Lets see your Panzer crew member Soldbuchs

[Ian Jewison]

Herr Schiller appears to have got this wrong slightly.....on certain fronts orders went out to remove the units page of the Soldbuch but keep the rest for identification purposes......!!!!!

It would appear he served with Pz.A.A. "Oberbeck" which was renumbered 192......of which at the time I could not find anything about!

Prior to this he served with Panzer Ausbildung Abteilung Süd which was formed October 1943 in Italy with 4 Kpn.
U: OB Süd (Hgr. C). In action July 1944 near Bologne, March 1945 in Udine.

[Ian Jewison]

His driving license with nice uniform photo......for class 2 vehicles....truck or car less than 3½ ton.

[Daniele C]

Very interesting and very nice license/picture!

[Ian Jewison]

Short lived Kommandeur of 2 Panzer Division, Henning Schönfeld RKT.

RK as Abt. Kdr. of Aufkl.Abt. 20, 20 Inf.Div. during the French campaign. Over to OKH as Amt Führer for Office for Motorised vehicles, renamed Ordnance Office for Tank Troops, Cavalry and the Motorised Army. 1943 Rgts.Kdr. Ren.Rgt.(mot.) 29 of 3 Pz.Gren.Div.
Finally to as Divisions Kommandeur (15 Oct.44 - 15 Dec.44) 2 Panzer Division. Relieved by Generalmajor Meinrad von Lachert EL as he was not a hardend Panzer Commander!

[Ian Jewison]

Awards

[Ian Jewison]

This is the last one for a while as I have to make tea!!!

Unfortunately the cover is missing but I have both Soldbuch and Wehrpass.

As you can see he served with:

Panzer Abteilung 508 Tiger
Formed 11.5.1943 in France form I/Pz.Rgt. 29 with 3 intend Tiger tank Kpn.; Received Panther tanks however and 8.7.1943 became I/Pz.Rgt. 29 again.
Finally set up with Ob. West on 15.9.1943 with 3 Kpn. of Tiger tanks.
U: Army troops: 1943 West (LVIII Res.Pz.Korps, 155 Res.Pz.Div.), February 1944 to Italy
E: 500 Paderborn, WK VI

Panzer Ersatz Abteilung 500
Formed 20.12.1940 in Putlos (Holstein), WK X; subordinate to Inspectorate 6; 22.2.1943 transferred to Paderborn;
10.4.1943 renamed to Stab/Pz.Lehrgänge Paderborn and Pz.Ers.Abt. 500; 1.8.1943 divided into Kdo.Pz.Lehrgänge “Tiger” and Pz.Ers. and Ausb.Abt. 500 Paderborn; subordinate to Kdr. der Schulen der Panzertruppen in WK VI; 8.2.1945 the Pz.Lehrgänge “Tiger” became Pz.Ers. u. Ausb.Abt. 500 and the technical Lehrgang became Pz.Ers. u. Ausb.Abt. “Tiger” (without number) in Paderborn.
U: WK VI

schwere Panzer Abteilung 509
Formed May 1943 from Stab and I. of the disbanded 20.3.1943 in south Russia Pz.Rgt. 204 with 3 Kpn. as Tiger Abt.
U: Army troops: South Russia, north Ukraine, (1943 Kiew, Fastow, 1944 Kam, Podolsk, Lemberg with 1 ung. Armee), 1945 Hungary, finally Linz
E: 500 Paderborn, WK VI

Panzer Berge Kompanie 552
An independent field tank recovery unit.

/Ian

[Panzer Rob]

Here’s another Normandy 1944 veteran, but this guy was not so lucky as Waldeck, the 2.Pz.Div Panther crew member who’s Soldbuch I posted above.

This Soldbuch originally belonged to Feldwebel Peter Heinl, a Tiger I crew member serving in the 2./s.Pz.Abt.503 who was killed on the opening day of Operation Goodwood in Normandy on 18.July 1944.

