Johannes Joachim Theodor Krüger

The lone gunner of Flesquières is a possibly mythical German officer who is credited with destroying up to 16 British tanks at Flesquières, France, during the first day of the Battle of Cambrai on 20 November 1917. British tanks were generally successful in their attacks on 20 November, except at Flesquières, where many were disabled by German artillery. British Commander-in Chief Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig visited the battlefield two days later and was given an account by a British officer that stated that many of the tanks were destroyed by a single German artillery officer who had remained with his gun when his men fled and was killed at his post. Haig included the account in his March 1918 dispatch on the battle. It provided a convenient excuse for the failure to progress at Flesquières and a reminder to his men of the importance of close cooperation between infantry and the tanks.

The story was retold in various works after the war, though the British official history of the battle and other works have labelled it a myth. In the post-war era, the Germans, particularly the Nazi Party, were keen to celebrate the lone gunner as a hero and efforts were made to identify him. In 1929, a work by fervent Nazi Lieutenant identified Unteroffizier Johannes Joachim Theodor Krüger of No. 8 Battery, 108th Field Artillery Regiment, as the lone gunner. This identification may be spurious; Krüger was badly wounded in battle and died in British captivity on 10 December. Former members of the 108th Field Artillery Regiment suggested Feuerwerksleutnant Behrmann, commander of No. 9 Battery, as a more likely candidate, though his unit was based at Marcoing on the day of the action.

Background Map of the Battle of Cambrai, showing British gains from 20 November to the end of the month. The 20 November attack by the 51st Division on Flesquières is shown at upper left Frustrated by the stalemate of trench warfare, the British had developed the tank as a weapon to break through German defensive lines. It was first deployed at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916 but was prone to bogging down in mud. Tank Corps commander Brigadier-General Hugh Elles proposed an attack on the firmer chalky ground near Cambrai, which had seen little fighting and whose ground was not cratered by shell holes. The German lines here were heavily fortified and, thought to be unlikely to be attacked, manned by units recovering from casualties suffered elsewhere on the front line. At 6:20 am on 20 November 1917, a British attack, preceded by a short artillery bombardment, was launched. It included 500 tanks and men from 8 infantry and 5 cavalry divisions. The attack was a success east of Flesquières, with the German line overrun and tanks pushing to the rear.

Further advances were made elsewhere on the front on the following days but German reinforcements were rushed to Cambrai and counterattacks from 30 November reversed many of the territorial losses. The battle ended on 6 December. The British had taken little ground but showed that the tank could break the strongest of defensive lines. He stated that "the first thing we came to was a German field battery, every gun out of action with the exception of one. By this was lying a single German officer, quite dead. In front of him were five tanks, which he had evidently succeeded in knocking out himself, single-handed, with his gun. A brave man".

The story gave Haig a convenient excuse for the lack of success at Flesquières and provided some comfort to the British tank crews who had failed to break through.

Royal Flying Corps fighter ace James McCudden, VC wrote of the Cambrai offensive in his 1918 memoir Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps that "the advance was hung up at Flesquières by a Hun anti-tank gun which stopped a certain part of our line for twenty-four hours. When the anti-tank gunner was killed we were able to advance again. This gunner was found to be an officer, who, having had all his gun crew killed, worked the gun himself and knocked out fourteen tanks. One of our tank officers spoke very highly of the courage of this German officer. Of course, if the weather had been fine the anti-tank gun would have been spotted at once and knocked out by our low bombers, but the weather prevented the R.F.C. from taking a part in the proceedings and greatly hampered our advance". Deborah, a British tank destroyed by a German field gun on 20 November at Flesquières. Recovered in 1998 and now in the collection of the Cambrai Tank 1917 Museum. In the post-war years, some British writers attempted to discredit the story. This included Tank Corps officer Major Frederick Hotblack, who had passed by the scene of action on 21 November and noted that the positions of the disabled tanks rendered it impossible for a single gun, or indeed a single battery of guns, to have accounted for them all. He notes that if any officer was found at the battery, he could well have been a wounded German infantry commander, carried to the relative safety of the gun position. Official attention focused on the 108th Field Artillery Regiment, which had been posted to Flesquières. The lone gunner account was not mentioned in the 1919 history of the regiment by Lieutenant , though his personal memoir of 1929 included the action and attributed it to Unteroffizier Johannes Joachim Theodor Krüger of No. 8 Battery. Zindler was by then a fervent Nazi and his loyalty to the party and strong nationalism may have led to him falsely reporting on the action. Zindler admits that Krüger, as a non-commissioned officer, does not tally with the British accounts of a lone artillery officer but states that after discussions with the commander of No. 8 Battery, Lieutenant Behrmann, he was the only man who fit the circumstances. Krüger actually survived the battle, badly wounded by a gunshot, and was taken prisoner. He died in a British hospital near Dieppe on 10 December and was buried at Mont-Huon Military Cemetery.

Zindler's attribution became widely accepted at the time and is recounted in later histories by both sides. The Old Comrades Association of the 108th Field Artillery Regiment disputed the attribution in 1931, suggesting instead that the lone gunner was Lieutenant Karl Müller of No. 9 Battery, who was killed in action on 20 November.

The legend was the subject of blackened death metal band Kanonenfieber's song Panzerhenker (lit. Tank slayer) from their 2024 album Die Urkatastrophe.