Hans von Luck Hans – Ulrich Freiherr von Luck und Witten ( 15 July 1911 – 1 August 1997 ) , usually shortened to Hans von Luck , was a Colonel in the German Armored Forces ( " Oberst der Panzerwaffe " ) during World War II . He served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division , seeing action in Poland , France , North Africa , Italy and Russia . He was a close associate of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel . He is author of the book " Panzer Commander " . Early life . Luck was born in Flensburg , Province of Schleswig - Holstein , into a Prussia n family with old military roots , going back to the 13th century . Members of his family had fought for Frederick the Great during the Seven Years ' War . Luck ' s father , Otto von Luck , broke tradition by serving as an officer in the Kaiserliche Marine or the Imperial German Navy . During the First World War he took part in the Battle of Jutland , and died in July 1918 from the great flu pandemic . Germany signed the armistice four months later , ending the war . Following his father ' s death , his family was destitute . They lived for a time with a local farmer , until his mother remarried . Luck ' s step - father was a naval chaplain and an instructor at a cadet school . Luck was brought up in a strict household by his adoptive father , in what was a typical " Prussian " manner , a manner which he believed was ultimately to his benefit during the hardships of later years . On 1 April 1917 Luck enrolled in the Monastery School in Flensburg . There Luck studied the classic languages of Latin and Greek . In addition to his studies , Luck practiced horsemanship and became a skilled pianist . He became fluent in a number of languages , including French , English , and Russian . During the war , he was able to communicate with French and British soldiers , and later , during his imprisonment in Soviet Russia , he was able to use his knowledge of Russian in many negotiations , including that of his release . Luck felt his early training in classical languages served him well in later life . In 1929 , after taking his Abitur , Luck started his career as an Army officer , serving as a cadet in a Silesian cavalry regiment . He was unexpectedly transferred to the 1st Motorized Battalion in East Prussia after a short while , something Luck regretted , perceiving the cavalry as the elite force . He soon found the future " Panzerwaffe " to be to his liking , however . Through the winter of 1931 to 1932 Luck attended a nine - month course , led by Erwin Rommel , at the infantry school in Dresden , to complete his commission as a junior officer . In the autumn of 1932 Luck was promoted to Lieutenant , and in 1933 his unit were equipped with their first scout cars , marking the first step towards becoming an armoured reconnaissance battalion . On 30 June 1934 Luck ' s unit took part in the Night of the Long Knives , arresting several Sturmabteilung members in Stettin . In 1936 Luck assumed command over the 3rd company in the 8th Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion , stationed in Potsdam . Here he spent much time working under the personal supervision of General Heinz Guderian , who was responsible for forming the doctrines for the new German armoured force . Luck spent the next years serving in various armoured units , and traveled extensively around Europe when on leave . In 1939 he was posted to the 2nd Light Division , serving with the 7th Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion . World War II . Invasion of Poland . On 1 September 1939 the 2nd Light Division , under General Georg Stumme , attacked Poland . Luck led the reconnaissance force in the vanguard of the Division . Over the next days , the Division advanced through Kielce , Radom and Łódź , but it was not until 6 September that serious resistance was encountered . The Division continued on towards Warsaw , and on 9 September it reached the outskirts . The city did not fall until 27 September , marking the unit ' s end of fighting in Poland , after suffering only light casualties . After Poland , the unit returned to Germany , where the 2nd Light Division was reorganised and reequipped to form the 7th Panzer Division . On 6 February 1940 General Rommel assumed command of the unit . As a new division it was equipped with what was available . In this case the divisions single panzer regiment was equipped primarily with the Panzer 38 ( t ) obtained from Czechoslovakia . These were supplemented by a handful of German Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks . Luck was a part of the reconnaissance unit , the 37th Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion commanded by Major Erdmann . This unit was equipped with six - wheel scout cars armed with a 2 . 