Kriegsmarine Soldbuch: Z10 Hans Lody - Matrosen to Kapitänleutnant

[hucks216]

Here is a Soldbuch & Führungsbuch to someone who joined the Kriegsmarine in 1930 as a sailor and finished the war as a Kapitänleutnant having served on the Kreuzer 'Königsberg' (Pre-war) and the Zerstörer Hans Lody during the first year of the war before being assigned to the Torpedoschule for the remainder of his service.

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Wartime promotions

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The Soldbuch was opened in 1941 which is when the Kriegsmarine adopted the Soldbuch for their personnel, not using the SB before that year...

Edited December 21, 2012 by hucks216

[hucks216]

As can be seen from the Soldbuch he was awarded the EK II in November 1939 and the Destroyer Badge in October 1940 and it was while serving on Z10 Hans Lody that he earned these two awards.

Page 3 of the Führungsbuch has a list showing the dates of when the Hans Lody sailed on operations while Clausen was onboard and so he participated in not only the merchant warfare 'sweeps' through the North Sea in the early days of the war but also the offensive mine-laying operations near the Humber Estuary on 18-19th Nov 1939 and off the coast of Cromer in Norfolk on 6-7th December 1939. It was during this latter operation that the British destroyer HMS Jersey was badly damaged by a torpedo fired from one of the German destroyers.
He was also onboard when Hans Lody was part of the escorting force for Scharnhorst, Gneisenau & Admiral Hipper during Operation Juno in June 1940 and participated in the sinking of the tanker 'Juniper' and rescued 98 survivors from the Orama. On the way back to Drontheim on 9th June the Hans Lody captured a fishing vessel before escorting a bomb damaged Scharnhorst from Drontheim to Kiel.

[hucks216]

The Hans Lody Campaign listing in the Führungsbuch...

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His personnel details page of the Führungsbuch...

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The Führungsbuch shows his progression through the ranks until he becomes an officer candidate in October 1940 and from his Soldbuch we have confirmation of his rise from Leutnant to eventual Kapitänleutnant, to which he was promoted on 1st December 1944.

[hucks216]

Judging by the entires (and lack of) in the Führungsbuch and the entries in the SB it would appaer that Clausen left Z10 Hans Lody in late 1940 and spent the rest of the war at the Torpedoschule at Murwik where he was awarded the KvK II Kl mit Schwertern in April 1944 and the KvK I Kl mit Schwertern in April 1945.

And here are just a couple of his 'write-ups' from his time on Z10 Hans Lody, taken from the Führungsbuch... (1)

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(2)

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And finally, as can be seen from the extra pieces of paper inserted into the front (Post #1) and back of his Soldbuch, after the war Bruno Clausen was employed in some capacity by the Royal Navy...

[RichardT]

Nice set of documents.

Richard

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nice, i have a weakness for early destroyer stuff :-)