Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] was born in January 1924 in Annaburg [Annotator's Note: Annaburg, Germany] near the Czechoslovakian border. He joined the Hitler Youth [Annotator's Note: youth organization of the Nazi Party for young men] when he was ten. They did excursions in the mountainous terrain. He worked and played in their garden. He worked in the fields for a farmer whose son was in his class. His father was severely wounded in World War 1 in Russia in 1915. He lost his eyesight completely on one side, his hearing, and all of his teeth. He was in what was called the Steel Helmets [Annotator's Note: Der Stahlhel, Bund der Frontsoldaten or The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers]. His mother was from Hamburg [Annotator's Note: Hamburg, Germany]. Her family were merchants. His mother did not work. König had nothing in mind as to party. It did not mean anything yet to him. He saw the columns of SA [Annotator's Note: Sturmabteilung; German paramilitary organization] and the Communists [Annotator's Note: Communist Party of Germany; the KPD] walking by with their music. He knows that his father had fought against the Communists. His father's side was the winner. With the Hitler Youth, they went into the forests. One day they caught a poisonous snake and took it to the pharmacist. He does not know what he did with it. They had a garden at the town hall. He had a few boys his age and older and they fought the Communist youth with their fists. The boys were always representing their fathers' side in the schoolyard and elsewhere.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] went from Annaburg Annotator's Note: Annaburg, Germany] to Hamburg [Annotator's Note: Hamburg, Germany] to live with his grandmother. After his father died, he stayed there with his mother. There, the Hitler Youth [Annotator's Note: youth organization of the Nazi Party for young men] training started. They had sports and they had lessons where they would read about Frederick the Great [Annotator's Note: Frederick II, King of Prussia] and other historical things. They were not brainwashed. When war began, he was too young. He lived through the air raids. After the raids, he would go out and collect shrapnel from German flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and dig out spent incendiary bombs. He would go up to the attic and watch the searchlights and German planes going after the bombers. His mother called him down to the basement. It was interesting. It was history. He only regretted that they destroyed so much and did not find it right to do that bombing on either side. He was never afraid of it. He has only been scared once in his life. They had balloons near his home, and he thought the war would be over before he could do something. He went to the recruiters twice a week, but they would not take him at 17. After he passed his exams, what Americans call college, he and his friends all decided to volunteer for the elite troops like paratroopers, submariners, pilots, or tankers. They took all those born in 1923. He was born one month too late and had to wait. In May 1942, he went to the tankers [Annotator's Note: personnel assigned to tanks]. He could choose because he was a volunteer. When he went to the recruiting office, he applied to horse cavalry. He was told that for every 15 applicants, one would be on a horse, four on scout cars, and ten on bicycles. He chose tanks. His mother was upset he volunteered for the war. When he went to the front, she did not try to stop him though. She knew that he had to do it. He was assigned to a replacement battalion. He got infantry training first. They were tested. Some became radio operators with shorter training than the others and had a somewhat easier life, but they would not become officers. König wanted to be an officer. He got his tank training and then had to get a license to drive. Officer training was tough discipline. The ones who passed, like him, got to be Lance Corporals. They then had to command a smaller group of recruits. Five of them were sent to Africa through Italy in March 1943.