Hello all,
Finally found some time to research and show this soldbuch with a personal touch to you. It's my 4th 352 Infanterie Division soldbuch, this time I am not sure if he was in Normandy but he was in the Ardennes and was taken POW in the last days in 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge at a farm in Niederfeulen(Luxembourg). The farm he was taken POW was called "anwesen Well" or Kalkfabrik, sadly I was not able to found it till now so if someone could help me I would really appreciate that!
The information comes directly from the veteran of the 914 Grenadier Regiment as his story was published on the internet!!
Here we go:
Gustav Erb was born on 7 November 1926 in Fulda. He lived there with his father, mother and sister. He was drafted into the army on 8 March 1944. His first unit was the 8. Schiffs-Stamm-Abteilung in Besancon in France. When he left his home that day and kissed his family goodbye he didn't know he would never see his mother and sister again as they died in an Allied air raid on Fulda. In May he left this unit, it is unclear to me in what unit he was then. In his own story he told he was send in Mai 1944 to the Grenadier Regiment 914 of the 352 Infanterie Division, based in Normandy at that time under command of Oberstleutnant Ernst Heyna. The I./ GR. 914 was stationed from the edge of Vierville-sur-Mer to Grandcamp-Maisy near Omaha Beach. The I./ Gren. Rgt. 914 was send in the afternoon to counterattack the famous Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc. His soldbuch told he me he was transferred on 22.09.1944 from the Kriegsmarine to the Heer. Maybe the entry was not made earlier because short after his arrival the division was 2 months in combat. Or he only made a mistake in his story and really joined the division in September 1944. However he was in the battle of the Bulge for sure and this is what he told about the battles:
“After I was drafted in the Wehrmacht I was first send to the Kriegsmarine. But after a short time the parts of the units were disbanded and the soldiers were send to other units. After this I was send in May 1944 to the 914 Grenadier-Regiment of the 352 Infanterie Division. In November 1944 we were send to the Westwall. We were told our division would be part of an offensive.
On 16 December the offensive started, the Battle of the Bulge started. After a heavy artillery attack we crossed the river Our and attacked a hill that was heavily defended by the Americans. This battle was very hard and I believe both sides suffered heavy losses. In the following days we took Diekrich and later Ettelbrück.
The 352 Inf. Div. under command of Generalmajor Schmidt had around the 13.000 men. They had to attack on 16 December 1944 around 05.30 in the morning after the artillery fire. They had to cross the river Our between Roth and Wallendorf. After heavy fights south of Bettendorf-Hoesdorf, they captured Diekirch on 20 December and Ettelbrück on 21 December 1944. The 914 Grenadier Regiment had to fights it's way further crossing Feulen and Mertzig in the direction of Bettborn.
It was short before Christmas when we arrived at Ettelbrück. We spend the night with 12 men in a cellar on the market in the centre of Ettelbrück. I can remember the best that there was a storage of wine in the cellar. The next day we continued our advance by a higher road, equal to this road was a lower road. On this lower road, we could observe very well, were many American military vehicles.
We reached an isolated farm( in Niederfeulen). We searched the farm for Americans but we didn’t found any American. In the farm we found a woman who was sitting at a table. She gave us something to drink. Across this farm was an empty house and a barn. There we spend the night. The next morning we heard engines and vehicles on the road next to the barn. An Unteroffizier want to go outside to see what happened, but I took his arm and pulled him back, but he pushed me back and walked to the street. He was shot down immediately with a machinegun from an American jeep. We took him to the farm where we searched Americans the previous day. In the cellar he was treated by a Sanitäter. I don’t know if he survived.
In the farm we met a man and his son. It was clear to us we couldn’t escape and we decided to surrender. We asked the inhabitants of the farm a white flag and fix it to a stoke/stave. After a short time a American vehicle drove on the yard . An Unteroffizier showed the white flag and walked to the Americans. We throw all our weapons and papers away and put our hands up. We were taken prisoner of war by the Americans and transported by a vehicle to a prisoner of war camp near Stenay.
Later I was transported to a camp in the area of Cherbourg and 3 weeks later to Reims. I worked nearly a year in a Lazarett. On a day a group was formed in the camp and they were send back to Luxemburg. I was one of the 200 men send to the camp in Moutfort. In this camp we were divided into small labour groups. First I worked in a sawmill in Roodt/Syr and later in a building company in Luxemburg – Pfaffenthal.
Later the camp was visited by some farmers and businessmen from the environment who need some manpower. On this way I worked for 18 months on a farm in Luxemburg. The family offered me a contract to stay at the farm but I declined the offer. I heard my mother and my sister died by an Allied air raid at Fulda. When I heard my father was still living in Fulda I decided to go back to my father in Germany.”
That's it for now, hope you all enjoyed reading his personal story. Comments are welcome!
