12.SS.Pz.Division “Hitlerjugend” Normandy KIA Soldbuch

[Laurence]

Awesome, thanks for sharing

[Panzer Rob]

I thought it would be fitting to add an image of Kurt Holl's grave marker to this thread. A huge "Thanks" to my good friend Daniele for sending me the picture, recently taken by a friend of his I greatly appreciate it.



Rob

[William J]

Very Nice Rob....and it's hard not to still feel a twinge of sadness even after the passage of so many years about a life taken away in the fullness of youth....but it's also nice to see that the graves are so well maintained to this day! Thank you for posting!

[Panzer Rob]

Very Nice Rob....and it's hard not to still feel a twinge of sadness even after the passage of so many years about a life taken away in the fullness of youth....but it's also nice to see that the graves are so well maintained to this day! Thank you for posting!

I agree 100%, William. I had a chill run up my spine and down my arms when I opened the image last night; it is a very somber experience to hold this Soldbuch in your hands and then look at the image of his gravesite... It provides a very sobering perspective one usually does not get from having just the book or document itself.

As is the case with the original owners of my other Normandy KIA books and ID's, I plan on doing a Normandy cemetery tour in the near future to photo all of the markers.

Thanks for the post, William!
Rob

[Daniele C]

Rob,
Do you understand why i focused my collectin interest in Normandy KIAs?
I think they kinda make you open your eyes and think.

[Doug Kenwright]

It's funny..you would think that the number of times the Canucks ran into one SS division/regiment or another, from Italy, to France to Holland, you would see more items..but you just don't..it is very scarce on the ground here..

[grndevil44]

Hello Rob

thanks for sharing this, I hope you are able to make the trip and visit,

Thanks

john

[Simon O.]

It's funny..you would think that the number of times the Canucks ran into one SS division/regiment or another, from Italy, to France to Holland, you would see more items..but you just don't..it is very scarce on the ground here..

Well paperwork isn't exactly souvenir material. If captured it becomes intelligence and thus stays out of the hands of individual soldiers.

[billbert]

I also think many a ground pounder would have thought better of having this in his posession IF he were ever captured..Billbert

[Panzer Rob]

John,

Thanks for the complements, and glad you enjoyed looking at it.

Doug, it is my understanding that this was a direct battlefield pickup sent home from France, not carried after it was acquired. As Simon and Billbert pointed out, this is not the type of thing you'd want to be questioned about carrying, and documents such as this were highly valued by Allied intelligence and were used to help determine exactly which enemy units they were up against.


Since I acquired the Soldbuch I have been keeping a watch out for any SS SdKfz.251 license plates... The odds definitely aren't in my favor, but hopefully one day a photo of Holl's track will surface

Thanks again for the complements, guys. Even though there aren't any awards entered it's still one of my favorite SS Soldbücher. It is great to have a photo of the grave marker, and again I thank Daniele for that.

Rob

[Panzer Rob]

I also think many a ground pounder would have thought better of having this in his posession IF he were ever captured..Billbert

Well, not exactly... But as this thread points out, some Soldiers did in fact pick them up and keep them as battlefield souvenirs (see post #10) here:

http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=2204


Daniele's Soldbuch is an amazing, indisputable example of this, not to mention it's a KIA "Normandy" Soldbuch

Rob

[Antonio Scapini]

Hi Rob!
The 12 SS-Hj items are my favourite. Thanks for showing an amazing SB like this!

[HouweTrouwe]

Is he born on 29.3.1926 ? Well 1.89M is surely tall for that period! Nice soldbuch, Ron! Love it

[Panzer Rob]

Is he born on 29.3.1926 ? Well 1.89M is surely tall for that period! Nice soldbuch, Ron! Love it

No, 27.03.1926... the same date that is on the headstone and in the Soldbuch.


Glad you guys like it! It's one of my better SS Soldbücher.

Rob

[Panzer Rob]

66 years ago today, SS-Sturmann Kurt Holl, - a SdKfz.251 driver in the 9./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt.26, 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjügend" was killed in action in Caen while his company was preforming rear guard blocking actions for the surviving members of SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt.25 that were retreating across the Orne river.


I'm still looking for any pictures of 12.SS.Pz.Div. SdKfz251s in hopes to find a shot of a SdKfz.251 with license plate SS-932 592 which, as you can see from the Verpflichtungserklärung pasted into the back cover of the Soldbuch, was Kurt Holl's halftrack. If anyone happens to find a image of this vehicle please do let me know


Rob