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] knew he was going to Africa [Annotator's Note: in March 1943]. He passed a medical examination and was classed "TDF” or fit for the tropics. He was sent to Panzer 5 [Annotator's Note: Panzer-Regiment 5], the oldest German tank regiment. The ones with nobility, like Franz Schrader, or did not get the TDF, were sent to Russia in Panzer 10 [Annotator's Note: Panzer-regiment 10]. They first trained in the smallest tank, the Panzer 1 [Annotator's Note: Panzerkampfwagen I, or Panzer I, PzKpfw I, light training tank] with a twin machine gun turret MG 13 [Annotator's Note: Maschinengewehr 13, German light machine gun]. The Panzer II [Annotator's Note: Panzerkampfwagen II, or Panzer II, PzKpfw II, light tank] with a 20mm cannon ], followed by Panzer 3 [Annotator's Note: Panzerkampfwagen III, or Panzer III, Sd.Kfz. 141, medium tank] with either a 3.7cm [Annotator's Note: 3.7 cm KwK 26, German 3.7-centimeter cannon] or 5cm cannon [Annotator's Note: 5 cm KwK 38, German 5-centimeter cannon]. They were taken to the firing range, and he was the best. They had to know everything about the tank. They got the tropical uniform but no weapons. They went through Italy to Sicily [Annotator's Note: Sicily, Italy] then Palermo [Annotator's Note: Palermo, Sicily] and stayed in a tent camp near the airport. He saw the British bombers coming. The Italian planes went the other way to not have to fight because they were cowards. Then the British bombed them, and the Italians came back unharmed. After some weeks, they were taken to a U-52 [Annotator's Note: Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft; nicknamed Aunt Ju and Iron Annie] and flew very low over the sea. There were two Focke-Wulfs [Annotator's Note: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft] with them. They landed in Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia] and the airfield had been bombed. They quickly got off the airfield and onto a train to go south. The five of them were distributed over four or five companies. He was in the 2nd, 8th Company [Annotator's Note: 8th Company, Panzer-regiment 2, 21st Panzer Division]. Everybody knew they were under retreat and were just fighting to delay the retreat and not to win. Before he got there [Annotator's Note: in 1943], the regiment had already lost many tanks. They were used to fighting against so many more. In the end, the ratio was ten to one. They knew they had to do it and there was no hesitation. His last commanding officer on 6 May [Annotator's Note: 6 May 1943] asked how many pistols they had while they were crawling through the American battle line. They had no more tanks or much ammunition for the artillery. They knew this was the end, but he wanted to try and take an American machine gun nest. He then abstained from that. They never stopped even though there was no use anymore. The fighting spirit was unbroken, except for his second commander. After the first engagement [Annotator's Note: in North Africa], König was knocked out by Hurricane 2Ds [Annotator's Note: Hawker Hurricane Mark IID, ground-attack aircraft] with 40mm cannons [Annotator's Note: Vickers 40-millimeter Class S airborne cannon]. He also took a full artillery hit on the engine deck. He was towed away. They got a new interim commander who was no good but probably because he had been in Russia. It appeared to König that the commander was not interested in having the tank repaired as quickly as König wanted it. He was in a Panzer 4G [Annotator's Note: Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. G, or Panzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 161 Ausf. G, medium tank] with a 75mm long-barrel gun [Annotator's Note: 7.5- centimeter (75mm) KwK 40 cannon]. Good gun. It had poor armor, but the gun was wonderful. König was the loader. He wanted to become the gunner. He was offered to be a gunner in another crew, but by that time he liked his crew and stayed. At the end he had a wonderful lieutenant.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] is small and had no difficulty in moving around in the tank. Sometimes he slept on one of the ammunition lockers. He was at home in the tank. It was not cramped inside. The lieutenant is still alive [Annotator's Note: at the time of this interview]. He had been in Russia and France and was experienced. They liked each other immediately. The relationship between men and superiors was very good. They were like a family and like brothers. He had one exception. He was once scolded by the Master Sergeant in front of the company. He told König he would not become an officer under him. König did not know why. When he got back to his tank, he realized he had said that he regretted his tank was not ready for action quickly enough. His First Sergeant told him he could make life turn into hell for him. Later during the fight, one tank lost the tracks, and they could not get it going. That lieutenant came to König's tank. That was the lieutenant he became friends with. He arrived in Africa 14 March 1943. He went into combat on 22 March [Annotator's Note: 22 March 1943]. He was in the 5th regiment in the 21st Division [Annotator's Note: Panzer-Regiment 5, 21st Panzer Division]. As a loader, he did not see anything in combat. He heard shells swishing by. The first time it was a funny feeling but he could not do anything about it. He did not