0 cm gun . At the beginning of May 1940 the unit was moved to the Eifel mountains area , in preparation for the invasion of France . Invasion of France . On 10 May 1940 the 7th Panzer Division , a part of 15th Panzer Corps under General Hermann Hoth , advanced into Belgium to proceed to the Meuse river near Dinant as part of the invasion of France . At the Meuse 7th Panzer was held up , due to the bridge having been destroyed and determined sniper and artillery fire from the French defenders . The Germans lacked smoke grenades , so Rommel , having assumed personal command of the crossing , ordered a few nearby houses to be torched to conceal the attack , and summoned Ju87 Stukas to dive - bomb the French defences . The German Panzer Grenadiers crossed the rivers in rubber boats , with Rommel leading the second wave across the river . The aerial bombardment , while not seeming to do much damage , psychologically battered the French defenders so much that most of them abandoned their posts and ran . The Division , still spearheaded by Luck ' s recce force , dashed further inland , always spurred on by Rommel , and far in front of any friendly forces . By 18 May the Division had captured Cambrai , and on 20 May it reached Arras . Here Rommel wanted to cut off the British Expeditionary Force ' s path to the coast , and Luck was tasked with forcing a crossing over the La Bassée canal near the city . During this action Luck was wounded in the hand , but after a night ' s rest he was back with the unit . Supported by Stuka dive bombers , the unit managed to force a crossing . The British launched a counterattack ( Battle of Arras ) with Matilda tank s , and the Germans found their 3 . 7 cm antitank guns and their 75mm tank guns useless against its heavy armor . Several batteries of 88 mm gun s and 105mm guns had to be brought up to deal with the threat . The British and French Counterattack was so effective that the German gunners found themselves firing over open sights in order to knock out the Matilda tank s and the Char B1 s . The crossing was secured after several days of fierce fighting . The 7th Panzer continued its advance , and on 27 May it reached Lille . The following day the Division came under heavy fire from German artillery due to the rapidity of the advance . During this barrage the commander of the 37th Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion was killed , and Rommel assigned Luck to this command , despite Luck being the second youngest company commander in the unit . While the British evacuated the troops at Dunkirk , the 7th Panzer Division was given a few days of rest . During this period Luck received the Iron Cross I class . On 5 June the Division resumed its advance , in a drive for the Seine river to secure the bridges near Rouen . Advancing 100 km in two days , the Division reached Rouen , only to find the bridges destroyed . On 8 June Luck led his recce battalion towards the coast , with the tanks of the Division some distance behind . On 9 June Luck reached the coast , where Rommel ordered him to proceed southwards with only his recce battalion and a battery of 88mm guns in support to capture the port of Fecamp . Upon reaching the port , Luck demanded the port ' s surrender , but due to the presence of two British destroyers evacuating troops , this was denied . On 10 June Luck ordered all his troops to open fire on the destroyers , the port facilities and the radio station in the town , in the hope of forcing the town into surrendering . Apart from the few 88 mm guns he had only the light 3 . 7 and 2 cm guns of the scout cars to help with the barrage . Nevertheless the barrage quickly persuaded the French garrison to surrender , while the two British destroyers steamed away . On 15 June 7th Panzer started advancing on Cherbourg . On 17 June the division advanced 350 km , and on 18 June the town was captured . The Division then proceeded towards Bordeaux , but stopped when the armistice was signed on 21 June . In July the Division was sent to the Paris area to start preparations for Operation Seelöwe . The preparations were half - hearted however , as it became clearer and clearer that the Luftwaffe would not be able to secure air superiority over the British coast . In February 1941 Rommel was replaced by General Freiherr von Funk . In June the Division was sent to East Prussia . Invasion of the Soviet Union . On 22 June 1941 the invasion of the Soviet Union began . Luck , now a Hauptmann , was attached to the Division HQ , and the division was attached to 3rd Panzer Group under Army Group Center . 3rd Panzer Group captured Vilnius , Lithuania before advancing on Minsk . During this advance Luck had a narrow escape , when he and his adjutant in a Mercedes cabriolet stumbled into a large group of Russian infantry along a narrow wooded track . The adjutant firing wildly , they managed to escape . After the capture of Minsk the armored spearhead continued east towards Vitebsk . After Vitebsk , Luck was again assigned as commander of the Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion , after the previous commander was killed in action . On 26 July the pocket around Smolensk was closed , with Luck ' s Battalion closing the Smolensk - Moscow road . Continuing on towards Moscow Luck encountered increasingly stiff resistance , and more and more T - 34 and T - 50 tanks , which were impervious to the 3 . 