Soldbuch for Soldier Killed During Operation Dragoon

[Stormfighter]

Here is another Soldbuch I bought at the Show of Shows last week. The Soldbuch belonged to Gefreiter Emil Pfaffmann, who served with Sicherungs-Regiment 200 based in Lyon, France. As the Americans moved up through southern France during Operation Dragoon, Pfaffmann was killed in action. Here is the Wikipedia entry for Operation Dragoon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon

After Pfaffmann was killed, his Soldbuch was removed from his body and his date and location of death were entered in pencil. It is unclear if this entry was made by a German or possibly a French person (it was certainly written by a European since the date is written as Day/Month/Year). The Soldbuch ended up in the hands of a GI and according to the dealer I bought it from, was brought back as a souvenir. I wouldn't rule out that Pfaffmann may have been killed by a French partisan who took Pfaffmann's Soldbuch and may have later traded it for a pack of cigarettes, chocolate, etc.

For some reason, I have seen and owned very few Soldbuecher for soldiers killed in southern France in 1944. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has Soldbuecher for soldiers killed during Operation Dragoon, and if so, post them here.

Gefreiter Emil Pfaffmann is buried in Dagneux, France:

Nachname: Pfaffmann

Vorname: Emil

Dienstgrad: Gefreiter

Geburtsdatum: 04.02.1902

Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 06.09.1944

If anyone lives near Dagneux, I would gladly compensate you for taking a photograph of Pfaffmann's grave for me.

Barry

[Stormfighter]

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[Stormfighter]

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[Stormfighter]

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[CWP]

That's a great Soldbuch. Thanks for posting it.

[Luft 76]

Yes, interesting piece. I possess two Sb'soldiers related to this area and fights, but none were killed.

[JUNGCO]

I like Soldbücher from 2nd line troops. Thanks for showing.
Jeff

[Jean-Loup]

"For some reason, I have seen and owned very few Soldbuecher for soldiers killed in southern France in 1944."

Perhaps because the number of casualties wasnt as huge as in some other operations, and because quite a lot of French troops (also many colonials) were involved, who had less of a tendency of keeping souvenirs?

A lot of information can probably be found out by contacting a local historian in the town where this soldier was killed. I wouldnt be surprised if only a handfull of men had been killed there, and you could find out exact circumstances of death.

I would be interested to see any Soldbuchs of men killed in the Cannes, Nice and Draguignan area, as I am very familiar with what happened there.

[Stormfighter]

A lot of information can probably be found out by contacting a local historian in the town where this soldier was killed. I wouldnt be surprised if only a handfull of men had been killed there, and you could find out exact circumstances of death.

Thanks Jean-Loup! I see that Orelle is a small commune of the Savoie department, so I think you're right, very few German soldiers were probably killed there. Would you perhaps be able to help me find a historian in this commune? My brother is a professor of French, so he can write the letter. I just need an address.

[Jean-Loup]

The place is miniscule, so if there are a few elders still around, they can probably tell you exactly what happened. Also, there are hopefully a few written documents in existance.
This is the town halls website: http://www.orelle.fr/
This is their address:
Mairie d'Orelle
73140 Orelle
France

If you send a letter, ask if there are any known written documents about the liberation of the town, particularly around the date of death, and also ask if there are any elders you could contact. If there are, I could phone them for you sometime in the future. Also include a photocopy of the Soldbuch, hopefully that will arouse their interest.

You may also want to try contacting the soldier's family as they might have more info on him.

Interestingly, I have a WWI french officer's ID tag I found in Nice, to an officer from Fourneaux, which happens to be the town right beside Orelle! I had sent the town hall a letter and they had responded in a helpful manner, hopefully the people in Orelle will be as helpfull.

[Jean-Loup]

Here is a link explaining the Germans took some civilian hostages in Orelle and held them in a school, where 9 were killed by a shell on September 1st: http://histoiredelamaurienneetdelasa...-65-ans-4.html
The writter of this blog should be able to help you find more info.

Here there also lists of people killed, apparently escaping GErmans and FRench miliciens shot a bunch of civilians, which means things should be quite well documented: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...bfGEajJ75X5WsA

[Stormfighter]

Thanks Jean-Loup! I plan to write to Orelle in the next few days. I will follow your advice and send a copy of the Soldbuch and ask if they can provide me with the names of any town elders who may know something about German deaths in the town in September 1944. Thanks again!

P.S. I checked the German telephone book and saw that there are quite a few people named Pfaffmann living in Nussdorf. I may give that a shot too.

[Jean-Loup]

Here is an article about 60+ Wehrpass that were recently discovered in the same general area of France, apparently coming from a bunch of German border guards who were either captured or executed in early sept 1944 near the Swiss border: http://www.favj.ch/site/?p=55562

The finders did the "good thing" and handed the documents over to the authorities, so IMO they will never see the light of day again.

[fldjr]

Here is a soldbuch with some other souvenirs brought back by a 7th Army Dragoon vet. Grenadier Frank served in Aserbeidschanische Infanterie Bataillon 807. I couldn't find his name in a volksbund search, so perhaps he was lucky and taken prisoner.
Regards,
Fred

[fldjr]

I can post other pages if they would have anything of interest, just ask...