Bernhard H.Holst

Hello Chris. Impressive picture. When I see these mitres in wear I wonder how long they did last on active service. After the battles under Frederick the Great the fields must have been full with lost fancy headwear . Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Thank you for posting this truly sad story. The wound nature was indeed severe ( l. thigh fracture ). Who knows what complications set in that took his life. Certain medications were not available after the capitulation which might have saved his life. Apparently upon discharge from being a PoW he entered a hospital for some time. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: Signature of Gen.Lt. Hans Freiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, while commander of Greater Paris in 1944. Recipient is the Lt.Colonel Kurt von Kraewel then commander of a Sicherungs Regt. stationed in Paris who on 20.July 1944 was tasked by Gen.v. Boineburg to arrest all SS and Sicherheitsdienst members. That mission was successfully accomplished. After the collapse of the coup they were released under a pretext. Both officers evaded any consequences and survived the war. BTW: v. Kraewel was recipient of the German Cross i.Silver with date of 8.March 1943 while on staff duty on the Eastern Front. This writer is the custodian of v. Kraewel's surviving military documents. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Dave. Thank you for a very interesting post concerning this little known unit which had very important missions to fulfill. I have always been intrigued by it and now my curiosity has finally been satisfied. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: Thank you for this post. I am from the area of the former Kingdom of Hanover from which most of the members of the Kings German Legion were formed I have a special attachment to such items. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Kevin. An April 1945 allied air raid on Potsdam destroyed the depository for imperial military records as you are certainly aware of. I understand that Bavarian, Saxon and Wuerttemberg records survived in their respective local archives. That is due to their somewhat special status within the German Empire. But we or rather I do not know what official methods existed in regards to Soldbuch / Wehrpass and such documents pertaining to General/Admiral Officers once their service ended. WW I for Germany ended in an orderly still administratively functioning government. WW II however was mainly chaos with many personal documents lost for different reasons. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello. I do follow offers of both Imperial and Third Reich era documents and through your post come to the same conclusion. What if any regulation(s) existed that covered the issue of General Officers personal i.d. and such is unknown to me. As to Kaiserliche Marine documents to heavy surface units crew their absence is also noticeable. Thank you for bringing up this subject . Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Pete. Thank you for posting the additional information. Nightfighter may have possibly caused the downing of this plane or antiaircraft fire, we will never know. But somehow a closing to this one event among uncounted othersis arrived at. Tragically so near to the end of the war. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Andy. Well Gremmels seems to be the one after all. I.R. 77 was a Hanoverian regiment ( 2.Hannoversches Infanterie Regiment Nr.77 ). RIR 215 was apparently recruited from Hanoverian area. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello readers. I do agree with Andy re. Gremmers. The letter before the last on third or fourth look must be "r". Grey c. :The Goslar location given as the location of the cap's maker seems to point to Jg.Bataillon 10 (Hannoversches) garrisoned in Goslar. Distinguished with the "Gibraltar" cuff title. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris. I have reviewed the history of this battalion and was unable to come up with a similar name in any of the personnel lists contained in it. I read the name as K. Gremels or possibly Gremmels considering the horizontal stroke atop the "m" indicating a "mm". Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Tim. re. Stawny, Adalbert (4.Battr. d.Ers.Batls.) .... is simply a grammatical clarification indicating 4.Battr. des Ers. Bataillons. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Michael. That would be nice. My current health unfortunately gives me little energy to even compile a list of my Foreign Legion unit fatal losses which is up to date and close to my heart. But such is fate/destiny or whatever we want to call it. Am lucky to have made it this far... Bernhard H. Holst

Hello. It seems such people are at work wherever items in demand can be gotten by trickery and then sold to most often, unsuspecting collectors. H.M. prison system I dare hope has its ways to give special accommodations and such to deserving felons. BTW: this writer had the opportunity to see the very accuracy if not to call it surgical precision with which the Edertal Dam was taken out when visiting the immediate area shortly after the attack. My hat is still off to these daring air crews from the then other side. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Brian. Should he or she shoot back at the pictured shooter he will end up with a whole bunch of rock fragments in his precious body ( the steel pot/battle bowler notwithstanding ). The spare magazines appear to be tottering already. Please take this from a former service man as constructive criticism who has only your very best interest in mind though rooting for the one less powerfully armed. This writers experience is with the French automatic rifle ( FM 24/29 ) very similar to the Bren. Bernhard H. Holst PS: not likely to be driven to drink but enjoying your writing as always. B.H.H.

Hello readers. Lt.d.R. Frauendorf, Martin was born Dec.11. 1883 and in peace time owned a factory. At the time of his activities leading to the award of the Military St.Henry he commanded the 5th Company of the Saxon Inf.Rgt. 102. He distinguished himself during the Battle of the Somme against French troops. The award is dated 12. Oct. 1916. He survived WW I. This information is taken from the ref.book of recipients of the Military St.Henry . Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Kevin. Thanks for your latest post. Budapest flights must have been hair raising. Breslau also comes to mind. A fellow I worked with flew Italian three engine planes ( ...-Marchetti ) similar to Ju-52. His usual route was Italy to Wiener Neustadt. Wather also a factor with flying across the Alps... Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Kevin. I agree with your statement above. I happen to have documents incl. flight logs to flying personnel of bomber units also used for supply missions. One contains entry of the last supply flights to Stalingrad, reading of which is difficult ( posted elsewhere here on this forum). Hit by A.A. and attacking fighters. Another was involved in support of the Cholm encirclement. Yes, under-rated element compared with fighter pilots, Stuka and even bomber but deserving our attention. Thank you for showing this. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Thank you for showing this. I believe in some states making up the German Empire from 1871 to 1918 special decorations concerning the Golden Anniversaries were bestowed. First time I see one over the signature of our then President, Generalfeldmarschall v. Hindenburg. Bernhard H. Holst, born in 1931 while v.Hindenburg was president

Hello Kevin. You are bringing up another interesting subject. The large folder you describe, with the large Hoheitszeichen ( eagle on top of swastika in wreath) on the outside page and used to contain the promotion / appointment document still pops up for sale as a single item. But does not of course contain any date. So it is difficult to establish any time frame for its use. Of note should be the general efforts to save on material/ manpower which became more pronounced during the later years of the war. For example a prelim. Knightscross document in my collection dated December 1944 was typed with such used up typewriter ribbon that the writing can hardly be made out. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Kevin. It may also have been caused by reason of the formal, large size document being unsuitable to be sent via Feldpost, shipping took place via regular mail to the recipients home. At that stage of the war shipments may have gone astray, destroyed en route, already occupied by Allied Forces etc. But it is conceivable that issue of the large, formal document may have been stopped entirely as you suggest. I have in my collection the packing envelope of one D.K.i.G. addressed to the home of the recipient. I always enjoy your contributions. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris. Same here. Tried until my head ached then needed rest. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris. Kampfwagen Abzeichen in 1917??? Verwundeten Abzeichen in 1917??? Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Dave. You mention a possible reason why he did not receive a higher rank. I can think of other. He may not have adequate I.D. on him when he died. Noting the date of death, he may have been stripped of any rank insignia. Having been artillery in WW I was considered ineligible to serve with Volkssturm as officer grade. He may have been in transit/awaiting assignment when overtaken by events. Like so many others a sad ending but he appears to have found a decent final resting place. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Mattyboy. Here goes: seinem lieben P. Vo...? zur Erinnerung an seinen alten Flugzeugfuehrer Friedrich ...? Feldflieger Abteilung 63 Russland Sorry I am unable to read the names. s.l. means "seinem lieben" and is a commonly used abbreviation. Bernhard H. Holst