7 cm guns the recce battalion had , and could only be destroyed with 88 mm guns . This , and the lengthening supply distances , forced the advance to a crawl . By the end of October massive snowfalls and plummeting temperatures forced the advance to halt . During November only very few advances were made , although the 7th Panzer Division managed to secure a bridgehead south of Kalinin and not far from the outskirts of Moscow , with a detachment of Luck ' s command penetrating into the city itself . On 3 December Luck had to cover the retreat of the division from a bridgehead to an area east of Klin . The withdrawal could only be conducted on two roads , with very high piles of snow alongside them , meaning that no maneuvering could take place . The Soviet air force put the retreating columns under constant attack , and it suffered heavy losses . There was little antiaircraft artillery available , and the Luftwaffe had already retreated to air bases further west . Luck ' s rearguard , however , had a substantial number of light antiaircraft guns , and managed to extract itself without heavy losses . The withdrawal did not end until the German units were forced to a position 100 km from Moscow . On 2 January 1942 Luck was awarded a new honor that Hitler had created , the German Cross in Gold . Since November Rommel had requested the transfer of Luck to Africa to take over command of one of his recon battalions . 7th Panzer ' s General Funk finally allowed the order to go through once the crisis of the Russian counterattack had passed . Luck left the Russian front in late January , 1942 . North Africa . After spending February and March 1942 on leave , Luck reported back for duty on 1 April 1942 and transferred to the Afrikakorps , reaching Africa on 8 April , where he was reunited with Rommel . Luck , now a major , assumed command over the 3rd Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion of the 21st Panzer Division . Over the next two months Luck familiarised himself with the African theatre , during a lull in the fighting . On 24 May an offensive was launched towards Tobruk . On 27 May Luck ' s recce battalion , in support of the attack on the Gazala positions , encountered a group of American built Grant tanks . The Grants opened fire from such a range that the 5 cm antitank guns Luck commanded were ineffective . Luck ordered his men to set up defensive positions , but while he was directing the deployment and fire of the antitank guns , he was wounded in the right leg by shrapnel , and the doctor treating him wanted him evacuated to a field hospital . By this time the battalion , and indeed the whole Afrikakorps , was encircled by the British , however , and Luck had to conduct defensive operations . Rommel decided to withdraw through the partially defended Gazala positions , and Luck was tasked with protecting the south flank of the withdrawal . For five days Luck , with a steady dosage of morphine to ease the pain in his leg , conducted a fighting retreat with his battalion . On 1 June the Afrikakorps had managed to disengage , and Luck could finally be evacuated to a field hospital , while Rommel resumed the attack on the British positions south of Gazala . Reversal of fortunes . The wound in Luck ' s leg had become infected , and he was sent to Germany to recuperate . In mid September Luck was declared fit for duty and returned to Africa . There he resumed his command of the 3rd recce battalion , garrisoned at a pleasant oasis near Siwa on the edge of the Qattara Depression , guarding the south flank of the Afrikakorps . Here , the battalion lived a mostly carefree existence , the only threat being the occasional raid by the British Long Range Desert Group . On 23 October 1942 the lull was broken , as the British launched the attack of the Second Battle of El Alamein , and on 2 November General Montgomery broke through the German lines . On 4 November the XX Italian Corps had been surrounded , and a 20 km gap had appeared in the German lines . Rommel , despite Hitler ' s orders to the contrary , ordered a general retreat , and Luck ' s recce battalion withdrew , protecting the south flank , and scouting for any mounting threats to the retreat . On 7 November Luck linked up with General Hermann - Bernhard Ramcke who led the Ramcke Parachute Brigade . The remaining 700 paratroopers had left all their heavy equipment behind , and had walked a long way , but still remained in good fighting order . On 8 November Luck received two additional recce battalions in support , and continued operations to ensure the safety of the Afrikakorps southern flank . During the next days there were frequent encounters with British patrols seeking alternative paths to outflank the Germans . On one occasion Luck , facing the Royal Dragoons regiment , received a radio transmission from the British asking about the well being of a British patrol gone missing . Luck confirmed that the men had been captured , and were in fine form . After this a regular 5 pm cease fire was established , and the two sides swapped information about men captured and their conditions . On 20 November Luck returned to Rommel ' s HQ , where a