"Fortress Lorient" WP / SB Lot

[Oberbootsmann]

Hello. I have almost forgotten about that lot. It is of a soldier who served from 1939 - 1945 at Fortress Lorient. I would like to get some opinions as I do not have a lot of knowledge when it comes to Fortress documents. Sorry for the mix-up of the photos.

Regards

[Oberbootsmann]

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[Luft 76]

Interesting documents, but I have not understood your question : what do you want to know, exactly ?.

[Oberbootsmann]

Interesting documents, but I have not understood your question : what do you want to know, exactly ?.

Hi. I'd like to know if those Fortress related Soldbooks are kind of rare.

Regards

[Doug Nash]

Rarity of Festungs Lorient Documents?

Yes, I'd say that they were pretty rare - you don't commonly find them so what you've got there is probably worth a pretty penny. Looks like a 100% legit set - There were several of these fortresses along the French coastline that consisted of various garrisons that were left behind during the German withdrawal to deny the ports they protected (Lorient, Dunkirk, etc.) from being used by the Allies; this made sense as long as the Allies couldn't get Cherbourg then Antwerp up and running due to German demolitions; but after those major ports were put back in operation, it made no sense at all to keep them - in essence, they became self-guarding POW camps, for the most part, though a few of them made the occasional sortie that caused some temporary uproar among the rear echelon Allied units put there to keep an eye on them.

[Oberbootsmann]

Yes, I'd say that they were pretty rare - you don't commonly find them so what you've got there is probably worth a pretty penny. Looks like a 100% legit set - There were several of these fortresses along the French coastline that consisted of various garrisons that were left behind during the German withdrawal to deny the ports they protected (Lorient, Dunkirk, etc.) from being used by the Allies; this made sense as long as the Allies couldn't get Cherbourg then Antwerp up and running due to German demolitions; but after those major ports were put back in operation, it made no sense at all to keep them - in essence, they became self-guarding POW camps, for the most part, though a few of them made the occasional sortie that caused some temporary uproar among the rear echelon Allied units put there to keep an eye on them.

Thanks, Doug. Sounds interesting and should be worth reading a little about it.

Regards, Matthias

[Luft 76]

"Festung Lorient" documents are not very rare but always interesting, especialy when there are, like yours, many documents together.

[Lt. Martin]

Well, what is your definition of rare?

Think about all the regular infantry soldbuchs or ersatz soldbuchs that are out there. When you compare that to a specific group such as "Fortress Lorient" you will see that there are much much less Fortress Lorient soldbuchs to be found. So, IMO, they are rare to a certain degree, not as rare as a RK winner with Oakleaves and Swords, but still a "low grade rare."


Swayne Martin

[Doug Nash]

Festung Lorient

Agree - good point. Also, taken individually, documentw from soldiers who were part of Festung Lorient, or Dunkirk, or Brest garrisons are probably rarer than those who were at Stalingrad. Each of these fortresses along the French coast had between 20 - 40,000 men, whereas around half a million men directly took part in the Stalingrad Campaign at one time or another from August 1942 until the surrender in February 1943 and could have claimed campaign participation under the rules that were in effect. Of these, probably around half (290,000 or so) were trapped in the Kessel. The rest were outside and weren't trapped, or were in hospital, on leave in Germany or attending some sort of schooling at the time of the encirclement. A high percentage of these men, if they were in 4th Panzer or 6th Armies, could claim to be a Stalingrad "Veteran." Of those trapped, we know that 91,000 surrendered (again, more of less) and only 5,000 or so ever made it home. Now those would be rare. But some 42,000 men were flown out (wounded & specialists) so they would all be eligible to claim credit for "being there." I've come across dozens of Stalingrad WPs and SBs, but only 4 Lorient ones, so according to this rather unscientific method, I'd have to say that Lorient documents are scarcer.

[H BABERT]

Hello,
these are scarce...but "easy" to find....Lorient and Saint Nazaire can be found more easily than other because of the marking inside the soldbuch ("festung Lorient", or "personal liste Saint nazaire") Dunkirk is rarely found, and Brest is not easy to find, because there is no mention of the festung, and you must know exactly wich unit was in festung Brest.
Indeed; very nice grouping

Herlé

[Oberbootsmann]

Thanks for all the nice comments and additional information.

Regards