Late War Marine HJ Wehrpass

[Paul Giva]

This wehrpass piqued my interest for two reasons. The first was that it was issued to a Marine HJ. Something that I did not have in my collection. The second was that according to the Gräbersuche, the inhaber died in Ristinge, Denmark in October of 1945 and was buried in Odense, Denmark. I have been unsuccessful thus far at revealing any facts that may assist me in understanding the circumstances that may account for this young man's demise so many months after the war, outside of Germany.

[Paul Giva]

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[Ian Jewison]

Hi Paul,

Again, difficult to say without any other information. On his units page it simply says on board and land based units of the Kriegsmarine.
However, at that date he was of course either wounded in the closing stages of the war and died 5 months later, or I suspect probably killed in mine clearing operations.

/Ian

[Paul Giva]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your input. Did not at all think of the mine clearing possibility. Much appreciated.

[Panzer Rob]

Ian's more than likely correct. My guess would be that he was killed (like so many other German POWs) clearing mines after the war. If you're interested in learning more, there are some really informative articles about the post-war mine clearing operations in Denmark. it was an extremely dangerous job and many, many men were maimed and killed.

Nice Wehrpass, Paul. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Rob