Hello,
I hope the D-Day Wehrpasses and Soldbucher don't begin to bore.
I will share this nice Wehrpass with you. The soldier was based directly on Utah Beach.
Ernst Banck was born on 15.04.1903 in Kalübbe; Schlewig. He finished the "Volkschule" and he married with Gerda Banck. In the 1930's it was not easy to find a job and Banck joined the army in 1935. The following years there are not many entries in his Wehrpass, he was part of Infanterie Regiment 26. But a couple of days before the invasion of Poland he was assigned to Infanterie Regiment 46. According his Wehrpass he fight in Poland from 07.09.1939 to 19.09.1939. On the end of September 1939 his unit was transferred to the Dutch/Belgium border. On 14.11.1939 he was heavily wounded, I haven't any clue how he was wounded, but he stayed till 06.09.1940 in various lazarett's/hospitals. When he was released from the lazarett he stayed for 3 years in various training units. In this time he was promoted on 01.09.1940 to Gefreiter and on 01.06.1941 to Obergefreiter. He was allowed to use the M.G.34, the Pistole 08 and the K98K.
On 19.07.1943 he was finally ready to join a real unit and he was assigned to the new formed I./Grenadier Regiment 919. In this time it was part of the 242 Infanterie Division in Southern France. On 06.10.1943 it was deployed in Normandie as part of the 709 Infanterie Division to secure and defend the eastcoast of the Cotentin area between Carentan and St. Vaast la Hogue. On 10.01.1944 he was temporarily assigned to Fahr-Kolonne 709 but he was transferred back to the 4./ 919 Grenadier Regiment. This would be his last unit.
The 4. Kompanie was commanded by Oberleutnant Werner and the kompanie had 170 men. They had to secure and defend the area and the coast between Ravenoville and Saint-Martin-de-Varreville so they were directly involved with the defence of Utah Beach. The 4. Kompanie was responsible for Wiederstandsnest 10(WN101), Wiederstandsnest 11(WN102) and Stützpunkt 12 (StP 12). The HQ of the kompanie was at WN 11a. In the following replies I will tell more about the Wiederstandsnests. All these 3 Wiederstandsnests were very close to the beach and not kilometeres inside the land. Ernst Banck must have seen that amazing fleet.
Wiederstandsnest 10 was heavily defended and some of it guns as the 88 mm could reach the landing crafts, tanks and troops who landed on Utah Beach. Wiederstandsnest 11 was a little bit more to the north and was lightly defended and used more as the Headquarter of the kompanie. Stützpunkt 12 was not listed as a Wiederstandsnest but was big enough to named Stützpunkt. The first soldiers of the 4. kompanie were engaged early in the night and morning on D-Day against the American paratroopers who attacked the Beach Exits and some German strongpoints. In the night the 7. Armee must be ready for action and the soldiers manned their strongpoints at the coast when they see the sillhouettes in the dark of the biggest armada the world have ever seen. When the sun is coming up and the fog and clouds slowly dissappear the nightmare of the German soldiers become true. Around 06.30 the first American troops landed on the beach with some support of amphibious tanks. The troops don't land on the scheduled place but 1800 metres more to the south, some away from Ernst Banck and his comrades. Some tanks, vehicles and landingcrafts were destroyed and the Americans received many casualties. Despite all efforts of Ernst Banck and all his comerades the Americans broke quickly through the German beachdefense and going inland. Now the area of the 4. Kompanie was also directly attacked and WN 10 was lost on D-Day. The headquarter / WN 11 was taken by the Americans on 7 june. On 7 june one after the other towns and strongpoints of the 4./ Grenadier Regiment 919 were taken by the Americans except "Stützpunkt 12" which was heavy fortified with guns, Mg's and a tankwall. It was with the Crisbecq battery and the Azeville battery one of the few strongpoints who gave seriously resistance against the Americans soldiers. Despite the location close to Utah Beach it was taken on 8/9 June 1944(?) after a heavy battle with American Sherman tanks and infantry supported by naval artillery.
After 3 days of fighting most of the members of the 4./919 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The last remains pulled back to the north against Montebourg, Valognes and later towards Cherbourg were the last remains were captured on 30 June 1944. I think also Ernst Banck was taken prisoner because he is not listed on the Volksbund or his WP was captured and he served another day after Normandy.
In April and May this year I visit all these places in Normandy. Thanks for looking, more is coming up. Comment are as always welcome.
