Hi all,
Another SB!
Johann Forstenpointner, born 1909 in Moosdorf. He was a railways worker!
15th August 1944 he was enlisted in the 2. Stammkompanie del 136. GJ-Ers. Batl. 136.
Our man follows the fate of the battalion which is then absorbed by the Reserve-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136 of 188. GJ-Division stationed in OZAK (Operation Zone Adriatisches Küstenland).
At the end of 1944 the Wehrmacht was in crisis on the Eastern Front. The situation worsened further when Romania and Bulgaria came out of the Axis. Following this event there was huge gap in the Balkans, which could be exploited by the Red Army to encircle the Army Group E still present in Greece.
In October 1944 was ordered to the german troops to leave Greece. The Army Group E began a slow and painful retreat to north. German troops in addition to the difficult terrain, also had to deal with the constant air attacks and the strong presence of the Yugoslav Partisans.
On 25 March 1945 the remains of Army Group F (Balkan area) was combined with Army Group E who returned to take control of the area of South-Eastern front.
Johann on 5th March 1945 was hospitalized in Trieste for problems at the nutritional apparutus.
22 Andere Krankheiten der Ernährungswerkzeuge
and then transferred to the 14 Fallschirmkriegslazzarett .... '' ventriculi ''
The 1st April he was promoted to Oberschutze.
The situation was now coming to an end. The Battle of the Bulge was a failure, on 7th March the Allies had crossed the Rhine, the Lake Balaton Offensive which had as goal the recapturing of Budapest and of the oil fields of Nagykanizsa was arrested.
On the 2nd April the Red Army began its offensive on Vienna and the fighting also raged near Berlin.
Johann is released from the hospital field. There's no time. It is assigned a new 33/40 and back to GJ-Regiment 901. The situation is drastic in the Balkans:
german troops are retreating towards Ljubljana under the constant pressure of partisan.
188. The GJ-Division was under the 97. Armeekorps, also including the 237. Infanterie Division and two Kampfgruppe of the 392. Infanterie Divsion (Kroatische) under the command of Kübler.
These units did not make a good impression on Erich Schmidt-Richberg commenting so:
'' There's little to do! We have many soldiers, but they are not good men. All children or old men, who have no idea of the war. They will surely cut to pieces! ''
German troops were deployed on the Ingrid Line, who went by the massive Monte Nevoso, passing Clana till Rijeka (Fiume).
On April 20 the Yugoslav forces arrive on the outskirts of Rijeka (Susak) but are blocked by the sharp barrage of artillery coming from the defence positions of Sv. Ana and Sv. Katarina, manned by units of Xa MAS and the artillery Battalion '' Julia ''. This intense focus suggests the troops of Titus to avoid the use of the '' new '' tanks Stewart.
During the night small partisan groups infiltrate in the German lines, exploiting the bad weather, and assault the artillery batteries, encircling them.
21 April morning: the 26th Division attack the city ( Trsata, Vežice and Martinšćice), the fighting raging in the streets until the 14th, when the German retreat across the river running through the city and destroy the bridges. The positions of S. Croce instead will resist for two more days.
At the same time also the 19th. Division had moved attacking and conquering villages in the hills (Martinova Sela, Zoretica and Lukeza and positions of Klana). General Kübler understands the importance of control of the heights to defend the city and ordered the counterattack led mainly by 188. GJ-Division.
The guidelines of the attack were Klana-Grobnik-St. Kuzma and had to break the main point of the line on which had settled the Yugoslav soldiers. The clash will last until April 26 and will see very high losses on both sides. The Germans manage to resume the positions near Lukeza-Martiova Sela, but on April 27 after huge losses the partisans reconquer the positions, undermining the defense of the entire city of Rijeka to the German forces now exhausted. The Germans began to fall back.
The partisans on April 23 take advantage of the clashes around River to infiltrate beyond the German lines the 20th Division which had as goal Trieste, the division manage to bypass the Ingrid Line. This action was very risky: if the 97. Armeekorps had decided to attack northward to break through Austria would put at risk the partisan forces, but orders Heeresgruppe 'E' were to keep Fiume at all costs and to keep far away as possibile the Yugoslavs from Ljubljana, where the troops were flowing retreating.
On May 2, the forces of the 97. Armeekorps are surrounded and trying to break through the enemy lines to reach Ljubljana.
5 May the troops are located near the Illyrian Bistrica (Villa del Nevoso), but do not receive the promised assistance of 7. GJ--SS Division '' Prinz Eugen ''. On the morning of May 7 is signed the surrender in the village of Zagorje.
I used google translate for some parts, sorry!
