Heer Armoured Train Soldbuch

[hucks216]

Here is a soldbuch to a unit that isn't often seen, namely an armoured train - Panzerzug - unit, in this case PZ 64.

Otto Lohleit begane the war with a heavy artillery unit (s.Art.Abt 506) which saw fighting at the fortress of Modlin. During this fighting Lohleit received splinter injuries which saw his admittance into the Lazarett system where he was to remain until early October 1939, before being re-admitted in early 1940.

[hucks216]

Opening pages continued...

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Lazarett entries...

[hucks216]

After serving with a few replacement & training units he was assigned to the armoured trains, starting with a Panzerzug Ersatz Abteilung at Rembertow before being posted to Panzerzug 64. PZ 64 was established in October 1942 and was ready for action in June 1943 where it was sent to the Croatia & Serbia region, an area it was to spend most of its war. Rembertow, near Warsaw, was home to the training camp for armoured train units and consisted of barracks and firing ranges for the trains.

The earliest date in the soldbuch with regards to Panzerzug 64 is in fact October 1942 - entry on the uniform issue page (not shown here) - so Lohleit was with Pz 64 from the very start of its life.

Edited April 23, 2011 by hucks216

[Chris Boonzaier]

S'funny... I really dont associate Armoured trains with WW2... Were they in regular use?

[hucks216]

In Wolfgang Sawodny's superb book German Armoured Trains 1904-1945 (ISBN: 978-0-7643-3523-5). the actions of PZ 64 are known through the entries in a war diary written by a crew member of one of the trains Panhard armoured cars.

During his time with PZ 64 Lohleit saw plenty of action and incidents, including on the 31st August 1943 a prisoner excahnge in which 22 German soldiers were exchanged for 60 partisans. The train was also used in Unternehmen Margarethe (the invasion of Hungary in March 1944) as part of Kampfgruppe Brauner, a component of XXII Gebirgs-Armee-Korps. On 15th May 1944, Lohleit won the EK II and in the weeks prior to this PZ 64 had been involved in fighting against partisan occupied areas & villages near Morovic so it is likely that Lohleit won his EK for actions taken during these fights.

As can be seen, Otto Lohleit also won the General Assault Badge in January 1945.

Taken from the above mentioned book: "On September 1st 1944 the crew of PZ 64 suffered considerable losses in a low-flying air attack on the Ruma railroad station, but the combat train was only slightly damaged." And again: "On 27 November the armoured train took part with its artillery & AA guns in the fighting around Fuenfkirchen, which lasted until the end of the month; then until 4th December there was withdrawal fighting around Szentloerensz & Szigetvar. From there the train moved on to Barcs the next day, but did not cross the Drava in the direction of Croatia, but was transferred northward again the next day to the Somogyszob region. East of there the Russian advance could be held and the front stabilized. PZ 64 was used for artillery support, mostly in Otvoskonyi, with an advanced observer in Beleg. This activity lasted until February 15th 1945."

Edited April 23, 2011 by hucks216

[hucks216]

S'funny... I really dont associate Armoured trains with WW2... Were they in regular use?

More then you think - the German Wehrmacht had loads and they were used in all parts of Europe. In fact many countries had them, including Russia, and I think on the first day of the war a Polish armoured train was used to defend against a German panzer unit.

The middle & bottom signatures seen here belong to Werner Sieg who was the commanding officer of Panzerzug 64 from its entry into service until the wars end. I find it interesting that someone with a rank of Oberleutnant was entrusted with the command of such a large unit.

[hucks216]

Towards the end of 1944 and for 1945 PZ 64 saw combat against both partisan & Red Army forces in the South East of Europe and in the final weeks of the war tried to transfer to Austria, reaching Pernegg via Graz on the 8th May 1945 having hit a mine on the 8th April and coming under Russian artillery fire numerous times.

At midnight on the 8th May 1945 Sieg disbanded the unit. Lohleit survived the war and was taken prisoner as shown by these post war documents.

[hucks216]

Post war record of injuries...

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Post war Kennkarte..

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A leave entry in the soldbuch showing the unit stamp & Feldpost Number for Panzerzug 64...

[hucks216]

And finally 3 pictures of PZ 64 taken from the above mentioned book, which really is the bible when it comes to the topic (the images are of a better quality in the book then shown here).

Edited April 23, 2011 by hucks216

[hucks216]

PZ 64 being transferred to the Balkans in the summer of 1943...

[hucks216]

On 4th August 1943 PZ 64 captured a Croatian armoured train...

Edited April 23, 2011 by hucks216

[hucks216]

And finally - 18th September 1943 - PZ 64 hit a mine throwing several cars off the tracks, but these were only slightly damaged...

[Gordon Williamson]

Quite stunning Kevin !

Its a shame that so many document collectors seem to find it hard to see further than the typical "Glamour" units, -Panzers, Fighter Pilots, U-Boats etc, and such incredibly rare material like this is so neglected.

Absolutely wonderful !

[hucks216]

Quite stunning Kevin !

Its a shame that so many document collectors seem to find it hard to see further than the typical "Glamour" units, -Panzers, Fighter Pilots, U-Boats etc, and such incredibly rare material like this is so neglected.

Absolutely wonderful !

Thanks for the comment. In a way it can be a bonus if people concentrate on the so called glamour units as that then keeps the price of such hidden gems as this relatively low, or people pass them by without a second glance leaving them for others to find and snap up.

Edited April 23, 2011 by hucks216