StuG.Brigade 280 Soldbuch, document and photo grouping - wounded Battle of Arnhem

[Panzer Rob]

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[Panzer Rob]

Lastly, here is a map taken from It Never Snows in September which helps illustrate 3./StuG.Brigade 280’s activity in Arnhem on 19.September:

[Panzer Rob]

3./StuG.Brgd.280 remained in the Arnheim area until 29 September 1944 at which time the Brigade were loaded onto railcars at Apeldoorn and transported to fight in the area of Eschen on 6 October 1944 while attached to the Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 6.

On 19.September 1944 Hermann Wehner was wounded during the fighting in Arnhem. The wound code in his Soldbuch was entered as ‘31b’ which leads me to believe it could very well have been from shrapnel due to a British PIAT hit on his StuG, or perhaps shrapnel from small arms fire or a hand grenade.

Wehner’s silver wound badge was awarded on 22.November 1944 while he was recovering at Reserve-Lazarett Teupitz. The way the wound badge document has been filled out makes it difficult for me to determine if Wehner was injured ‘twice’ on 19.September, or if he received one very serious wound (his second wound) for which he was awarded the silver wound badge. His wound must have been rather severe as he did not return to active duty again but spent the remainder of the war in hospital and on leave.

Wehner was not the only casualty from 3./StuG.Brigade 280 on 19.September; Oberwachmeister Josef Mathes, the Zugführer of the 3.Zug, was killed in action on the very same day for which he was posthumously awarded the Knights Cross. I do not know exactly which Zug Wehner served in, however Wehner was awarded the EKI for his participation in the fighting in Arnhem attached to Kampfgruppe Spindler and while it’s just a theory, it’s possible that Hermann Wehner might have been a crew member in Mathes’ StuG. Then again, with the rank of Unteroffizier it’s also possible Wehner commanded his own StuG.

On page 20 of Wehner’s Soldbuch there is a Wehrsold entry dated 1.October1944 which shows that Wehner received pay at Kriegslazarett 2/686 (Enschede)for the period of 1 – 31.Oct. 1944. This means he was at Kriegslazarett 2/686 as early as 1.October- however there is no entry for Kriegslazarett 2/686 on pages 12/13 so there is no way to tell exactly when he was admitted (he would not be admitted to Reserve-Lazarett Teupitz for another two weeks). Was Wehner wounded twice on 19.September but remained with his unit until it was pulled off the line on 29.September and then went to Kriegslazarett 2/686, or did he receive one very serious, incapacitating wound on the 19th – possibly at the same time Oberwachmeister Josef Mathes was killed? Hopefully one day information will surface which will help give some solid answers. Until then it’s all just an educated guess.


Below are scans of Wehner’s silver wound badge award document, his EKI award document, page 21 from Wehner’s Soldbuch showing these two awards, as well as the Kriegslazarett 2/686 pay entry on page 20:

[Panzer Rob]

Wehner's EKI award document:

[Panzer Rob]

Awards page showing the EKI and silver wound badge, awarded for the fighting in Arnhem:

[Panzer Rob]

That's all for now.

As I stated earlier the grouping is one of my favorites and fits in beautifully with the other Battle of Arnhem IDs and documents in my collection, including a Soldbuch to a member of Kampfgruppe Knaust ,Panzer-Kompanie Mielke and a Soldbuch and photo album grouping to a Tiger I crew member who fought in Arnhem with schwere-Panzer-Kompanie Hummel… but we will save that one for another time ; )

Hope you guys enjoy the research and the photos
Best,
Rob

[naxos]

Incredible Soldbuch and excellent presentation

Congratulations Rob, well done!

[Admiraal]

Very nice soldbuch and great research!
I love the uniform photo in the soldbuch

[JUNGCO]

Rob,
Great Soldbuch and presentation.
Jeff

[hennep11]

Wow. Very great soldbuch and great presentation.

[Luft 76]

Very interesting documents with wonderfull ID portrait !

[Panzer Rob]

Thanks for the complements guys! I am extremely happy to have been able to add this incredible grouping to my collection and I'm glad you all enjoyed the presentation Rick - Yes, the portrait photo attached to the inside front cover of the Soldbuch really is outstanding

Rob

[nonameno]

Hi Rob,
Simply Outstanding!
Thank you for sharing and describing it so wonderfully,
Curtiss

[JeremyJ]

..

Beautiful group Rob!!

Thanks for sharing the group and history.



Jeremy

[Panzer Rob]

Curtiss, Jeremy - thanks very much for the complements guys and glad you enjoyed the thread

Rob