Old Man

Old Man, or Old Hun (known as Oldfuks in the original Danish translation): Unteroffizier/Feldwebel/Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Beier. Tank commander and platoonleader; a carpenter by occupation; hates the war and wants to go back home as fast as possible to his workshop, his wife and children. Found calmly smoking his pipe and viewed as the father figure of the group. He hails from Berlin. The Old Hun fell in Russia.

Beier is 10 years older than the others in the section, making him around 40 years old, so they call him The Old Hun or Old Man or Alte. He is married (to Liselotte who drives a Number 12 tram in Berlin), has two children - his son is named Jochem - and suffers terribly from home-sickness. He is described as a joiner by trade, apprenticed to master joiner Radajsak in Bergstraße, Göttingen. He smokes constantly a home-made pipe.

The Old Un is famous for being calm and quiet at all times - with one or two exceptions (in fact, in the later books he loses his rag on every other page). He joins in with the killing of Hauptmann Meier ('The Swine Meier' Chapter 19 Legion Of The Damned) but later claims that this was in self-defense. Beier comes out with philosophical speeches every now and then (see Wheels Of Terror Chapter 14 'Rest Camp' and Legion Of The Damned Chapter 14 'Three Girls' for examples). He writes sympathetic letters to relatives of men is his section, carefully covering up circumstances of death.

He is the commander of V Company's II platoon.

The Old Hun's death is described in 'Company Commander' Chapter 32 of Legion Of The Damned.

He is one of only 3 characters to appear in all of the 14 novels, the other 2 being Sven and Porta.