The Valour and the Horror

World War Two, saving private ryan, Second World War, W.W.II

KURT MEYER As quoted in "The Valour and the Horror"

Kurt Meyer was the commander of the Hitler youth division which fought at Ardenne. Meyer is dramatised in "The Valour and the Horror."

On Caen:

V&H 01:16:57:02 Even the birds were silent. Before us lay the naked bodies of over 100 German soldiers, their hands tied with wire, horribly slaughtered. The officers were mutilated and in pieces.

On the 12th S.S.:

V&H 01:17:51:00 They are so young. I tell them, no smoking, no drinking and no brothels. Platoon leaders are like older brothers. Training is realistic, war conditions, live ammunition, the casualties that result have to be accepted. For their motto, I gave them, "I am nothing, we are everything" In all my years of fighting, I never had a troop as good as this one.

On the battle of Abbey Ardenne:

V&H 01:19:31:28 From the Abbey, I could see the coast and motorized columns heading towards us. My trap was set. I intended to slice through this brigade like knife through a melon. My objective - the beaches. After our three years in Russia, these Canadians were to us "kleine fische" - little fish. I gave the order to open fire.

After the battle:

V&H We counted 40 tanks destroyed to the 12 we had lost. We had overrun their battalion and thrown their brigade back. More importantly, we have completely stopped the Allied advance.

On POW's:

V&H 01:32:06:15 On the 7th of June I was given a notebook taken from the body of a dead Canadian captain. In addition to handwritten orders the notes stated that 'no prisoners were to be taken'. Some Canadian prisoners were asked to verify these instructions...they confirmed orders that if prisoners impeded the advance, they were not to be taken.

On the aftermath of Verrières:

V&H 02:36:06:10 The Canadians had made a cemetery out of my front line. What I see now is no longer war but naked murder. My young grenadiers, the oldest barely eighteen, they have not yet learned how to live, but God knows they have learned how to die.