waste any time thinking about it because he was busy. They found they had no chance because they were outnumbered. He asked his lieutenant if they could go further, and he laughed and said no. They fixed their engine overnight. The next day they got hit by Hurricanes [Annotator's Note: Hawker Hurricane Mark IID, ground-attack aircraft] and artillery. He was not there when the British [Annotator's Note: Sherman Rangers Yeomanry Tank Regiment, Royal Yeomanry] broke through and his lieutenant got captured. König had been towed away to the workshop near the coast. He prepared a Panzer 3 [Annotator's Note: Panzerkampfwagen III, or Panzer III, Sd.Kfz. 141, medium tank] because his could not been repaired. Then they did repair his tank and they tried to catch up to the regiment that had withdrawn from the Tebaga Gap [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Mareth Line, or Battle of Mareth, 16 to 31 March 1943, Southern Tunisia]. They caught up at Gabés [Annotator's Note: Gabés, Tunisia] but too late for the big tank battle [Annotator's Note: Battle of El Guettar, 23 March to 3 April 1943, Guettar, Tunisia]. He saw the aftermath.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] and his regiment [Annotator's Note: Panzer-Regiment 5, 21st Panzer Division] were fighting in the hills. They were led by Colonel Erkins [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify]. [Annotator's Note: König tells the interviewer that he does not want to go into details because an off-camera person with him is writing a book about him.] He had been apart from his regiment for about a week [Annotator's Note: getting his tank repaired]. Fighting in the hills is difficult for tanks. They had exciting moments that he will leave for the book. This was still fighting the British. [Annotator's Note: König speaks in German to the author.] 6 May [Annotator's Note: 6 May 1943] was a decisive moment in his life. He was near Mareth [Annotator's Note: Mareth, Gabés (governance), Tunisia] and was quite hilly. They had four tanks. His lieutenant and he were in the lead. They went down and got about four rounds out. They went through and behind the American battle line when they were knocked out. They [Annotator's Note: an American tank or anti-tank round] had hit the transmission case. It could not have been a bazooka [Annotator's Note: man-portable recoilless anti-tank weapon], or he would not be here. The tank started burning. The gunner and König had to turn the barrel around which was difficult. The driver could open the hatch and the lieutenant ordered them out. He looked around and thought the war had come to end for him. He saw a shell burst on the track in front of him. The radio operator caught the fragment. They threw themselves into their own tracks. They were fired at with machine guns. In Africa, with the 8th Army [Annotator's Note: British Eighth Army], they had an agreement that they would not fire on crews bailing out. The Americans apparently did not know about this. They could not crawl because it would move the stalks. They were under crossfire which was unpleasant. They had to pull themselves along and he thanked his training. He got hit on the back from the last German artillery shells. It burned him but did not hit the spine. The lieutenant asked how many pistols they had. He passed up his P38 [Annotator's Note: Walther P38, German 9 mm semi-automatic pistol], but they only had two pistols, so the lieutenant gave up the idea of taking the machine gun. The lieutenant ordered them to stay put and he would tell them not to fire on them. Then they could come back at dark. The wireless operator was taken to a hospital. König went into a little hut. They went by truck up north and stopped at RAF [Annotator's Note: unable to identify]. They were dismissed and told to take their pistols apart and throw them away. The British still bombed them. König hid in a little fold in an olive grove. He was lucky as usual. They dispersed somehow. He found an Italian who gave him some wine. The next morning an American truck came. They went on it and were taken to a big camp near Mareth.