Soldbuch Heeres Artillerie Abteilung (SF) 101 Stalingrad?!

[Ralle84]

Hello,

I recently got this Soldbuch of a member of Heeres Artillerie Abteilung (SF) 101.

As I can not find much information on this unit I would like to knew where they fought in 1944/1945 as he was awarded with the General Assault Badge on April 26th 1945.

I would also like to know with which vehicles they were equipped.

I would also like to hear your thoughts on wether he participated in the Battle for Stalingrad or not.

Thank you very much!!

[Ralle84]

2

[Ralle84]

He received his Wehrsold and Frontzulage from the Sammelstelle des Heeres des Armeeoberkommando 6 for the period from 21.12.1942

[Ralle84]

4

[brooksbz]

This unit is listed as lost at Stalingrad. Jason Mark lists it supporting 24PD attack on 27 Sep 42 with 3 batteries if 15cm howitzers (page 213 Death of the Leaping Horseman). I can't tell if the owner fought in Stalingrad after he went into the hospital in July with blood and breathing disorders. After further review, it looks as though he was assigned to the erzatz truppen in August. He is listed as wounded in action in September. It is difficult to tell how much Stalingrad action he experienced without seeing his leave pages. This is a very desirable Soldbuch from a unit that fought at Stalingrad.

[Ralle84]

Here is a picture of his leaves. He was on holiday until October 23rd 1942.

According to page 21 he reached his Front unit around November 11th 1942.

On December 21st 1942 he received his Sold and Frontzulage from the Sammelstelle des Heeres of the AOK 6. Was that inside the pocket or which is more likely outside?

The schwere Artillerie Abteilung 101 was set up again by mid 1943. Has anybody further information where this unit fought in 1944/45.

I would also like to know which Selbstfahrlafetten they had?

He was wounded but that one was in 1943.

[Archi]

Hello !

Very interesting unit and Soldbuch. Thanks for showing !

Regarding this soldiers career, the followig could be a possible scenario (in general agreement with brooksbz) :
Drafted in March 1942 to Art.Ers.Abt. 61 (Epinal). Sent towards a front unit in late May or June 42 (p. 20, 4).
From 1. July - late Aug., he was in hospital, and after that on holiday until 23. Oct. 1942.
He must have returned to his replacement unit at Frankfurt/Oder end of Oct. 42 (p. 23) :
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...ErsAbt59-R.htm

Was he with his unit at Stalingrad before the encirclement (and was able to break out) or
did he arrive only after the cauldron was closed ?!

IMO, a clue might come from the entries on p.21 :
The entry with blue ink is made by a unit : Urlaubskompanie 22.
Payment is made for two ten-days-periods from 11.-31.12.42.
The next entry is made for the ten-days-period 1.-10.01.43, this time by Sammelstelle A.O.K. 6.
In addition, he received a Frontzulage for the timeframe 21.-31.12.42, but no Frontzulage for the timeframe before.
Therefore, I would think, that this soldier was sent to the front in late November or early December 1942,
was first incorporated into a Urlauber-Kompanie (formed adhoc from men returning from leave and replacements),
then was then sent to the Sammelstelle AOK 6 and finally, was able to join the remnants of schw. Art.Abt. 101.

Regarding schwere Artillerie-Abteilung 101(mot) and its actions :
There is an excellent new set of books, dealing with this independent Arty units of the German Army by Uwe Kleinert:
http://balsi.de/heeresartillerie
According to that, the unit fought in Poland, France and the East.
Before May 1940, it was reorganized into: HQ, 3 batteries, each/w 4 s.Feldhaubitzen 18 (15cm) and a 48t supply column.
In 1941/42 it fought with HGr. Mitte and was sent to Mogilew, for rest and refit in April/May 1942.
[Both hospitals he was sent to in July, (Kriegslaz. 626 (Borissow) and 609 (Minsk)) were close to that area.]

In June/July, The Abteilung was transferred to Heeresgruppe Süd and via Charkow-Millerowo, finally came under command
of A.O.K. 6, where it was under LI. A.K. in late Sept. 42 and later in support of 71. Inf.Div. at Stalingrad.
=> On 21.11.42, s.Art.Abt. 101 (by that time down to 2 batteries with 2 guns each), was ordered to transfer to the
XXXXVIII. AK., West of the encirclement.
In the course of these movements, the Abteilung became split up and 185 men remained in the cauldron.
The remains can be found under XXXXVIII. Pz.K. on 22.December 1942 :
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...IPzKorps-R.htm

The Abteilung then fought at Kursk in July 1943 and later on under Pz.AOK. 4.

