Team Yankee: Marschendorf - the untold story

You may have seen my previous post where I wargamed the hitherto little known skirmish in the vicinity of Vechta fought between units of the former NVA and the Bundeswehr on the 11th August 1985 around the hamlet of Marschendorf: Team Yankee: Hasty Attack at Marschendorf

Well it seems I have opened up a can of worms - I have had indignant emails and photos from veterans of the Luftwaffe who were operating in the skies above Vechta that day, and there is photographic evidence that at least one sortie was flown against the East German attack down the E37 corridor: 

Indeed it was quite effective, disrupting a potential attack by modern T-64 tanks which might have turned the scales. 

So I apologise to, and thank, those veterans for putting me right and correcting this missing piece of the story! (My thanks to former Stabsfunkmeister Scali Bach of the Luftwaffenführungsdienstkommando Nord for the correction and imagery.)

However, on a more positive note, my blog has prompted locals living in the area to send in some of their amateur photography - mainly of the approaching NVA columns - motor rifles above, and 122mm Self Propelled guns below:

Amongst these treasures sent it was this amazing sequence of stills developed from a damaged Super 8 reel, taken by a remarkable young lady, only 14 at the time, Innerscent Beistander, showing an engagement sequence in and around the hamlet itself - showing just how near the East Germans got to their objectives:

The sequence opens with a pair of Leopard 1s jockeying around the barn and farmhouses...

And then entering the village square...

Opening fire - and the grim and fiery result....a Soviet T-64 knocked out!

I also though you'd be interesting some of the photos sent in by former OberPanzerKanonier Schaut Lauda of some of the artillery batteries involved in the action - obviously these were taken as the batteries were arriving as Schaut was soon to become too busy for taking snaps!

Schaut was sent off up the hill adjacent to his batteries position to range in, and took this photo looking down on his battery of M109Gs of the 15th Panzer Artillerie Batalion.

He also snapped off some photos of the Division's MRL batterie setting up nearby - but he doesn't think their salvoes intervened in the fighting around Marschedorf - too busy fighting off the main thrust against Vechta - thems's the breaks when you're only involved in a 'skirmish'!