hucks216

Does the tunic have any provenance?

Thanks to Brian I was able to add this example to my GD collection. It is an EK I citation to an officer who served in a late war GD Kampfgruppen. Regiment Poeschmann was formed in March 1945 from soldiers who were undergoing training at a GD officer's school and was placed under the command of 15 Panzergrenadier Division. They went into combat on the Western Front against British troops in the vicinity of Hopsten in early April 1945.

The officer was responsible for defending a bridge just to the south of Hopsten and won the EK I for beating off a British armoured attack (44 RTR) coming from the direction of Dreierwalde, which is 8.5km to the southwest of Hopsten and with a road directly between the two leading to a bridge to the southwest of Hopsten.
 
The citation is signed by Oberst Wolfgang Gläsemer (RK & DKiG).

His actions were even mentioned in a subsequent GD Battalion report (complete with bombastic detail - I hardly think the soldiers were singing while under attack):

"...These losses seriously weakened the right wing of the 5.Kompanie and as a result a renewed enemy attack was successful. Under covering tank fire, the infantry broke into the main line of resistance on the company's right wing and took two prisoners.

Our artillery fire recognised the situation and blanketed the enemy tanks with well-aimed fire, causing them to leave the infantry and withdraw to the south.

Leutnant Järschke used this moment to lead two men in a counterattack on his threatened wing. His actions inspired his men who, though out of ammunition, had nevertheless stayed in their holes singing 'Wach am Rhein', and they advanced with him and cleared the break-in point in hand to hand combat. Forty-two enemy dead were counted after this engagement."

It is interesting to compare that description with that from the British side which claims that a GD Battalion gave them little trouble, although it does mention the Scots Greys & 155th Brigade meeting tough opposition south of Hopsten. which could actually refer to Leutnant Järschke's counterattack. As the British didn't break through Hopsten and reach their objective for 2 days the truth is probably somewhere between the two.

Whether the citation is slightly incorrect by mentioning he was to the south of the town or he moved across to the bridge to the southwest to help defeat the Allied thrust by 44 RTR is uncertain but as well as the bridge to the southwest of Hopsten there is also one to the south.

​If that is indeed his old house that is a great little extra piece to add to the Soldbuch. Thanks.

That is great, many thanks for translating the entries and especially revealing his unit. It is much appreciated.

Usually I collect German Soldbücher & Wehpässe but a couple of weeks ago I saw this Hungarian example and liked the photo in it (and it was cheap) so thought that I would go off on a tangent with regards to the collection and buy it. It is dated for 1944 and while I have no knowledge of the language I don't think it mentions any units that he was assigned to. I think it just contains personnel information but I could be wrong - and if I am I would be grateful for any information. These are the only pages with entries.

And finally, the first two maps are the German situation maps for the day that Heft was killed and show 24 ID facing French forces. The final overview shows the movements of 16.Armee during the final 12 days of Fall Rot which concluded on 25th June 1940.

Heft was buried initially in a field grave but now lies in the German War Cemetery at Noyers-Pont-Maugis.

Thought that I'd post some images of my latest item. It is a Wehrpass and a few extras for a soldier who was killed in action in France in 1940.

The Wehrpass contains a great photo of the man wearing his SA uniform, complete with NSDAP Badge on his tie and the swastika armband. It would appear that this photo was taken at the same time as the one that appears on his SA Sports Badge card. He initially served with Inf.Rgt 102 of 24. Infanterie-Division before being re-assigned to Inf.Rgt 32 of the same division in late 1939.

He was killed in action during the second stage of the invasion of France (Fall Rot) on 11th June 1940 when 24 ID was a component of VII Armeekorps (16. Armee) and situated in the vicinity of the Meuse River.

Hospital issued Ersatz-Soldbuch come in all sorts of designs, some with a simple paper cover with no more or less than the man's name on it but that is the first time I have seen a dedicated cover like that. Looks like an interesting piece.

