Horrido!

General WWII era German military discussion that doesn't fit someplace more specific.
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LANKIR
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Horrido!

Post by LANKIR »

I have read that word "Horrido!" was used by both the German airforce and the army and had different meanings. In the airforce, a German fighter pilot would shout "Horrido!" over his radio when he downed an enemy plane. In this context, "Horrido!" was used to signify a victory. I also understand that "Horrido!" comes from a German Army song sang by alpine troops, but I've never seen the lyrics or have been able to confirm this. Consequently, I don't know the context in which it was used. I read a book recently written by a German veteran of the Russian Front. In his book, he said that "Horrido!" was one way of signing off military memos, letters, and other correspondence that became fashionable instead of the typical "Heil Hitler!" It was a suttle way of poking the Nazi regime without drawing attention to yourself. Since "Horrido!" was understood to mean victory, the ardent Nazi wasn't able to question your loyalty for not using the more acceptable "Heil Hitler!" Notwithstanding, it seems that it became common knowledge that the guys using "Horrido!" were pissed at the Nazi regime or at the least believed it more paletable then the Hitler thing. Anyone heard about this?

Horrido!

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Post by sniper1shot »

Not denying it, but I have never heard of the Army using it. Been reading on the War for quite sometime and can honestly say I have never heard it used to sign off papers.


Only heard it as a victory "cry" for the Airforce.


I read a book recently written by a German veteran of the Russian Front.
Can you give us the title of the book?
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LANKIR
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Horrido!

Post by LANKIR »

Yes, the book I mentioned is "In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir Of The Eastern Front" by Gottlob Herbert Biderman and published by University Press of Kansas in 2000. In the book there is an example of a written message from Oberleutnant Bidermann where he used the "Horrido!" sign off and is noted with interest by the translator. Now, the message is to an officer in the Luftwaffe, but I don't know if the Luftwaffe was in the habit of signing off correspondence that way instead of "Heil Hitler!" I doubt it. The Luftwaffe was supposed to be the most Nazi of all the services next to the SS. I remember reading where Hitler once complained that he had a reactionary Navy, a christian army, and a national socialist air force.

Horrido!

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Post by sniper1shot »

Yes, read the book sometime ago.....don't remember seeing this passage but that just means it didn't stand out as something important to me.
Thanks.
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Post by TPMM »

Hi.
Yes, 'Horrido' was sometimes used instead of 'Sieg Heil' as a "cry" for victory, especially in Nachtjagdwaffe.
I'm sure, that it was usually used as a signal to open fire in Rammjaegern units.
Other frequently used "cry" was 'Pauke, pauke' for a visual contact with enemy.

Horrido!
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Post by sniper1shot »

TPMM-
Yes, 'Horrido' was sometimes used instead of 'Sieg Heil' as a "cry" for victory, especially in Nachtjagdwaffe.
So you have heard that "Horrido" was used to sign off on PAPERWORK too?
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Post by Jock »

Hi,

The quote mentioned is from a translation of orders that Bidermann had signed - in one of the pics section of the book. I get the impression that Bidermann wasn't exactly enthused with the Nazi party and surrounding ideals, and you can tell by his style of writing that things he learned after the war only confimed his feelings. Mabye not strictly 'anti nazi' but definately more 'pro Germany', or 'Deutschland ueber Alles'.

Personally, I've never seen documented use of 'Horrido' anywhere other than in the LW (And by Bidermann, of course), but it makes sense it would be used as an alternative victory cry.

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Jock
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Post by TPMM »

sniper1shot wrote: So you have heard that "Horrido" was used to sign off on PAPERWORK too?
No! I didn't mean that. Horrido wasn't used to sing on paperwork. It was rather an informal radio message.

And I'm sure that it was used in Rammjaegerm units as a signal to commence an attack.

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Post by derGespenst »

Horrido is quite simply the German equivilant to the British "Tally-Ho" or perhaps the American "Geronimo" (thugh I'm dubious about that last). it was originally used by hunters (Jäger).
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Post by Jock »

Hi,

TPMM, If you read the first post in this topic again, we are actually discussing whether 'horrido' was ever used to 'sign off' in paperwork, as was done in at least one documented example. See Leutnant Bidermann's book, as has also been previously mentioned.

derGespenst, Tally-ho and geronimo, IMO, would have been used when entering a battle, wheras Horrido seems to be a victory call. By hunter's, do you mean the ones that stalk deer and such like?

Bidermann or the editor of his book mentions its roots in an Alpine song, as Lankir also mentioned. Does anyone have any specifics on this?

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Post by derGespenst »

Yes, Jock, I mean those who stalk deer and the like. The song in question is "Ich bin ein freier Wildbretschütz" and is a hunting song, not a military one.
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Post by Jock »

Hi derGespenst,

Thanks for the info and the title of the song. In my last post, I wasn't stating you were wrong, just saying what I thought to be common. In your experience, was tally-ho and geronimo used as victory calls in the RAF and USAAF, and was horrido used other than a victory call in the LW?

Danke, Johann.

For anyone who is interested, here is the lyrics of the song derGespenst kindly provided the name of.

http://www.herbert-fritz.de/volkslieder ... huetz.html

Cheers,
Jock
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Post by derGespenst »

I don't agree that any of the three were victory calls. I would put them more in the category of a "go get 'em, boys" kind of a yell. Certainly with the Americans, as far as i know it was only used by paratroopers as they jumped out the plane. Brits and Germans commonly called out Tally-ho/Horrido as their flight leaders led them into a dive/climb/bank to engage the enemy.

I'm sure it had many uses and using it to sign off on a document wouldn't surprise me either. After all, the equivelent to Horrido in the Afrika Korps was "Heia Safari" (which is also a song), which was used to sign off the official document that put an end to the DAK's existence.
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Post by Jock »

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I'd agree that tally ho and geronimo were "go get'em boys" calls, thanks for confirming that horrido was used in many different situations though. Didn't know that it was used by LW pilots in other situations.

I wanted to make sure you didn't think I was trying to correct you, just wanted to know what your take was.

Bandits 8 O'clock low, Tally-ho, Tally-ho!

Cheers,
Jock
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Post by Drandraufdrueber »

Horrido (jo Ho), quite symply is a well: what? Greeting, or kind of a "battle cry" (it is not aggressive) of german hunters. So I suppose every german soldier familiar with the traditions of hunters would have used it to either encourage his comrades or mark a victory (kill)regardless of wich service he was in.
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