Eugène Vaulot (1 June 1923 – 2 May 1945) was a

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the nat ...

with the rank of ''

Unterscharführer ''Unterscharführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives. That event caused an SS reorganisation and the creation ...

'' in the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, who was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

Life

Eugene Vaulot was born in Paris in 1923. He trained to be a "plumber-heating" technician, then volunteered to join the

Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (french: Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchévisme, LVF) was a unit of the German Army during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially desig ...

(LVF) in 1941 and fought on the Eastern Front. In 1942–43, he served with the 1st company. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class before being partially disabled from wounds which forced him to leave the L.V.F. in 1943 with the rank of ''

Obergefreiter Obergefreiter (''abbr.'' OGefr.) is an enlisted rank of the German and Swiss militaries which dates from the 19th century. In today's Bundeswehr, every ''Gefreiter'' is normally promoted ''Obergefreiter'' after six months. The NATO-Code is OR- ...

''. In 1944 he volunteered for service with the German Navy (''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with th ...

'') and served with the 6th Company, 28th ''Schiffstammabteilung''. In September 1944, a new unit, the ''Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS "Charlemagne"'', was formed out of the remnants of the LVF and the French ''Sturmbrigade''. Vaulot transferred to this new formation with the rank of Waffen-''

''. Joining him were French collaborators fleeing the Allied advance in the west, as well as Frenchmen from the German Navy, the

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the ol ...

(NSKK), the ''

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering pr ...

'' and the ''

Milice The ''Milice française'' (French Militia), generally called ''la Milice'' (literally ''the militia'') (), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime (with German aid) to help fight against the F ...

'' security police. In February 1945, the unit was officially upgraded to a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

and renamed

33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) The Waffen Grenadier Brigade of the SS Charlemagne (german: Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS "Charlemagne") was a Waffen-SS unit formed in September 1944 from French collaborationists, many of whom were already serving in various other German un ...

(''französische'' Nr.1). At this time it had a strength of 7,340 men. The ''Charlemagne'' Division was sent to fight the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in Poland, but on 25 February it was attacked at Hammerstein (present day

Czarne Czarne (; formerly german: Hammerstein) is a town in Człuchów County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 5,747. Demographics ImageSize = width:450 height:220 PlotArea = ...

) in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

, by troops of the Soviet

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

. The Soviet forces split the French force into three pockets. One group commanded by SS-''

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppe ...

'' Gustav Krukenberg survived. It was evacuated from the coast by the German Navy to Denmark and later sent to

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 17 ...

for refitting; Vaulot was part of this third group. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class for "distinguishing himself" in combat.

Berlin, 1945

In April 1945, about 350 men volunteered to go to fight in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

in a unit which became known as ''Sturmbataillon'' Charlemagne. Vaulot went with the group to Berlin. During the fighting, Vaulot destroyed two tanks in the

Neukölln Neukölln () is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located in the southeastern part from the city centre towards Berlin Schönefeld Airport. It was part of the former American sector under the Four-Power occupation of the city. It fea ...

sector. Then on 28 April, the Red Army started a full-scale offensive into the central sector. Fighting was intense; the ''Sturmbataillon'' Charlemagne was in the center of the battle zone around the

Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...

. Vaulot destroyed six more tanks by ''

Panzerfaust The ''Panzerfaust'' (, "armour fist" or "tank fist", plural: ''Panzerfäuste'') was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light ...

'' near the ''

Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarter ...

''. He was awarded the

by SS-''Brigadeführer'' Krukenberg on 29 April.Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 April 1945 as Waffen-''

'' and as group leader in the 33. SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Charlemagne" (franz. Nr. 1) in the combat area Groß Berlin (greater Berlin). Fellgiebel (2000) p. 429. Scherzer (2007) p. 756. Vaulot was killed three days later in the early hours of 2 May by a Red Army sniper.

Life

Berlin, 1945

Notes

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