Bernhard H. Ramcke is perhaps one of the most fascinating and mis-understood Generals in the German military of WW2.  Many author proclaim him to be "Von Ramcke", of noble Prussian birth, and a fanatical Nazi. None of those are true. He was, however, one of the few officers to have served in the German Navy, Army, and Air Force.

Ramcke was born to a typical farming family, and when old enough joined the German Navy as a cabin boy. When WW1 came there was a great need for ground troops and he was transferred to a Marine detachment fighting in the Trenches of Flanders. There he distinguished himself, won decorations and a promotion to lieutenant. It was not common for such a man to become an officer in the German Army, but what is more impressive is that he was one of the few allowed to remain an officer in the post war shrunken German military.

 With his ground combat experience he went from the Naval Marines tot her Army and began to make his way up the promotion ladder. With the rise of the Nazi party Ramcke, like all good professional officers, refused to make any political stand and did not join any political party. The military felt it self above such matters and served under whomever the German people had appointed. This is the key to understanding Ramcke. He was a professional soldier and his motivations were his military career and promotions- which were enhanced by decorations.

He did not receive a combat command with the invasion of Poland; he was relegated to the position of observer. This lack of modern combat experience would have limited his future ability for promotion, so when he had a chance to transfer tot he Luftwaffe's new paratrooper arm he jumped (no pun intended) at the chance to be a part of this exciting new force. Making his name during the invasion of Crete when he was sent in as a replacement for an officer casualty, he later took on command of a Brigade in North Africa. When General Rommel withdrew leaving Ramcke and his men stuck out on the flank in the desert, everyone expected him to surrender. Not Ramcke. He started marching his men back to German lines, captured a British supply train and brought his men, the trucks and their British POW crews back to friendly lines.

Sent to Russia to command paratroops as ground forces, Ramcke was reportedly bitter that his men were being mis-used. Sent to Brittany to rest a      nd refit his division, Ramcke fell back as ordered into Fortress Brest as the Americans advanced. Given command of the forces there he held out longer than anyone could hope.   He showed how dangerous he was early in the siege. Hearing that a number of his men were held as prisoners and being mistreated by French Resistance, he sent a small force through Allied lines, rescued and brought them back into friendly lines.

At the end he was supposed to be flown out by seaplane to return o Germany as a hero, but the plane was grounded due to mechanical problems. Taken to Britain after his surrender, he bragged to fellow prisoners about how he had kept the Americans waiting while he got his final report sent off via radio. This was recorded a secret POW Camp system which spied on high ranking German officers to see if they would tell one another any important information.  For his defense of Brest he was awarded Germany's top decoration The Knight's Cross with swords and diamonds  Only 27 Germans were so decorated in the war.

Sent to a POW camp in the United States, he became infuriated when the camp guards began to mis-treat the pows. With all mail censored, he snuck out of the camp one night, wrote a letter of complaint to the local Congressman, mailed it at the post office and slipped back into camp. The poor treatment was stopped.

After the war he brought to France to be tried for war crimes. No charges could be found to hold against him, and one of the witnesses testifying on his behalf was his former foe at Brest : General Troy Middleton. Sick of waiting for the French to try and find something to hold him on, he escaped from prison. He finally agreed to return when a deal was struck to stop the attempt at prosecution and served a few months (plus time served). He finished his life selling building  materials and passed away in 1968.