I hope the D-Day Wehrpasses and Soldbucher don't begin to bore.
I will share this nice Wehrpass with you. The soldier was based directly on Utah Beach.Ernst Banck was born on 15.04.1903 in Kalübbe; Schlewig. He finished the "Volkschule" and he married with Gerda Banck. In the 1930's it was not easy to find a job and Banck joined the army in 1935. The following years there are not many entries in his Wehrpass, he was part of Infanterie Regiment 26. But a couple of days before the invasion of Poland he was assigned to Infanterie Regiment 46. According his Wehrpass he fight in Poland from 07.09.1939 to 19.09.1939. On the end of September 1939 his unit was transferred to the Dutch/Belgium border. On 14.11.1939 he was heavily wounded, I haven't any clue how he was wounded, but he stayed till 06.09.1940 in various lazarett's/hospitals. When he was released from the lazarett he stayed for 3 years in various training units. In this time he was promoted on 01.09.1940 to Gefreiter and on 01.06.1941 to Obergefreiter. He was allowed to use the M.G.34, the Pistole 08 and the K98K.
On 19.07.1943 he was finally ready to join a real unit and he was assigned to the new formed I./Grenadier Regiment 919. In this time it was part of the 242 Infanterie Division in Southern France. On 06.10.1943 it was deployed in Normandie as part of the 709 Infanterie Division to secure and defend the eastcoast of the Cotentin area between Carentan and St. Vaast la Hogue. On 10.01.1944 he was temporarily assigned to Fahr-Kolonne 709 but he was transferred back to the 4./ 919 Grenadier Regiment. This would be his last unit.
The 4. Kompanie was commanded by Oberleutnant Werner and the kompanie had 170 men. They had to secure and defend the area and the coast between Ravenoville and Saint-Martin-de-Varreville so they were directly involved with the defence of Utah Beach. The 4. Kompanie was responsible for Wiederstandsnest 10(WN101), Wiederstandsnest 11(WN102) and Stützpunkt 12 (StP 12). The HQ of the kompanie was at WN 11a. In the following replies I will tell more about the Wiederstandsnests. All these 3 Wiederstandsnests were very close to the beach and not kilometeres inside the land. Ernst Banck must have seen that amazing fleet.
Wiederstandsnest 10 was heavily defended and some of it guns as the 88 mm could reach the landing crafts, tanks and troops who landed on Utah Beach. Wiederstandsnest 11 was a little bit more to the north and was lightly defended and used more as the Headquarter of the kompanie. Stützpunkt 12 was not listed as a Wiederstandsnest but was big enough to named Stützpunkt. The first soldiers of the 4. kompanie were engaged early in the night and morning on D-Day against the American paratroopers who attacked the Beach Exits and some German strongpoints. In the night the 7. Armee must be ready for action and the soldiers manned their strongpoints at the coast when they see the sillhouettes in the dark of the biggest armada the world have ever seen. When the sun is coming up and the fog and clouds slowly dissappear the nightmare of the German soldiers become true. Around 06.30 the first American troops landed on the beach with some support of amphibious tanks. The troops don't land on the scheduled place but 1800 metres more to the south, some away from Ernst Banck and his comrades. Some tanks, vehicles and landingcrafts were destroyed and the Americans received many casualties. Despite all efforts of Ernst Banck and all his comerades the Americans broke quickly through the German beachdefense and going inland. Now the area of the 4. Kompanie was also directly attacked and WN 10 was lost on D-Day. The headquarter / WN 11 was taken by the Americans on 7 june. On 7 june one after the other towns and strongpoints of the 4./ Grenadier Regiment 919 were taken by the Americans except "Stützpunkt 12" which was heavy fortified with guns, Mg's and a tankwall. It was with the Crisbecq battery and the Azeville battery one of the few strongpoints who gave seriously resistance against the Americans soldiers. Despite the location close to Utah Beach it was taken on 8/9 June 1944(?) after a heavy battle with American Sherman tanks and infantry supported by naval artillery.
After 3 days of fighting most of the members of the 4./919 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The last remains pulled back to the north against Montebourg, Valognes and later towards Cherbourg were the last remains were captured on 30 June 1944. I think also Ernst Banck was taken prisoner because he is not listed on the Volksbund or his WP was captured and he served another day after Normandy.
In April and May this year I visit all these places in Normandy. Thanks for looking, more is coming up. Comment are as always welcome.
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