June 1944: Killing a Kübelwagen - version 5

    One story my grandfather told more than once was about the non-commissioned officer in his Maquis unit who, through a spectacular bit of sharpshooting, shot the driver of a Kübelwagen (German equivalent to a jeep) that contained the commanding officer of a German unit. The car wrecked, killing all three men inside.  

    I have two versions of the story from my grandfather (from 30 and 44 years after the events), one from the son of his commanding officer (written in 1955), and one from a non-fiction book. You can read all four versions here.

    A couple of days ago, I found what is very likely a fifth version.  One that contains the names of the Germans killed in the wreck.  Certain details match up - The date (June 28, 1944), the fact that there was a German convoy, and that the German commander was killed when the car was destroyed, and the location (Ourches valley, on the way to La Rochette-sur-Crest).  But other details vary, like the weapons used (gun, hand grenade, sticky bomb), and the vehicles used. But, here it is, written by Nick Beale:

Obltn. Stefan Ulrich, in La Rochette, 2 km S Ourches, (no time or cause stated).Uffz. Aloysius Hennecke, at 10.00 hrs. in La Rochette, multiple injuries from an “adhesive charge” (a Gammon Grenade?).Ogefr. Werner Gaudigs, in La Rochette (no time or cause stated).

That three men of a motorised unit were killed and that a “sticky bomb” was involved suggests an attack on a vehicle or vehicles and Resistance historian Joseph La Picirella has written that a convoy of 10 trucks from Valence, each carrying a dozen men, was attacked by the Maquis en route to La Rochette-sur-Crest. He says that the vehicle carrying the detachment commander was destroyed and the bodies of the occupants were taken to the house of the mayor. This account seems to fit what is known of the deaths of Gaudigs, Hennecke and Ulrich (whose rank may mark him as the commander of the operation). The mayor of La Rochette, Paul Baude, later certified, “that on the 28th of last June the old village of the commune was burned by the Germans by means of incendiary bombs without the inhabitants being able to remove their furniture”.

    I've found independent verification of what happened to the bodies (taken to La Rochette mayor's house, and the reprisals). Now I need to find Joseph La Picirella's writings.  Pretty cool, to find more verification!