eventually King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel forced them to do so. Zuniga became the sole Master from 1473 until 1494, when he resigned in favor of King Ferdinand, who had two years earlier obtained a papal bull granting him the administration of the Order.

The Order of Calatrava was founded in 1157 by Don Diego Velazquez who was a Cistercian monk based at the Monastery of Fitero in Navarre. Velázquez persuaded his Abbot, Ramón Sierra, to permit a group of monks to form themselves into a military confraternity to defend this strategically crucial town from Islamic attacks. It would be a mistake to suppose those rough medieval warriors sought in the cloister only a comfortable asylum after a dangerous career. It was the other way around, as in Calatrava, those who had been monks became knights and monastic life was really a warfare.

The Order of Calatrava was confirmed as a military order through a Papal Bull given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164. This placed the knights under the Cistercian rule but autonomous from the Cistercian Order itself, but its teachings provided them with an ideal of religious-military life, giving the Order unity and a strong sense of discipline and purpose.

As the Order acquired greater possessions in Castile, disputes emerged between different groups of knights. Meanwhile the Cistercians themselves tried to reassert their authority over the Order, demanding successfully in 1187 that the Master of the knights only be elected with the approval of the Cistercian Abbot of Morimond, in Burgundy. The early years saw rapid growth, with estates being acquired in Navarra in 1163, Portugal in 1175, and Aragon in 1179.

The Knights of Calatrava’s first military services had been brilliant, and in return for the great services they had rendered they received from the King of Castile new grants of land, which formed their first commanderies. They had already been called into the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon, and been rewarded by a new landed estate. But these successes were followed by a series of misfortunes, due in the first instance to the unfortunate partition which Alfonso had made of his possessions, and the consequent rivalry which ensued between the Castilian and Leonese branches of his dynasty. On the other hand, the Moors of the Iberian Peninsula, wishing to recover their lost dominions, called to their aid the Moors of Africa, thus bringing on the new and formidable invasion of the Almohades. The first encounter resulted in a defeat for Castile.

In the disastrous battle of Alarcos, the knights were overpowered and, in spite of splendid heroism, were obliged to leave their bulwark of Calatrava to the Muslims in 1195. A year later Don Diego Velazquez died. The knights then proceeded to elect a new Grand Master. By a compromise, the master of Alcañiz was recognized as second in dignity, with the title of Grand Commander for Aragon. The scattered remains of Calatrava had meanwhile found a common shelter in the Cistercian monastery of Cirvelos, and there they began to repair their losses by a large accession of new knights. They soon felt themselves strong enough to erect a new bulwark against the Muslims at Salvatierra, which they kept for fourteen years. But in the course of a fresh invasion of the Almohades, Salvatierra, in spite of a desperate defense, shared the fate of Calatrava in 1209.

Pope Innocent III asked foreign crusaders to help the Iberian Christians. The first event in this holy war, now a European one, was the reconquest of Calatrava in 1212, which was given back to its former masters. In the same year the famous victory of Las Navas de Tolosa, in which King Alfonso VIII of Castile and King Sancho VII of Navarre thrashed the Berber Muslim Almohads, thus marking the decline of Muslim domination in Western Europe. Having thus recovered possession of the stronghold, and resumed the title of Calatrava in 1216, the Order moved to their new quarters of Calatrava la Nueva in 1218, eight miles further south, extending thus the border of Castile. In 1221 the Order of Monfrague was merged into that of Calatrava.

From this new stronghold the Calatrava Knights’s influence spread throughout the Peninsula as new orders sprang up, such as Alcantara in the Kingdom of Leon and Avis in Portugal, both under Calatrava’s protection and the blessing of its Grand Master. This spirit of emulation, spreading among all classes of society, marks the climax of Iberian chivalry. It was then that Ferdinand III the Saint, King of Castile dealt a mortal blow to the Muslim power in 1235, conquering their capital city, Cordoba, which was followed by the surrender of Murcia, Jaen, and Seville.

By this time Calatrava had lands and castles scattered along the borders of Castile. It exercised feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals. Thus, more than once, we see the order bringing to the field, as its individual contributions, 1200 to 2000 knights, a considerable force in the Middle Ages. The Order of Calatrava also enjoyed autonomy, which meant they were independent in temporal matters and acknowledging only spiritual superiors like the Abbot of Morimond and the pope. These authorities interfered, in consequence of a schism which first broke out in 1296 through the simultaneous election of two Grand Masters, Garcia Lopez and Gautier Perez.

Garcia Lopez appealed to the Pope Boniface VIII who referred the case to the Disciplinary Assemble at Cîteaux, where Lopez was reestablished in his dignity in 1302. But later Garcia Lopez resigned over a quarrel with his lieutenant in favor of Juan Nunez. These facts sufficiently prove that after the fourteenth century the rigorous discipline and fervent observance of the order’s earlier times had, under the relaxing influence of prosperity, given place to a spirit of intrigue and ambition.

By the 15th century royal encroachments began in the election of the Grand Master. In 1443 the King Juan of Castile persuaded some of the knights to depose their Master, Ferdinand de Padilla, and elect Alfonso of Aragon, natural son of the King of Navarre. Although Padilla resisted he was killed in an accident and Alfonso was elected unopposed. In the late 18th century the Order of Calatrava had revenues of 180,000 scudi per year. But its profits were confiscated in the nineteenth century and by the time of King Alfonso XIII the duties of the knights were primarily honorific.