Fest.Inf.Regt. 21 === Help

[MVV]

Who can help me out on this unit , Fest(ung) Inf(anterie) Reg(imen)t nr 21.
Period from september 1944 till may 1945. Must be certainly active this period on the Western front. --Regt. Commander was Major Kurt Friedrich.

Nothing in Tessin , i'm affraid .

Thanks - Marc

[Gary T]

Who can help me out on this unit , Fest(ung) Inf(anterie) Reg(imen)t nr 21.
Period from september 1944 till may 1945. Must be certainly active this period on the Western front. --Regt. Commander was Major Kurt Friedrich.

Nothing in Tessin , i'm affraid .

Thanks - Marc

Can we see the document the unit is mentioned on? There was a Festungs-Regimentsstab 21 active in the West in 1944/45.

[Ian Thomson]

Hi Marc, Tessin has a 21 Festung Regiment Stab which was part of 416th Infantry Division, which September 1944 was to be used for the seizure of the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, but the orders were cancelled by Hitler and it was committed to battle on the western front. The 416th fought in the Merzig area of the Saar in the Saar Moselle triangle in the West Wall battles. Incidentally this Division was nicknamed the "Whipped Cream Division" because of the special diets many of its men required, the average age of its soldiers was 38. Hope this helped.

Cheers
Ian

[MVV]

Thanks Ian ! That's where I got confused , I didn't find anything of the cancelling ( 416 ID) , can you direct me in some books about this 'battle' area ?


Gary , here are some scans , it's from the unit commanders soldbuch , a high decorated career officer ( Ritterkreuz & CCC silver , GCiG etc...)

There is a list with battle entry's written ( unusual ) in his soldbuch for the end 1944 to 1945 period .

Marc.

[MVV]

..