Heinz Stahlschmidt, a World War II demolitions expert in the German navy who disobeyed orders to raze the crucial French port of Bordeaux and instead set off a controlled explosion that was credited with saving the city, died Feb. 23.
…He killed dozens of Germans in the process but spared nearly 3,500 civilian lives — the number the Germans expected to die in the port blast. By saving Bordeaux — home to the country's most vital harbor and nucleus of the famed wine region — he also helped assure France had a stable platform for postwar economic recovery.
Not surprisingly, he lived out the rest of his life in France. There is more here. There are further obituaries here.
“the country’s most vital harbor..”: eh?
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