This is among my favorite German IDs in my collection. This Wehrpass belonged to Gefreiter Rudi Schütz, the son of Hans Schütz, who died in 1927 when Rudi was just eight, and Katharine Schütz. According to his Arbeitsbuch (Employment Record Booklet), before being drafted into the Army, he worked as a clerk in the shipping department of the German railroad system in Wilhelmshaven. His apprenticeship there was expected to end on 30 June 1944; however, his life ended shortly before this.
After being drafted in July 1943, he was posted to the Stab (Staff) of the II. Bataillon (IInd Battalion) of Grenadier Regiment 744 of the 711. Infanterie-Division, and from 20 December 1943, he was transferred to the 7. Kompanie (7th Company) of Grenadier Regiment 744, which was part of the II. Bataillon and based in Houlgate, France. Although Schütz's battalion was based in Houlgate, sometime shortly before D-Day, he was in Varaville, France, southwest of Cabourg, France. Since Schütz was a Melder (Dispatcher), it is possible that he was ordered to pick up or deliver documents at the German garrison in Varaville a day or two before 6 June 1944 (I have not completely ruled out that elements of the 7./Grenadier-Regiment 744 were based in Varaville; I have found no information stating which unit or units were based there on 6 June 1944, only that a German "garrison" was there). As fate would have it, Gefreiter Schütz was in Varaville on the day of the Allied landings at Normandy. On his first day of combat, he was killed in action. Research shows that only one unit could have been responsible for Schütz's demise, the 1st Canadian Parachutist Battalion, the first Canadians to set foot at Normandy. Following is a brief description of the action that took place in Varaville on D-Day:
http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-par-willes-e.htm
It's rare to be able to determine exactly which unit was responsible for the death of a German soldier, so I was pleased when I could determine the unit that Schütz was engaged against the 1st Canadian Parachutist Battalion - as an eighteen-year-old Grenadier with no combat experience, he had no chance against the elite and well-trained Canadian paratroopers. One can only imagine how distraught his mother was when she learned that her young son had fallen on the first day of the Allied Invasion at Normandy.
Barry
After being drafted in July 1943, he was posted to the Stab (Staff) of the II. Bataillon (IInd Battalion) of Grenadier Regiment 744 of the 711. Infanterie-Division, and from 20 December 1943, he was transferred to the 7. Kompanie (7th Company) of Grenadier Regiment 744, which was part of the II. Bataillon and based in Houlgate, France. Although Schütz's battalion was based in Houlgate, sometime shortly before D-Day, he was in Varaville, France, southwest of Cabourg, France. Since Schütz was a Melder (Dispatcher), it is possible that he was ordered to pick up or deliver documents at the German garrison in Varaville a day or two before 6 June 1944 (I have not completely ruled out that elements of the 7./Grenadier-Regiment 744 were based in Varaville; I have found no information stating which unit or units were based there on 6 June 1944, only that a German "garrison" was there). As fate would have it, Gefreiter Schütz was in Varaville on the day of the Allied landings at Normandy. On his first day of combat, he was killed in action. Research shows that only one unit could have been responsible for Schütz's demise, the 1st Canadian Parachutist Battalion, the first Canadians to set foot at Normandy. Following is a brief description of the action that took place in Varaville on D-Day:
http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-par-willes-e.htm
It's rare to be able to determine exactly which unit was responsible for the death of a German soldier, so I was pleased when I could determine the unit that Schütz was engaged against the 1st Canadian Parachutist Battalion - as an eighteen-year-old Grenadier with no combat experience, he had no chance against the elite and well-trained Canadian paratroopers. One can only imagine how distraught his mother was when she learned that her young son had fallen on the first day of the Allied Invasion at Normandy.
Barry
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