hucks216

From April 1942 to the end of the war Rudolf Petersen was Führer der Schnellboote. From April 1943 to war's end the commanding officer of 9.Schnellbootsflottille was Götz Freiherr von Mirbach. Chances are that the EK was won for one of the many actions carried out by the flotilla against the Allied ships off of the coast of Normandy during June 1944. See here for a comprehensive coverage of those operations: English Channel 1944

This is an example of his signature that I have on file.

The Volksbund lists his MIA date as 1st June 1944 but this is just a generic date which they use and he would of gone missing after that date. For similar examples for Stalingrad they use 1st January 1943. What it does indicate is that they don't have any further information about him after that date. The chances are that he was caught up in the encirclement of Brody during the Operation Bagration/Lvov–Sandomierz Offensives and went the same way of many thousands of other German troops caught up in the twin offensives. The DRK Volumes show that the vast majority of men reported missing from s.Art.Abt 841 went missing in Brody & Tarnopol in July 1944. And there is a photo of Mr Schlett so you now know what he looked like.

Nice photo. Is there a name on the reverse?

It is hard to make out what is said on page 34 as when I zoom in the image resolution makes it hard to distinguish some letters. The first hospital is Reserve-Lazarett Bad XXXXXXX, and for the second one I can make out Kp 1./104 which is a Kompanie but I can not make out the words before that. I have no idea where to find the definitions for the codes on page 35.

Medical Code 34 in a Heer/Luftwaffe Wehrpass would indicate an accident or self-mutilation. His training would be noted on a different page, usually page 21.

I keep coming back to this thread to see these documents. They are a great piece of history and fascinating how the have survived this long. Outstanding items.

Major Siegfried Hagena Born: 07 Jun 1906 Highest rank reached: Oberstleutnant Kdr III/KG zbV 1 Kdr III/TG 1 Lufttransportführer Stab/Luftwaffekommando Südost Stab/Lufttransportführer Ägäis Kdr Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 24

I have a handful of transport aircrew items and one has all of his operational flight logs and you just have to see a handful of entries to see that they were subjected to all manner of hazards. The one I have notes an emergency landing and then the aircraft being destroyed by enemy artillery, being attacked by lL-2 aircraft, shot at during a relief flight to Budapest, emergency landing due to damage from a fighter aircraft attack and so on. At least fighter pilots could try and give as good as they got or try and out maneuver against enemy fighters and flak. Transport crews didn't really have that option in their slow aircraft.

I thought that I would share images of this Wehrpass which is the final item to join my collection in 2016. It belongs to a long term member of the Luftwaffe who joined the Wehrmacht in 1935 and flew many transport missions as a pilot during WW-2 until his death in a flying accident in 1944. Transport related items seem to be an often ignored area for collectors, at least in the world of paper but when you consider that they often flew in hostile airspace in slow aircraft and laden with cargo or troops it is a wonder that more didn't win high honours. Without these transport crews many battles and campaigns would of floundered much sooner than they did so from a strategic point of view they were vital. The invasions of Holland in 1940 and Crete in 1941 and the resupply of Demyansk, Africa and Stalingrad all relied on the unwieldy Ju-52 transport aircraft and their crews. From February 1940 he served in 10/KG z.b.V-1 and as the campaign entry pages show he took part in the invasion of Norway flying reinforcements to Oslo & Stavanger in 4 sorties. With the invasion of France & the Low Countries looming he was one of many who were used to fly elements of Inf.Rgt 16 and Stab/ 7.Flieger-Division into Holland for the air-lift operation to help capture that country. In just one day the air-lift operation to the Rotterdam-Waalhaven area cost III/KG z.b.V-1 14 Ju-52's destroyed and 2 damaged. The excellent Battle Of France Then & Now shows many photos of the downed aircraft and has details on the losses but as this pilot is not mentioned I can only assume he came through unscathed. By the end of the Western Campaign he had flown 36 sorties to support the Wehrmacht's push west. In early December 1940, III/KG z.b.V-1 departed Wesendorf and flew to Foggia in Italy. The Gruppe established an air-bridge to Tirana in Albania to support the Italian campaign in the Balkans and with their 53 Ju-52's the Gruppe flew over 4,000 sorties in 50 days. In those 50 days they transported 30,000 Italian troops and over 4,500 tons of supplies in to the operational area and returned with 10,000 wounded and sick troops. At the top of page 26 this operation can be seen entered in to the Wehrpass. From early 1941 until the end of the African Campaign in May 1943 the pilot flew many re-supply sorties across the Mediterranean Sea from Catania in Sicily and Maleme in Crete, as well as sometimes being stationed at Benghazi, and including flights in to the Tunisian Bridgehead. During these operations he received the DKiG on 31st January 1942, having received the Transport Clasp in Gold in July 1941 which is a good indicator of the number of sorties flown in a relatively short span of time. Every sortie carried a huge element of danger with Allied aircraft roaming over the sea looking for the easy prey that the transport aircraft represented. No-where else was this danger better illustrated than on the 18th April 1943 when a massed formation of 65 Ju-52's from various transport units were intercepted over the Gulf of Tunis by 60 Allied fighters. Of the 65 transport aircraft, the Allied fighter pilots claimed a total of 61 shot down as well as 15 escorting Me-109's. The German's themselves confirmed the loss of 59 transport aircraft which represented a huge loss. III/KG z.b.V 1 lost 7 aircraft and 4 damaged in this slaughter, which became known as the Palm Sunday Massacre. Again it is not known if this pilot was part of that operation but considering the loss rate it would appear not, either that or he was one of the very lucky few to get through. But in the early hours of 30th April 1943 Flt-Sgt Alwyn Downing & Sgt John Lyons (from 600 Squadron but on attachment to 153 Squadron) took off on a patrol in their Beaufighter. At 0455 when they were 30 miles south of Sardinia they were vectored on to a target which they eventually saw was a Ju-52 flying at very low level. Attacking the transport they sent it blazing in to the sea. They then saw a number of other Ju-52's trying to slip through and in the course of just 10 minutes Downing shot down no less than 5 Ju-52's. One of these was flown by this German pilot, Ju-52/3m Werk Nr 7272. Of his crew he was the only one wounded with the others coming through unscathed. For his injuries he received the Wound Badge in Black in early May 1943. He is listed as being assigned away from 10./KG z.b.V-1 in November 1943 and on 18th January 1944 he was sent to a flying school, no doubt to take advantage of his experience in training new pilots. Having flown on so many sorties that were fraught with danger from prowling allied fighters it was while he was on training duties with Flugzeugführerschule B-11 at Zeltweg that he was killed on 27th May 1944 in what appears to be a flying accident.

