Ex-Wehrmacht hero Siegfried Müller (1920 ~ 1983): Otherwise known as Kongo-Müller, the German-born former army officer had previously served in the Third Reich’s Wehrmacht. 

Müller’s birthplace was now a far cry from the prosperity it had enjoyed during the seven years before World War II had broken out.  After the Allies carved up Germany, Crossen an der Oder where Siegfried Müller was born and raised no longer in Germany but in Poland.

Fighting under the command of Colonel Mike Hoare, whose armies Müller had once fought against the good-humored German acquitted himself well. Highly respected, the former member of the Hitler Jugend was known for his good humor, high spirits and sense of camaraderie.

During his service with the Wehrmacht Müller had fought in the Polish and French campaigns.  Siegfried Müller also experienced life and many near-death experiences on the Eastern Front. Things didn’t get much better in the Western campaigns during which Kongo-Müller was seriously wounded.

Taken prisoner by the Americans the amiable officer survived the calamity of the Reich’s downfall. When in 1947 Müller was finally released from U.S. captivity.

In the United States, there was little by the way of employment opportunities for jobless ex-Wehrmacht troops. Müller enlisted in the U.S. Army Civilian Labour Group (CLG).

RIGHT. COLONEL MIKE HOARE

This was an American labor service unit created to turn former captive slaves to modestly salaried ones.  As such Müller was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. 

Müller whilst in the United States yearned to return to his heimatland (homeland).  In 1956 the nostalgic Müller applied to join the Bundeswehr which was Germany’s post-war army.  Sadly, it was a case of danke nein danke.

However, the German army’s loss was Shell Petroleum’s gain. The mineral wealth of the Sahara deserts was up for grabs but first the task of dealing with the minefields laid by Field-Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korp during the war. Mine clearance paid well but occasionally the price was death. 

From Libya, Müller in 1962 migrated to the Republic of South Africa. It was whilst in the Republic that in 1964 he was recruited as a mercenary with the rank of Lieutenant. At the ripe old age of 42 years, Müller was the oldest of Mike Hoare’s troops.

During the Albertville operation, the ex-German army officer commanded 52 Commando which was a sub-unit of 5 Commando.

His military charge comprised approximately fifty troops. Müller was promoted to Captain but the campaign under the command of Major Hoare wasn’t successful. 

Major Hoare and Siegfried Müller had little choice but to flee after two comrade mercenaries had been killed and a further two wounded.  Müller was afterwards fired by the Irish-born major.

Siegfried Müller afterwards became an adviser for the Congolese commandant Makito. In January 1965 Siegfried Müller was promoted to major in the 6 Commando.

Throughout the campaign, Müller attached to his uniform his World War II Iron Cross First Class. This naturally caught the attention of scribblers working on behalf of TIME Magazine and the American-owned Der Spiegel (The Mirror) periodical. 

As might be expected the two periodicals made a fuss over it.  Tough shit, Müller’s Iron Cross First Class remained in place. The fighting German who from 1939 had known only the bitterest fronts of warfare finally succumbed to stomach cancer.

At the time of his passing in 1983, he was a resident of Boksburg, a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

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