Heinz Stahlschmidt passes away at 92

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.

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