Heinl was a true Panzer veteran, having taken part in both flower wars in 1938, Poland in 1939, France in 1940 and the Soviet Union in 1941. Heinl's original Soldbuch was either lost, damaged or needed to be replaced for some reason as this Zweitschrift Soldbuch was issued on 14.August 1941 through the 11./Pz.Rgt.18, 18.Panzer-Division (notice there is no mention of it being a replacement, however it obviously was!) Heinl was awarded the PAB in Silver on 26.May 1940 (notice it is entered as "Panzerkampfwagenabzeichen"), the EK.II on 19.July 1941, both awards preceding the issue of this Soldbuch. He was awarded the Eastern Front medal on 21.December 1942.

Heinl served in the 11.Kompanie of the 18.Panzer-Division which was outfitted with Panzer IIIs. In late January/early Feb. 1942 Heinl was wounded and admitted to Reserve Laz.XIc Wien on 02.Feb.1942 with a gunshot wound (31a) which although not severe enough to keep him in hospital very long, must have been rather serious as it managed to keep him from returning to his field unit. When he was released from hospital a little over a month later on 09.March 1942 Heinl was sent back to his replacement Abteilung (Pz.Ers.ABt.18) Panzerkampfwager Reserve in Sagan where he would stay for roughly the next year. Interestingly enough, while entitled to the black wound badge for his wound, the award was never entered into his Soldbuch.

In March of 1943, Heinl was transferred to Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 500 in Paderborn which was the training unit for heavy Tiger tank units. He was placed in the 2.Kompanie/Pz.Ers.Abt.500 and in August of 1943 Heinl, after receiving a complement of new gear and being issued a Luger pistol, was sent to the eastern front (via 1./Marsch.Kompanie 500) to join his new field unit, 2./schwere-Panzer-Abteilung 503 as a Tiger I crew member. From his arrival shortly after the battle of Kursk, s.Pz.Abt.503 was locked in fierce, continuous and exhausting combat for the next 9 months. At the end of April 1944 the surviving personnel of the Abteilung was ordered to hand off the remainder of the Abteilung’s surviving (7) Tiger I’s to s.Pz.Abt.509 and be withdrawn and rebuilt in Ohrdruf (Thuringia).

Unfortunately, barely any official records of the 2./s.Pz.Abt.503 survived the war and as a result locating any specific information on Heinl has proved to be most difficult and of course extrememly frustrating. However, on page of 21 of “The Combat History of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503, In Action in the East and West with the Tiger I and II” a excerpt from a company newsletter published in December of 1943 is listed and does make mention of Heinl’s promotion to Feldwebel. It's nice to have his name appear in what is the most comprehensive publication on the unit's history.

Between 11 and 17 June 1944, s.Pz.Abt.503 is outfitted with 45 new Tigers, including 12 Tiger II’s with the “Porsche” turret which were used to form up the 1.Komp (2.and 3. received the Tiger I).

With the allied invasion of Normandy on 06.June 1944, after just a brief 5 week period of rest and refitting s.Pz.Abt.503 was put on full alert and mobilized, leaving the Ohrdruf training area on 26.June 1944 and traveling by rail to Dreux (via Mainz-Homburg-Saarburg-Luneville-Nancy-Pagny sur Maas-Bologne-Chaumont-Melum-Paris-Versailles) with the last of the Abteilung arriving in Dreux on 05.July. After a road march to Canon (near Mezidon) s.Pz.Abt.503 finally reached its assembly area 12 KM south of Caen on 07.July 1944, and here it was attached to Panzer-Regiment 22 (21.Panzer-Division) where they formed up in and around a forest near Maneville.

