Wolfgang Kroll; Surrendered Stallions to Patton
The German cavalry veterinarian credited with surrendering the famous white Lippizaner stallions to Gen. George S. Patton rather than to the Russians at the end of World War II has died at his home in El Cajon.
Wolfgang Kroll, who had been suffering from a virus infection, died of heart failure at age 69.
A former staff member at the San Diego Zoo, Kroll retired three years ago as a veterinary program supervisor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kroll was born in Germany and was a graduate veterinarian of the University of Hanover. At the conclusion of the war, he and another veterinarian turned over the Austrian-schooled Lippizaner stallions to Patton.
Some of the horses came to the United States and some eventually were returned to Austria.
After the war, Kroll traveled through Europe with the Williams Circus. A specialist in equine breeding, he also spent time in the United States working with thoroughbred owners and breeders.
Kroll emigrated to America in the 1960s, becoming a U.S. citizen and accepting the post of San Diego Zoo veterinarian.
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