depressed Rommel told him the battle of Africa was lost , and that all that was left to do was to evacuate as many officers , specialist and veterans as possible . Rommel also told Luck that the war was lost , and all that was left was to make a peace treaty with the allies , which would entail the removal of Hitler . Rommel claimed that only an alliance between the Western countries against Russia could save Western Civilization , and Winston Churchill was the man to lead it . On 6 December the Germans retreated to Tunisia . The severe fuel shortage curtailed operations , but on 17 December Luck and his reinforced detachment managed to flank an advancing British Armor Division , and destroy 20 tanks using the 88mm guns . On 31 December Luck was ordered further west , to secure the area south of Tripoli . The end of the campaign in Africa . On 23 January Tripoli fell to the British . A few days later Luck , leading a patrol following a report of high - ranking officers in the area , observed through his binoculars a meeting between Montgomery and what he believed to be Churchill , wearing a safari helmet . The range was considered too far for engagement , but Luck claims in his memoirs that " Actually , I thought about what Rommel said about Churchill and held my fire . " Later that month , Luck captured David Stirling of the Special Air Service . On 1 February 1943 Rommel attacked the Americans in Morocco who had landed there during Operation Torch . Luck was again tasked with protecting the flanks of the assault , and then to go on the offensive to harass the retreating Americans . On 19 February Luck was tasked with capturing the Kasserine pass in a surprise coup . The Americans were alert , however , and the heavy defensive fire spoiled Luck ' s advance . Rommel , however , led a decisive attack on the following day with the 21st and 10th Panzer Divisions , breaking through the Pass within minutes . The Americans fought stupidly , and their tanks were no match for the Panzer IV F2 ( called ' MkIV Special ' by the British ) and Tiger tanks of the Germans . Over the next days , Luck supported the advance , but his unit lost most of its armored cars and ammunition , and in the beginning of March the battalion was pulled back and kept as reserve . By the end of March the German positions in Africa became more and more desperate . Rommel flew to Germany to argue that the forces would have to withdrawn . He was rejected , and denied permission to return to Africa . Luck received orders from the new commander of Army Group Africa , General Hans - Jürgen von Arnim , to fly back to Germany to try to persuade Hitler of the necessity to withdraw experienced troops from Africa . It was hoped a battle - hardened major would perhaps have a better chance . Luck travelled to the Führer ' s HQ , but the plan was flatly rejected by Hitler ' s chief of staff , Alfred Jodl . Luck wanted to travel back to Africa , but all travel to the beleaguered forces was forbidden . By the end of April , as the situation had grown very desperate , Hitler backed down and ordered the evacuation . This was , however , too late , and on 6 May the forces in Africa surrendered , with more than 130 , 000 Germans taken prisoner . In the reserves . The next couple of months Luck spent on leave ( He was informed that he was to take 12 months leave after the meeting with Jodl , he suggested that it should be six months and he could be assigned to the Panzer Reconnaissance School in Paris . So in August he was assigned to the Panzer Reconnaissance School in Paris , where he taught new officers the tricks of the trade . In March 1944 he was sent on a short course for regimental commanders in Berlin , and in the beginning of April Luck assumed command over one of the regiments in the elite Panzer - Lehr - Division , led by General Bayerlein . Upon reaching the Panzer Lehr HQ Luck was informed that he had been reassigned to the 21st Panzer Division , that was stationed near Rennes , in Normandy . In early May Luck took up his duties there . The 21st Panzer Division had been reconstituted in late 1943 , after it had lost all its men in Africa during the surrender there . It had been put together with a cadre of experienced men from Russia , along with new recruits from Germany , and was commanded by General der Artillerie Edgar Feuchtinger , who had no combat and no Panzer forces experience . Luck was put in command of the 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment . Much of the materiel of the Division was captured French armaments , and many of the tanks and assault guns consisted of captured French vehicles retrofitted with German armor and guns . Luck ' s regiment was stationed at Vimont , northeast of Caen , with two companies of assault guns in support . The Normandy invasion . On 6 June 1944 the invasion of Normandy started . During the night Luck was startled by the reports of paratroopers landing in his area , and establishing a bridgehead on the east side of the Orne River . A quick attack was launched by the II Battalion , and it succeeded in disturbing the paratrooper operations , and capturing some prisoners . Luck was , however , hampered by the strict orders not to engage in major operations unless cleared to do so by high command . As the day wore on , the defenders on the coast were smashed , while 21 Panzer Division remained mostly motionless , apart from an order at 4 : 30 a . m . directing other elements of the unit to move against the paratroopers of the British 6th Airborne Division and thus farther away from the coast . Around 10 : 30 a . m . General Erich Marcks , commander of the German LXXXIV Corps to which 21st Panzer Division was attached , ordered the entire 21st to attack east of the Orne River . This was later countermanded from 7th Army high command , ordering only Luck ' s detachment to attack east of Orne , while the rest of the division should attack on the west side of the river . This naturally caused much confusion and further delayed the German response . Nevertheless , at 1700 p . m . Luck attempted to break through to the Orne river bridges at Bénouville with his " Schützenpanzerwagen " ( armoured personnel carriers ) , but heavy fire from the warships supporting the British paratroopers , under Major John Howard , holding the bridges drove his forces back . Added to this , more British paratroopers landed in the rear area of the Regiment , forcing Luck ' s II Battalion to fall back to avoid getting surrounded . This battalion lost its commander on the morning of 7 June . On the morning of the 9 June Luck ' s command was designated " Kampfgruppe von Luck " , and in addition to the elements of 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment already under Luck ' s command it consisted of Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 21 , 4th Company , Panzer Regiment 22 , three batteries from Major Alfred Becker ' s Assault - Gun Battalion 200 and one company from Antitank Battalion 220 ( 88mm guns ) . With this force Luck was again tasked with assaulting the Orne bridges , and recapturing them from the British paratroopers . Starting one hour before dawn to avoid the worst of the British naval and aerial support , the Kampfgruppe advanced on the village of Ranville , dislodging the enemy there , but it could not penetrate the British lines to reach the bridges . The British paratroopers had been reinforced by the British 51st ( Highland ) Division on the evening of 8 June . On 12 June " Kampfgruppe von Luck " , now further enlarged with an addition of a brigade of Nebelwerfer s , successfully reclaimed the village of Sainte - Honorine , lying on an important hill overlooking the invasion beaches . A furious counterattack by a Canadian Division resulted in the Germans having to withdraw again , after fierce hand to hand fighting . After this final attack had been repulsed , Luck determined that the British bridgehead could not be eliminated , but due to the counterattacks launched by " Kampfgruppe von Luck " , the British / Canadian forces stopped any further advance in the sector , preferring to lay mines and dig themselves in . Apart from a failed German attack on 15 June , the sector was relatively quiet for the next two weeks . Operation Goodwood . With British attempts at breaking out around Caen taking place further south , Luck , holding the right flank of the German lines around Caen , did not see any major action until Operation Epsom was launched and the British 11th Armoured Division attacked the positions of 192nd Regiment on 27 June . The British armour advanced without infantry support , and was easily destroyed in the hedgerows of the area . However , some elements of the British forces managed to penetrate the western outskirts of Caen . In the beginning of July Luck ' s " Kampfgruppe " were further augmented with the arrival of Heavy Tank Battalion 503 equipped with Tiger I tanks . Further assault gun elements were also brought in . Luck was now attached to I SS Panzer Corps , commanded by Sepp Dietrich . On the morning of 18 July Luck , returning from a three - day leave in Paris , was faced with the opening of Operation Goodwood . A heavy bombardment , followed by a creeping artillery barrage , had hit the " Kampfgruppe ' s " positions , but no action had been taken by the commander put in place in Luck ' s absence . Luck set out for the front , and to his dismay saw a large contingent of British tanks rolling over what had been the dug in positions of I Battalion / 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment , in the direction of Cagny . Spotting a Luftwaffe Flak battery of 88mm guns , Luck ordered the commander to open fire on the flank of the British tanks . The battery commander , a young captain , refused to do so , as he was under orders to engage enemy aircraft . At this refusal Luck drew his service pistol , leveled it at the man and said " Either you ' re a dead man or you can earn yourself a medal . " The battery thus engaging the enemy , Luck spent the remainder of the day furiously trying to plug the gaps in his line . Most of the " Kampfgruppes " armour had been destroyed in the heavy barrages earlier in the day , so it was left to a few scattered