On 18.July 1944, Peter Heinl was killed on the opening day of Operation Goodwood. Taken from Wikipedia:

“Shortly before dawn the Highland infantry in the southern sector of the Orne bridgehead quietly withdrew 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) north. At 05:45 hours the preliminary aerial bombardment began; 1,056 Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster heavy bombers, flying at 3,000 feet (910 m), dropped 4,800 tons of high explosive bombs on Colombelles, the steelworks, positions of the 21st Panzer Division and the town of Cagny, leaving half the town destroyed. At 06:40 hours the artillery fire plan began, 20 minutes later American B-26 Marauders released 563 tons of fragmentation bombs, from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) –13,000 feet (4,000 m), on the 16th Luftwaffe Division while fighter-bombers attacked strong points and gun positions. During this 45 minute bombardment, by the second wave bombers, the 11th Armoured Division moved out of their concentration areas towards the start line. H Hour was confirmed to take place at 07:45 hours and on schedule the artillery started firing the rolling barrage for the armoured division. As the advance started additional artillery regiments opened fire on Cuverville, Demouville, Giberville, Liberville, Cagny and Émiéville. The heavy guns also carried out harassing fire on targets as far south as Garcelles-Secqueville and Secqueville la Campagne. 15 minutes later the final bombing raid began, American heavy bombers dropped 1,340 tons of fragmentation bombs in the Troarn area and onto the main gun line at Bourguébus Ridge. Only 25 bombers from these three waves were lost, all to German anti aircraft fire, now the operation would be supported from the 800 fighter-bombers of No. 83 and No. 84 Group RAF. The bombing put both the 22nd Panzer Regiment and the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion temporarily out of action, various degrees of damage and destruction was caused to the tanks, some were overturned while others were completely destroyed and 20 tanks were abandoned in bomb craters. Most of the German frontline positions had been destroyed and the surviving defenders were left "dazed and incoherent". While many positions were devastated some targets, such as Touffréville and Grentheville, were missed due to dust, smoke and the inability of the bomber crews to identify them. Other German strongholds, such as le Prieuré and le Mesnil Frémentel that lay across the British line of advance and contained Panzergrenadiers and assault guns, lay outside the designated bomb zones and were spared. Cagny and Émiéville had suffered heavily under the bombardment however the defenders were largely unscathed and had time to recover and prepare themselves to meet the attack; both locations having clear lines of fire on the route the British advance was to take. Other formations also recovered, such as the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion, and got to work digging out their half buried tanks to be ready for action that same morning. While bombs did fall onto Bourguébus Ridge destroying some guns most of the German artillery and anti tank guns were intact."

While the 1.and 3.Kompanies of s.Pz.Abt.503 received the majority of the casualties on the opening day of “Goodwood” the records of s.Pz.Abt.503 list the following deaths for the 2.Kompanie on 18.July 1944:

18.07.44 Lt. Schröder, Uffz. Westerhausen gefallen
2. Kp.: St.Fw. Hammrich, Fw. Heinl, Fw. Plum gefallen

Some interesting signatures in the book; page 02, 2.Zug Führer Leutnant Walter Bielefeld (KIA Nov 1944 in Hungary) and on pages 14 and 15, 2.Zug Führer Leutnant Werner Cüsow, (KIA 1943).


I’m not done researching this Soldbuch yet and wasn’t planning on posting it as I have quite a bit more reading and digging to do. However, I thought it would make a nice addition to this thread, and so here are some scans.



























Here are some pictures of the aftermath of the opening stages of “Goodwood” to give you an idea of exactly how destructive those bombing runs really were. Notice that the first picture is in fact a 2.Kompanie Tiger, but so far I have been unable to identify the names of the crew of Tiger #213. I do not know if Heinl was killed in the initial bombing runs/artillery strikes, or later in the day as the 2./503 participated in counter-attacks against British armored forces around Troarn.








The last two images are Tiger II’s from the 1.Kompanie: note – this is Tiger II #100 which actually drove into the bomb crater, got stuck and was subsequently destroyed by the crew. Still, it gives the impression of the size of the craters left by the aerial bombardment which no doubt made navigating any vehicle through the area a pure nightmare.

[Daniele C]

Rob,

They dont have pics on the cover(at least one had it kinda eh eh!)These are rare and of great units soldbuchs!Especially being on my fav Panzer (the tiger)!
You know how sensible i am with Normandy KIA soldbuecher and yours is another great piece!
Even tho Waldeck s soldbuch doesnt have a pic either you still have 2 very nice portraits that doesnt make any difference in my opinion!
You could post that Inner cover with pic you had ?

