hucks216

I'm no good at identifying people but if the IAB lapel pin is a staffel badge then it would indicate that he is a ground attack pilot. I know that some aircraft of SchG 2 used that insignia on their Hs-129 aircraft in mid-1942 and their are pleny of photos of Hs-123 aircraft from earlier in the war also showing that insignia.

Have you tried to see if his personnel file is kept in any of the archives (NARA etc)? Depending on how complete it is (or how available it is) it could have the report of his actions for the recommendation of his award. As for 98 ID, there are 2 books covering the units history. Both are in German... Martin Gareis - Kampf und Ende der fränkisch sudetendeutschen 98. Infanterie Division W. Schulz - Der Weg der 98. Infanterie Division 1939-1945

I'm afraid that is one of the ones that sat in my 'to do' pile and which I never got round to doing before I had a little spring clean and shifted 10 or so of my Wehrpasse/Soldbucher.

I used to own that soldbuch until either last year or earlier this year! Funny how every now and then the same ones crop up.

You wil need to register to use the AH Forum but it is worth it and totally free.

The OOB for 9 Armee is listed here... http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6477 If you scroll down to Heeresgruppe Mitte, and then scroll down a little more then you will find all the units allocated to 9 Armee, including 258 Inf.Div + Grp 'Manteuffel' (9, 10, 11 Jag.Btls). Axis History Forum is definitely a forum you should be signed up for when it comes to researching units and numerous other subject matter.

The map images are taken from Kursk 1943 A Statistical Analysis by Niklas Zetterling & Anders Frankson and show the advance of 9 Armee on the 5-6th July 1943. By the 12th July they were further south and past Gnilets. The entry for 9th July 1943 states for the Northern Front: During this day no new attacks were performed by the Germans. Rather, they spent most of the day preparing for attacks to be conducted the following day. Soviet forces mounted counterattacks trying to push the Germans back to the starting line. These attacks failed to achieve any gains. So maybe he was killed fending off these counterattacks in the area of Gnilets? Gnilets looks to be on the boundary between 31 ID (which was XXXXVI Pz.Korps) and 20 PD (which was XXXVIII Pz.Korps)

If he died 300km SE of Kursk then he wasn't involved in that battle as that is much too far away. Belgorod was at the southern neck of the bulge and that is approx 130 km SE of Kursk. However Jager Btl 9 was part of Gruppe von Manteuffel (XXXXVI Pz Korps) of 9 Armee for the Kursk Offensive so is there another place by that name as 9 Armee was on the northern side of the bulge and the FpNr does match Jager Btl 9? One of the places in the path of XXXXVI Pz.Korps right on the front line was a place called Gnilets - could this be it?

Your best bet for research is the Navy Lists... www.navylistresearch.co.uk ...plus The National Archives... www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/royal-navy-officer-service.htm Very nice dirk by the way. I don't collect anything of the sort but can certainly appreciate them.

Very nice photo. That is the first time I have ever seen a real Fg Waffenrock as opposed to the Recruiters one that is usually 'talked up' to be Fg by dealers despite no arm eagle/cuff band.

You can read the location better then I can as I can't make it out! Have you tried to see if he is in the on-line Volksbund database that might (maybe a big might) give a modern day alternative of where he died or is buried? Unfortunately alot of the places in Russia from the war years are now called something entirely different or might be small enough (i.e. a village in the middle of nowhere) that they don't warrant any recorded listings, at least on the net. Jager Bataillone's were independant Heer units and generally stronger equipped then ones that were part of Gebirgsjager/Jager Divisions. The only additional information I have been able to find is on Feldgrau Forum... www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6749&start=0

Heinrici???

The espionage thing is quite a common thing to see in Wehrpasse as it just means that the person has had a briefing on, basically. security measures. Here is such an entry in a WP from my collection to someone badly wounded at El-Alamein and discharged from the Wehrmacht.

Didn't Christoph Awender give a translation of these on AHF about 10 days ago?

Unit History - Kampfgeschwader 55 'Greif' - Eine Chronik aus Dokumenten und Berichten 1937-45 (ISBN 978-3879433407)

Nice finds - what unit(s) was the wehrpass holder in?

Do you mean Müller or Muller? As mentioned, there are no entries for the latter version on the DKiG lists but there are a lot of entries for the former but only five with the Christian name of Walter. Four can be ruled out as they served in different units from the Fallschirmjager to Stukageschwader. Unfortunately the one that is left on the Ordenstrager has his unit listed as simply 'Kampfgeschwader' but he won the DKiG on 1st October 1944.

That is a brilliant piece of research and a great use of Then & Now images. That was well worth reading.

Very nice addition to the WP/SB collection Gordon. He does seem to have a very stern look to him in the soldbuch - I can picture him with that expression peering out from under a cap visor!

There were indeed regulations stipulated for the type of photo to be used but there are so many variations 'out there' that it seems to of been a regulation that was widely ignored! I have in my collection of Soldbucher & Wehrpasse photos showing full length poses and wearing headwear and I have seen plenty of other examples of such 'flouting'.

Another one from my collection but taken from a Luftwaffe Bordwartschein this time for a member of TG 1 who flew supplies into Stalingrad and Normandy...

And one in similar circumstances to Post # 5 - a spare Soldbuch photo that is tucked into his Wehrpass. A former member of the Landespolizeigruppe General Göring and pre-war Gestapo who transferred to the Waffen-SS in 1943 and served with Hohenstaufen through to wars end...

Taken from the Soldbuch of Oberschirrmeister Kurt Berndt of Nebelwerfer Abt 6...

Some nice images. Here is one that I can think of in my collection. Photo taken while he was serving with Inf.Rgt 22 (1934-1940) before he was eventually transferred in 1940 and was killed with IR 547 in 1943, posthumously promoted to Leutnant.

Glad to see it arrived safely. I do love the crisp photo on this one, clearly someone who took pride in his appearance.