Helmut Fegelein

Helmut Fegelein was a Sergeant in the German army during that country's invasion of France. Fegelein had previously served as an assault trooper in World War I. After the war he was demobilized, but rejoined the army in the early 1920s and served under arms from then on out.

Disgusted by the fact that assault troopers fought at such close quarters that they could be killed very easily regardless of how skilled they were, he pursued a specialty that allowed himto fight at longer range, namely sniping. In 1939 he was sent to duel with the Allied sniper Vaclav Jezek. Though Fegelein was the more experienced sniper by far, Jezek outgunned him, and it was Jezek who won the duel, killing Fegelein.

Before he died, Fegelein developed an extremely antagonistic relationship with Arno Baatz. As Fegelein outranked Baatz, he was able to express his contempt far more openly than were the men of Baatz's squad.

Literary Note
Helmut Fegelein apparently bears no relation to the historical figure Hermann Fegelein, Heinrich Himmler's adjutant and Adolf Hitler's brother-in-law. The historical Fegelein has gained a certain notoreity through parody videos of the 2004 German movie Der Untergang. These videos portray Fegelein as a prankster who is forever subjecting Hitler to endless comical but uncomfortable antics.