Great pieces my friend!

Daniele

[Panzer Rob]

They dont have pics on the cover(at least one had it kinda eh eh!)These are rare and of great units soldbuchs!Especially being on my fav Panzer (the tiger)! You know how sensible i am with Normandy KIA soldbuecher and yours is another great piece! Even tho Waldeck s soldbuch doesnt have a pic either you still have 2 very nice portraits that doesnt make any difference in my opinion!

Daniele-

Thanks for your complements my friend! I know you can't wait to get that s.Pz.Jg.Abt560 grouping in your hands!


It's always nice to have a photo of the soldier attached inside the front cover, especially when he's wearing a wrap but to be honest it doesn't bother me one bit that these two don't have a photo. I could never pass up a Panzer crew member Soldbuch such as these two just because it was missing the photo... Of course, it does significantly hurt the "dollar" value when it comes to selling/buying, especially if the photo has been torn out/removed but as you I collect these primarally for the history behind them and so I am just happy to have them in my collection - with or without a photo


Rob

[Ian Jewison]

Unfortunately I do not have the Soldbuch, however here is the driving license to Oberleutnant und Kompanie Chef (3/Stug Abt. 667) Hans Messerschmidt DKiG.

Shows classes for 2 (car/truck under 3½ ton) and 3 (over 3½ ton).

It was issued 29.6.1942 in Jüterbog by III Abteilung, Artillerie Lehr Regiment (mot.) 2 and is signed by the Oberstleutnant und Kommandeur Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn EL (Stug Abt. 191).

[Ian Jewison]

Reverse shows additional classes for Panzer B (16-30 ton) and class 1 (motorcycle).

It is signed by the Major und Abteilung Kommandeur Rudolf Zettler RKT

[Ian Jewison]

......

[Ian Jewison]

This one unfortunately is a bit battered and has not entries after the demise of the Deutsches Afrika Korps, however he did go on to serve with Reserve Panzer Abteilung 5.

The Soldbuch belonged to an officer, who clearly enjoyed Afrika! Page 19 shows he arrived in Africa 3 times. Initially 10.3.1941 with FP Nr. 02292 (5 Kompanie, Panzer Regiment 5). Again on 6.8.1942 (after officer course!) and lastly 20.2.1943 with FP Nr. 48781 (Regimentsstab, Panzergrenadier Regiment 160, Division von Manteuffel).

Page 22 shows he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 10.7.1941, this as a Gefreiter with Kradmeldezug 83, 3 Panzer Division. The others whilst with Pz.Rgt. 5 in Africa. One award which is missing is the Afrika Cufftitle which he received 4.8.1944 whilst serving with Reserve Panzer Abteilung 5 in Denmark.

[Ian Jewison]

One interesting letter with the group giving the prisoner of war and owner of a german shephard dog permission to see his dog every morning and evening duties permitting!

[Panzer Rob]

Wonderful Führerschein, Ian. I love that photo - first full-length body shot I've seen on a Führerschein, and what a photo it is...


Here's one of my two Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 667 IDs, this one to a Gefreiter who fought with Kampfgruppe "Chill" in Holland in October of 1944 shortly after Operation Market-Garden had come to an end, and then in December participated in the Ardennes Offensive under command of the XXXXIX Panzer-Korps.

Soldbuch was issued on 16.December 1942 through s.Art.Ers.Abt.(mot.)62 to Gerhard Temp. Temp served first in Art.Ausb.Abt.(mot.)62, then the Stabsbatterie of StuG.Abt.245, an independent Sturmgeschütz unit which was outfitted with both StuG.IIIs and the 10,5cm Sturmhaubitze.42.

StuG.Abt.245 was disbanded and consolidated with Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 667, redesignated Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 667 and stationed in the Netherlands. In September of 1944 H.SturmArt.Bgd.667 was placed under the command of Generalleutnant Kurt Chill and fought in southern Holland shortly after Operation Market-Garden, then in December the Ardennes Offensive under command of XXXXIX Panzer-Korps.