Questions Soldbuch Western Front

[Jochen1000]

Hi all,

I have this soldbuch for some years. The good thing is that this guy has documented his entire career as a soldier. Not so good is that his documentation starts to get a bit
confusing around October 1944 ... so I would be grateful for some help.

Basically he seems to have been in Füsilier Bataillon 256 of 256th Infanterie Division in Holland from August 1944 on. He then received a few awards during the first months of 1945 and this is what he sais:

- 03.12.1944 EK2 from Lt. Götz of 16. Volksgrenadierdivision
- 15.01.1945 EK1 from Major Gerlach of 16. Volksgrenadierdivision
- 25.01.1945 Sturmabzeichen 25 from Major Gerlach of 16. Volksgrenadierdivision (this entry is of course post war)
- 28.02.1945 NKS from Oblt. Dähne of Füs. Btl. 256
- 17.03.1945 Wound Badge in Silver from someone unknown of Füs. Btl. 256

And there is one more thing. He claims that he was sent to 12. SS-Panzerdivision from 20.02.1945 till 15.03.1945 when he was wounded. He sais it happened
because he was a professional HJ-leader (which is true, it is mentioned in his SB) and he sais that he was in charge of the 2. Kompanie of the Aufkl. Abt. of that Division.


Now my questions:
1. He claims to have been in Pz. Aufkl. Kompanien. Is that even possible? I thought those Infanterie Divisionen had bicybles at best
2. Do any of the award signatures seem familiar to you? Does someone of you maybe have a similar signature in a soldbuch?
3. Does anyone of you know if such a transfer of a Heer officer to a W-SS could have happened without anything mentioned in the Soldbuch?

I know I ask a lot and I would really be grateful for any kind of info - particularly for another example of one of the signatures.
Many thanks in advance for your help!

[Jochen1000]

2

[Jochen1000]

3

[Justin P]

Bicycle's came in Handy at times I'm sure. Might want to post page 22 the right way up

[Jochen1000]

Thanks for the comment. Never questioned the value of bicycles but the availability of those vehicles hardly explains why he claims to have been in a Pz. Aufk. Abt.

Page No. 22 was posted the right way up as I am interested in the signature below the EK1 entry.

[Ian Jewison]

Michael,

Don't forget Füsilier Bataillon were tradition and were normally formed from Aufklärung units!
So, he could have been in a motorised Aufkl. Kompanie of Füsilier Btl. 256!?!?!? I do not know the composition of the unit.

Also, due to the fact he was 12 SS Div. for such a short time, they probably didn't get round to making any entries at such a late stage of the war!

Also are you sure it is Sturmabzeichen (25)? To me it looks more like a 15 and I think it is a post war entry due to the fact he was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze, perhaps because the awarding date was wrong? If it is the GAB (25) then it was awarded prior to his CCCiB!??!!?

Regards,
Ian

[Jochen1000]

Hi Ian,

yes he meant the GAB 25 for sure. At least he sais that in his documentation. However, personally I doubt that he received it. I see no reason why they should have forgotten to enter this award in his soldbuch.

Thanks for the explanation concerning the 12. SS PD. I will have to do a bit of research in order to find out if they did indeed receive additional Heer soldiers to fill their depleted ranks.

Do any of the signatures look familiar by coincidence?

[Cezar]

1. He claims to have been in Pz. Aufkl. Kompanien. Is that even possible? I thought those Infanterie Divisionen had bicybles at best

How did you come to this Pz. Aufkl. Kompanie? I haven't noticed this information on the pages you attached.

[Jochen1000]

Hi Cezar,

you are right - it comes from his documentation.

It could well be that he just added the Pz. because he thought it looks cooler.

[Admiraal]

Can you post page 4 of this soldbuch?

[Jochen1000]

Hi Rick - here you go.

[Ian Jewison]

Divisions-Bataillon 256

1. Aufstellung: * 21.4.1943 bei Teilung der Schnellen Abteilung mit Aufklärungs-Schwadron, zwei Grenadier-Kompanien und einer schwere Schwadron; Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon 256 seit 26.7.1943; erhielt 10.11.943 (für Teile) und am 7.1.1944 als Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon (Aufklärungsabteilung) 256 insgesamt Kavallerie-Tradition;
21.7.1944 aufgelöst. Nach Wiederaufstellung der Division nur eine Divisions-Füsilier-Kompanie 256 (aus 568).

2. Unterstellung: 256. Infanterie-Division; 256. Volks-Grenadier-Division

3. Ersatz: 10 Torgau,Wehrkreis IV

FP Nr. 37224 -
(Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) Stab Aufklärungs-Abteilung 256. Infanterie-Division
(30.7.1941-28.2.1942) Stab Aufklärungs-Abteilung 256 der 256. Infanterie-Division
(8.9.1942-11.3.1943) Stab Schnelle Abteilung 256
(12.3.1943-7.9.1943) Stab u. 1.-4. Kompanie Divisions-Bataillon 256, dann Stab u. 1.-4. Kompanie Divisions-Bataillon 256, Ost-Kompanie 256 (= F) und Stab Arbeits-Bataillon 256 (= G)
(8.9.1943-22.4.1944) 10.3.1944 Stab u. 1.-4. Kompanie Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon (A.A.) 256, Ost-Kompanie 256 u. Stab Arbeits-Bataillon 256,
(25.11.1944-Kriegsende) 8.2.1945 gestrichen.

FP Nr. 48746 - 1.11.1944 Divisions-Füsilier-Kompanie 256.

568. Volks-Grenadier-Division

1. Aufstellung: * 25.8.1944 als Volks-Grenadier-Division 32. Welle auf dem Truppenübungsplatz Königsbrück, WK IV.
Am 17.9.1944 wurde die Division in 256. Volks-Grenadier-Division umbenannt.

/Ian

[Admiraal]

Ian, do you got that same info also about Panzerjäger-Abteilung 256?
Maybe he was in that unit.
I know that this unit was merged with Aufkl.Abt.256 in 1942, maybe they still had an Aufklärungs Kompanie/zug on 08-1944.
And as this Panzerjäger unit was equipped with at least a few Stug´s, its possible they had some armoured vehicles as well??
Just thinking out loud...

[Jochen1000]

Just a quick thank you for your efforts guys!