Four £5 notes to keep an eye out for... Four special £5 notes, engraved with a tiny portrait of author Jane Austen, are being been put into circulation and could be worth more than £20,000. The first of four notes featuring art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short was spent in Kelso in the Scottish Borders on Monday. Three more notes will be spent in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this week. BBC - £5 notes worth £20,000

Generalleutnant Ernst Seifert Born: 15 Sep 1884 Died: 15 Sep 1946 Kdt v. Berlin Kdr 110.Inf.Division Insp. W.E.I. Hamburg

Hauptmann Erhard Zoll Born: 01 Aug 1914 Died: 17 Jul 2004 14./Inf.Rgt 61 14./Gren.Rgt 437 Chef 14./Gren.Rgt 437 RK - 18 Jan 1945 DKiG - 19 Sep 1942

Generalleutnant Heinrich Recke Born: 25 Aug 1890 Died: 18 Aug 1943 - MIA in Kharkov area Kdt Truppenübungsplatz Döberitz Kdr Inf.Rgt 466 Kdr 332.Inf.Division Kdr 161.Inf.Division RK - 04 Sep 1943 (Posthumous) DKiG - 28 Feb 1942

That could well be a valid reason. I wonder if that also rings true for the large promotion/appointment citations (the type that came in the large card folders with a gold eagle on the front). I have seen one from July 1944 but I can't recall seeing any from late in that year and onwards. I have seen a postal envelope for a DKiG recipient's citation but that was for a posthumous issue.

A Prelim DKiG citation this time for an officer in Artillerie-Regiment 299. Chances are that at this stage of the war he never received a formal version of the citation. DKiG entry from Soldbuch also shown.

I can't make them out either I'm afraid but it is a nice example of a Dienstbuch.

I've already had one tear in two with a folded crease just to the left of the Queen's head giving way and creating two parts!

Interesting late war document and with a signature not often seen on award citations. Nice item.

I wonder what the men did during the summer months? Revert back to transport/supply drivers maybe?

It's certainly a possibility. Unfortunately I don't have any Artillery officer Kartei in my files so can't confirm or deny the possibility.

Not necessarily but if it is the date he was actually awarded it rather than the date his actions won him the award then there is a gap where he could of been transferred, even if it was on a temporary basis from Führerreserve. There is a link in that I/Art.Rgt 61 was absorbed by Art.Rgt 107 but that was in 1940 and Art.Rgt 61 became Heerestruppen around 1943/44 and I don't think the two units served in the same area in September 1943.

It could be, it looks like that is the word and he was a Hauptmann in 1943 and was an artillery officer. The only thing that might mean it isn't Fetzer is that he won the DKiG in September 1943 (the time of this signature) while with Art.Rgt 61 but that isn't to say he wasn't transferred.

Not necessarily. If we can determine some of the letters we have a chance which is better than no chance.

Korvettenkapitän M.A. der Reserve Johannes Stührenberg Born: 04 May 1892 Died: 24 April 1945 - KIA Battr-Chef Marineartillerieabteilung 116 Kdr Marineartillerieabteilung 116 Kdr Marineartillerieabteilung 204 Kdr Marineartillerieabteilung 244 2.Admiralstabsoffizier Kommandierender Admiral Kanalküste Kdr Marineartillerieabteilung 116 Kdr Abschnitt Wangerooge DKiS - 24 May 1944