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] said to himself the Americans had no manners or did not know of the agreement. [Annotator's Note: After American troops fired at König as he bailed out of his damaged tank. The British Eighth Army and the German Army had an agreement that they would not fire on crews bailing out of damaged tanks.] He then thought he had to try and escape. He wanted to get home and become an officer. He saw two E-boats [Annotator's Note: Allied designation for German fast attack craft, Schnellboot, or S-Boot] and told the gunner he had to try it and said goodbye. He ran for it, and they could not take him. That was the worst moment of his life because he knew he would not be able to escape. He got to the American camp. Food was so scarce. It was the first time he saw American white bread which was like air. They had German black bread which was good and filling. Even today he does not understand why Americans have that bread. He was in the camp a couple of weeks and then sent to a British camp with very little food. They made cigarettes out of the tea they had. They got a little lemon juice. They only got enough tea to put on the end of a knife. They could not make fire, so it made no sense. The officers' compound was separated from them. They let the water run all day for them. The officers tried to throw water bottles over the fence to them, but they stopped it. He was not interrogated. The men told him they had 12 Jewish interrogators. At night they could hear the airplanes attacking and could hear the anti-aircraft guns. They were loaded on ships with French guards that were Black [Annotator's Note: the French had several units that were made up of African soldiers]. They tried to sell them food. They went to Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria] and to an American compound. [Annotator's Note: König and an off-camera person discuss how long he was at the camp.] He had to go to the loo [Annotator's Note: British slang for bathroom] on his hands and knees because he was so hungry. He got taken to the port. The French did not like them. On the ship, König was an interpreter and was allowed on the bridge. They organized boxing matches between the crew and prisoners. It was quite friendly. He never had unfriendly incidents with Americans. He had learned English in school and spoke pretty well. He learned more from the guards. They gave him a book by Damon Runyon [Annotator's Note: Alfred Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and author]. That is how he learned American, not English. He came back on the Samuel Gorton [Annotator's Note: SS Samuel Gorton] to Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia]. During the voyage they were accompanied by warships. They threw bombs on German submarines. They were the last in the convoy. They have a saying in German, "the last one is bitten by the dog.” Nothing happened though. They were also trained to pull the rafts to the sides of the ship.

Karl Friedrich "Charley” König [Annotator's Note: or Koenig] does not remember much about arriving in Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia] except for being deloused. When he saw guys who smoked and asked for a match, the guards would not get close to them. They were so afraid of them. He read in the paper that the guards were in as much danger as those at the front. It was bullshit. He had a good laugh. He was taken by train to Fort Smith [Annotator's Note: Fort Smith, Arkansas] and Camp Chaffee [Annotator's Note: now Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas]. König was company interpreter with an American lieutenant who had been a tanker and who was nice. He was transferred to Alva, Oklahoma [Annotator's Note: Camp Alva, Oklahoma] where they had lawyers, judges, economists. There he learned Spanish and brushed up his French. He learned law and economics. He was the interpreter for the enlisted men. After the mutiny [Annotator's Note: at Camp Tonkawa in Tonkawa, Oklahoma in November 1943], he was transferred as punishment to the officer's compound. From there he was transferred to a side camp at Okmulgee [Annotator's Note: Okmulgee, Oklahoma]. They had to harvest cotton. He was on a work detail on a ranch. He caught a horse. They went to Camp Polk [Annotator's Note: now Fort Polk in Vernon Parish, Louisiana] for a very short time and then Camp Jeanerette [Annotator's Note: in Jeanerette, Louisiana] with only tents. He stayed there in the winter and cut sugar cane. From there they went back to Camp Polk and then to Camp Shanks [Annotator's Note: in Orangetown, New York]. They then went to Antwerp [Annotator's Note: Antwerp, Belgium]. He stayed there as an interpreter for an English lieutenant. He then went to England where he worked in a cement factory on the Thames [Annotator's Note: Thames River in 1946]. He went through the wire and out into the next town over the seawall. He was finally graded as to who would go home first. He went back to Cuxhaven [Annotator's Note: Cuxhaven, Germany] and then to Munster [Annotator's Note: Munster or Münster, Germany] where he was released on 17 April 1947. He had been a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] for about four years. He never had any hateful incidents and got along well with the Americans. He had the hope and idea to go back to America [Annotator's Note: the tape stops with König mid-sentence].