antitank and assault gun batteries to take on the advancing British tanks . In recent years the truth of this portrayal of Luck ' s guns has been questioned by academics such as Ian Daglish who have studied the aerial photographs of Cagny taken hours after the battle ; these show no sign of an 88mm battery or even that one had been positioned in the village . However , no suitable alternative seems to explain the heavy destruction wrought on 11th Armoured . Assuming the story is fact , the 88mm guns at Cagny had indeed stopped the British advance , inflicting heavy casualties on the 11th Armoured Division . The following division , the Guards Armoured Division did not heed the fate of the 11th , and it too took massive losses in the area , effectively halting the British armoured advance . Advancing without infantry support , the armour units were unable to overcome the entrenched antitank guns . The Luftwaffe 88mm battery Luck commandeered earlier in the day accounted for about 40 British tanks alone . In the afternoon the first elements of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler had moved up in support and the situation was somewhat stabilized . During 19 July Luck ' s " Kampfgruppe " , still supported by the SS armour , held the British at bay , counterattacking on the flanks and causing them heavy losses . The British advance ground to a halt after having covered only 9 km , and suffering the loss of some 450 tanks . In the evening the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend relieved Luck ' s men . For his important role in defeating the British in Operation Goodwood Luck earned the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 August 1944 as Major and leader of the Panzergreandier - Regiment 125 and was promoted to Oberstleutnant . The Falaise Pocket . A week later , after some time to rest and reinforce , the 21st Panzer Division was sent to the Villers Bocage area south of Bayeux to prevent a breakthrough in that area . This was the same area where Michael Wittmann and his Tiger crew almost single handedly had defeated a British thrust on 13 June during the Battle of Villers - Bocage . On 26 July Panzer Lehr ' s lines were broken , and 21st Panzer Division reoriented themselves on this new threat . On 31 July General Patton broke through at Avranches . With this all the German divisions in Normandy were in danger of being encircled , and a rapid retreat was ordered . Luck reached Falaise after two weeks of delaying action . On 17 August a British attack split the 21st Panzer Division , leaving half inside the now emerging Falaise Pocket , while Luck ' s command found itself on the outside . " Kampfgruppe von Luck " was now tasked with holding the Western end of the gap open , and succeeded in holding it open until 21 August , allowing about half of the 100 , 000 trapped troops to escape , though most of the heavy materiel and vehicles were destroyed in the pocket . A new threat was already emerging , with Patton threatening to create yet another pocket , south of the Seine River . Luck was put in command of the remains of 21st Panzer Division and conducted a rearguard action , only barely able to keep the front intact until the last German forces could be withdrawn over the Seine on 26 August . Now began an eleven - day march across the axis of advance of the American forces . On 9 September Luck ' s command reached its assigned area near Strasbourg . Here Luck established himself under General Hasso von Manteuffel ' s Fifth Panzer Army operating in the Lorraine area and eventually defending the Siegfried Line . During Operation Nordwind , Luck was ordered to participate in the recapture of Hatten , Bas - Rhin . In January 1945 , when the division was moved to the Oder front , Luck played a major role in the division ' s operations along the Reitwein Spur . He surrendered to the Soviets while attempting a breakout from the Battle of Halbe encirclement in April 1945 . After the war . After internment for five years at a Gulag in Georgia , pressure from the allies resulted in the repatriation of many German soldiers in captivity , and Luck was among those released . He returned to Germany and initially found employment at an international hotel in Hamburg , where his command of multiple languages made him a valuable asset . He eventually moved on to work in an import business . He married , and had three sons . He became heavily involved in veterans ' associations , and also lecturing military students . He also became good friends with several of his former opponents , most notably British Airborne Major John Howard . He also formed a friendship with popular U . S . historian Stephen Ambrose , at whose instigation he wrote his memoirs , titled " Panzer Commander " . After the war , Luck and Howard would have coffee together in Bénouville at probably the first building in France to be liberated from German occupation , the Café Gondrée . Because the owners were severely anti - German , Howard convinced them that Luck was a Swede . Hans von Luck died in Hamburg on 1 August 1997 , shortly after his eighty – sixth birthday .