I think that has been placed on it post war to keep the pages together after they came loose.

I only have two of these to soldiers evacuated from East Prussia in 1945. The red strip refers to the soldier being wounded whereas if he was ill it would of been green.

Good clear images. I know that Sierra Cordoba was on a cruise to Italy from 4th to 14th March 1939 but whether this was the only time she visited Italy I don't know. A few months later she was used to help transport the Legion Condor back to Germany from Spain.

It seems that KdF is quite a collectible area.

Good images and as well as the caps, there are some good clear shots of epaulette regimental numbers.

The set also comes with around 12 photos of Struwe and his comrades, a selection of which are shown here. One of them shows Struwe wearing his Pi.Lehrbataillon 4 Waffenrock clearly showing the '4' on the epaulette button and the 'L 2' embroidered cyphers while another shows him in a gray wrapper with his Assault Badge.

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I've been holding off from posting anything until after the Forum upgrade has concluded but I decided that I would post this set. It is a Soldbuch and Citation group to a soldier who served in the Panzer-Lehr-Division as a Pionier.

The Soldbuch was opened in August 1942 to a soldier who spent the war serving as a Pionier. After training he was assigned to 2./Pionierlehrbataillon 4 and then in 1943/44 he joined Pz.Pi.Lehrbataillon which eventually became Panzer-Pionier-Lehrbataillon 130 of the newly formed Panzer-Lehr-Division.
The division was under the command of Fritz Bayerlein and from May 1944 was assigned to 7. Armee in Normandy.
Ingo Struwe fought in Normandy with 1./Pz.Pi.Lehr-Btl 130 and was awarded the EK II during July 1944 with the citation being signed by Fritz Bayerlein and the Assault Badge in September. He was still with Pz.Lehr-Division during the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze in January 1945.
He survived the war so probably went into captivity with the rest of the division when it was surrounded in the Ruhr Pocket.

Nice example. It looks like it was produced based around her time on patrol off the Spanish coast.

Oberstleutnant Adolf Scharfbier

Oberst Wilhelm Richter

Born: 17 Sep 1892

Died: 04 Feb 1971

Highest rank reached: Generalleutnant

Oberleutnant Otto Vandieken

Born: 28 Oct 1908

Died: 29 Feb 1944 Crimea

Staffelkapitän 12./TG-3

Ehrenpokal: 05 Jun 1943

Image: Soldbuch

Oberstleutnant Karl-Franz Beushausen

Oberstleutnant Eugen Garski

Born: 08 Jun 1897

Died: 30 Sep 1942

Highest ranked reached: Generalmajor (Posthumous)

Kdr II/Infanterie-Regiment 33

Kdr III/Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) Grossdeutschland

Kdr V/Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) Grossdeutschland

Kdr Lehrstab 3/III Infanterieschule Döberitz

Kdr Infanterie-Regiment Grossdeutschland 2

RK: 19 Jul 1940

Image: Citation

Generalleutnant German Unger

Born: 13 Jul 1891

Died: 07 Jun 1961

Kommandeur Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 13

Kommandeur Flughafenbereichs-Kommandant 3/VIII

General der Luftwaffe im Kuban-Brückenkopf

Kommandeur Luftflottentruppen Luftflotte 1

General z.b.V. zum Feldluftgau-Kommando XXV

Führerreserve OKL

Image: Citation

Generalmajor Walther Wadehn

Born: 01 Aug 1896

Died: 13 Jul 1949

Gruppenkommandeur III/KG-77

Kommandeur der Annahmestelle 2 für Offiziersanwärter der Luftwaffe

Kommandeur Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiments 72

Kommandeur 10. Luftwaffenfeld-Division

Kommandeur 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division

Kommandeur 8. Fallschirmjäger-Division

Image: Citation

Leutnant Rudolf Wirtgen

Born: 04 Apr 1922

Died: 06 Oct 1944

1./JG 2
Staffelführer 1./JG 2

Victories: 14

Image: Soldbuch