Aram
Finally found some time to research and show this soldbuch with a personal touch to you. It's my 4th 352 Infanterie Division soldbuch, this time I am not sure if he was in Normandy but he was in the Ardennes and was taken POW in the last days in 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge at a farm in Niederfeulen(Luxembourg). The farm he was taken POW was called "anwesen Well" or Kalkfabrik, sadly I was not able to found it till now so if someone could help me I would really appreciate that!
The information comes directly from the veteran of the 914 Grenadier Regiment as his story was published on the internet!!Here we go:
Gustav Erb was born on 7 November 1926 in Fulda. He lived there with his father, mother and sister. He was drafted into the army on 8 March 1944. His first unit was the 8. Schiffs-Stamm-Abteilung in Besancon in France. When he left his home that day and kissed his family goodbye he didn't know he would never see his mother and sister again as they died in an Allied air raid on Fulda. In May he left this unit, it is unclear to me in what unit he was then. In his own story he told he was send in Mai 1944 to the Grenadier Regiment 914 of the 352 Infanterie Division, based in Normandy at that time under command of Oberstleutnant Ernst Heyna. The I./ GR. 914 was stationed from the edge of Vierville-sur-Mer to Grandcamp-Maisy near Omaha Beach. The I./ Gren. Rgt. 914 was send in the afternoon to counterattack the famous Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc. His soldbuch told he me he was transferred on 22.09.1944 from the Kriegsmarine to the Heer. Maybe the entry was not made earlier because short after his arrival the division was 2 months in combat. Or he only made a mistake in his story and really joined the division in September 1944. However he was in the battle of the Bulge for sure and this is what he told about the battles:
“After I was drafted in the Wehrmacht I was first send to the Kriegsmarine. But after a short time the parts of the units were disbanded and the soldiers were send to other units. After this I was send in May 1944 to the 914 Grenadier-Regiment of the 352 Infanterie Division. In November 1944 we were send to the Westwall. We were told our division would be part of an offensive.
On 16 December the offensive started, the Battle of the Bulge started. After a heavy artillery attack we crossed the river Our and attacked a hill that was heavily defended by the Americans. This battle was very hard and I believe both sides suffered heavy losses. In the following days we took Diekrich and later Ettelbrück.
The 352 Inf. Div. under command of Generalmajor Schmidt had around the 13.000 men. They had to attack on 16 December 1944 around 05.30 in the morning after the artillery fire. They had to cross the river Our between Roth and Wallendorf. After heavy fights south of Bettendorf-Hoesdorf, they captured Diekirch on 20 December and Ettelbrück on 21 December 1944. The 914 Grenadier Regiment had to fights it's way further crossing Feulen and Mertzig in the direction of Bettborn.
It was short before Christmas when we arrived at Ettelbrück. We spend the night with 12 men in a cellar on the market in the centre of Ettelbrück. I can remember the best that there was a storage of wine in the cellar. The next day we continued our advance by a higher road, equal to this road was a lower road. On this lower road, we could observe very well, were many American military vehicles.
We reached an isolated farm( in Niederfeulen). We searched the farm for Americans but we didn’t found any American. In the farm we found a woman who was sitting at a table. She gave us something to drink. Across this farm was an empty house and a barn. There we spend the night. The next morning we heard engines and vehicles on the road next to the barn. An Unteroffizier want to go outside to see what happened, but I took his arm and pulled him back, but he pushed me back and walked to the street. He was shot down immediately with a machinegun from an American jeep. We took him to the farm where we searched Americans the previous day. In the cellar he was treated by a Sanitäter. I don’t know if he survived.
In the farm we met a man and his son. It was clear to us we couldn’t escape and we decided to surrender. We asked the inhabitants of the farm a white flag and fix it to a stoke/stave. After a short time a American vehicle drove on the yard . An Unteroffizier showed the white flag and walked to the Americans. We throw all our weapons and papers away and put our hands up. We were taken prisoner of war by the Americans and transported by a vehicle to a prisoner of war camp near Stenay.
Later I was transported to a camp in the area of Cherbourg and 3 weeks later to Reims. I worked nearly a year in a Lazarett. On a day a group was formed in the camp and they were send back to Luxemburg. I was one of the 200 men send to the camp in Moutfort. In this camp we were divided into small labour groups. First I worked in a sawmill in Roodt/Syr and later in a building company in Luxemburg – Pfaffenthal.
Later the camp was visited by some farmers and businessmen from the environment who need some manpower. On this way I worked for 18 months on a farm in Luxemburg. The family offered me a contract to stay at the farm but I declined the offer. I heard my mother and my sister died by an Allied air raid at Fulda. When I heard my father was still living in Fulda I decided to go back to my father in Germany.”
That's it for now, hope you all enjoyed reading his personal story. Comments are welcome!
Aram
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