Greetings,
Another SB!
Johann Forstenpointner, born 1909 in Moosdorf. He was a railways worker!
15th August 1944 he was enlisted in the 2. Stammkompanie del 136. GJ-Ers. Batl. 136.
Our man follows the fate of the battalion which is then absorbed by the Reserve-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136 of 188. GJ-Division stationed in OZAK (Operation Zone Adriatisches Küstenland).
At the end of 1944 the Wehrmacht was in crisis on the Eastern Front. The situation worsened further when Romania and Bulgaria came out of the Axis. Following this event there was huge gap in the Balkans, which could be exploited by the Red Army to encircle the Army Group E still present in Greece.
In October 1944 was ordered to the german troops to leave Greece. The Army Group E began a slow and painful retreat to north. German troops in addition to the difficult terrain, also had to deal with the constant air attacks and the strong presence of the Yugoslav Partisans.
On 25 March 1945 the remains of Army Group F (Balkan area) was combined with Army Group E who returned to take control of the area of South-Eastern front.
Johann on 5th March 1945 was hospitalized in Trieste for problems at the nutritional apparutus.
22 Andere Krankheiten der Ernährungswerkzeuge
and then transferred to the 14 Fallschirmkriegslazzarett .... '' ventriculi ''
The 1st April he was promoted to Oberschutze.
The situation was now coming to an end. The Battle of the Bulge was a failure, on 7th March the Allies had crossed the Rhine, the Lake Balaton Offensive which had as goal the recapturing of Budapest and of the oil fields of Nagykanizsa was arrested.
On the 2nd April the Red Army began its offensive on Vienna and the fighting also raged near Berlin.
Johann is released from the hospital field. There's no time. It is assigned a new 33/40 and back to GJ-Regiment 901. The situation is drastic in the Balkans:
german troops are retreating towards Ljubljana under the constant pressure of partisan.
188. The GJ-Division was under the 97. Armeekorps, also including the 237. Infanterie Division and two Kampfgruppe of the 392. Infanterie Divsion (Kroatische) under the command of Kübler.
These units did not make a good impression on Erich Schmidt-Richberg commenting so:
'' There's little to do! We have many soldiers, but they are not good men. All children or old men, who have no idea of the war. They will surely cut to pieces! ''
German troops were deployed on the Ingrid Line, who went by the massive Monte Nevoso, passing Clana till Rijeka (Fiume).
On April 20 the Yugoslav forces arrive on the outskirts of Rijeka (Susak) but are blocked by the sharp barrage of artillery coming from the defence positions of Sv. Ana and Sv. Katarina, manned by units of Xa MAS and the artillery Battalion '' Julia ''. This intense focus suggests the troops of Titus to avoid the use of the '' new '' tanks Stewart.
During the night small partisan groups infiltrate in the German lines, exploiting the bad weather, and assault the artillery batteries, encircling them.
21 April morning: the 26th Division attack the city ( Trsata, Vežice and Martinšćice), the fighting raging in the streets until the 14th, when the German retreat across the river running through the city and destroy the bridges. The positions of S. Croce instead will resist for two more days.
At the same time also the 19th. Division had moved attacking and conquering villages in the hills (Martinova Sela, Zoretica and Lukeza and positions of Klana). General Kübler understands the importance of control of the heights to defend the city and ordered the counterattack led mainly by 188. GJ-Division.
The guidelines of the attack were Klana-Grobnik-St. Kuzma and had to break the main point of the line on which had settled the Yugoslav soldiers. The clash will last until April 26 and will see very high losses on both sides. The Germans manage to resume the positions near Lukeza-Martiova Sela, but on April 27 after huge losses the partisans reconquer the positions, undermining the defense of the entire city of Rijeka to the German forces now exhausted. The Germans began to fall back.
The partisans on April 23 take advantage of the clashes around River to infiltrate beyond the German lines the 20th Division which had as goal Trieste, the division manage to bypass the Ingrid Line. This action was very risky: if the 97. Armeekorps had decided to attack northward to break through Austria would put at risk the partisan forces, but orders Heeresgruppe 'E' were to keep Fiume at all costs and to keep far away as possibile the Yugoslavs from Ljubljana, where the troops were flowing retreating.
On May 2, the forces of the 97. Armeekorps are surrounded and trying to break through the enemy lines to reach Ljubljana.
5 May the troops are located near the Illyrian Bistrica (Villa del Nevoso), but do not receive the promised assistance of 7. GJ--SS Division '' Prinz Eugen ''. On the morning of May 7 is signed the surrender in the village of Zagorje.
I used google translate for some parts, sorry!
Greetings,
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