In Winter 1943/44, the Abteilung was converted to s.FH./Sfl. (Hummel), with an authorized total of 14.
In 1944/45, it fought under Pz.Aok. 4 and later under Pz.AOK. 1.

Best regards,

Archi

[brooksbz]

Thank you for the wonderful synopsis! I find this Soldbuch interesting for several reasons.

First, it looks as though he was in an Schw. Art. Erz. Abt. 59 (mot) on 5 Nov 42 as noted on the top of page 14. So it looks as though he never made it to the Stalingrad Front before the pocket closed. Most of the replacements came to Stalingrad in March Battalions, I don't see where he was assigned to one. Also there was no time to get there from the Erzatz unit, because it took from 10-14 days to travel from Germany to Stalingrad.

The train ride ended at Chir Station. From there it took a few days to catch a lift or trudge into Stalingrad.

I also have this theory that the returning wounded or replacements received their immunizations at the front so it would be nice to see the immunizations page to see his immunizations.

[Ralle84]

Thank you very much for the analysis Archi :-)

[Archi]

Hello !

@Ralle84 : Good to hear you like it !

@brooksbz :
Very detailed and interesting additional info !
I agree, if he was still with his replacement unit on 5.11., than he likely remained outside the pocket.
(BTW: I never saw such an entry in a Soldbuch, I thought this would be entered only into the Wehrpass.)

And thanks for sharing your idea on the immunizations. I never thought to look at those.
Would be interesting to see.

Thanks and best regards,

Archi

[Archi]

SB question, regarding Urlauber-Kp. near Stalingrad

Hello all !

As I am the new owner of this Soldbuch, I would really like to understand more aspects
of it and I hope for some assistance (or hints for further reading etc. ...).
I am not asking for anything precise, but any general estimate from experience would be useful
and greatly appreciated !

brooksbz was asking for the immunization pages, so I'll post that first, and then other
entries, related to the following questions :

1.a) Is it possible to estimate, when he was sent off to the front after his basic training ?
(He was issued a Eiserne Portion on 26.5.42 and also a Wolldecke. How long would it take after that ?)

1.b) Is it possible to estimate, whether he did first arrive at his Arty unit, and was then sent to hospital
or did this happen while he was still on the way towards the front ?!
Does the immunization page help here ?
(Immunization against Cholera on 2.6.42, against Ruhr on 24.6.42. A week after, he fell ill.)

2.) It is clear, that he was in hospital at least from 1.July - 27.8. and then was granted 2 weeks leave.
He spent a short time in Genesenden-Kp. of s.Art.Ers.Abt. 59 at Frankfurt/Oder and then was granted further leave
until End of Oct. 42.
On 5.11.42, an entry : "Abstellungsuntersuchung" is entered on p. 14 (never saw this entry in a SB before! ),
and he was issued 3 Marschdecken on 6.11.42 (entered by Marsch-Batterie 59).
Also on 5.11., an equipment entry on p. 6-7 was made and he was issued a Gasplane, Gasmaske, Verbandpäckchen etc. ...
Is it possible to estimate, when he was sent off to the front after these entries were made ?

3.) Regarding the question when (and where) did he arrive at the front, after beeing sent off from his
replacement unit in Nov. 1942:
The only entry with hints on this is on p. 21 (payments from other then the "regular" units), entered by a
Urlaubs-Kompanie 22 :
a) Can anyone help on this specific unit or such Urlauber units in general ?! I think I have read about them somewhere,
but I can't remember the source.
b) Either the entry in the first or the second column p.21 must be wrong :
(payment was either made for the 2nd and 3rd 10 days period in November or December). What do you think ?

It would be a great help, if someone could provide some hints on those Urlauber-cos., formed in late 1942.
In the Feldpost-Übersicht, I found a reference to Urlauber-Rgt. Micksch (FPN 36320). Is this
Urlaubskompanie 22 perhaps related to that "Urlauber-Rgt. Micksch" ?!

Many thanks in advance and best regards,

Archi

[Archi]

Hello all !

A short summary, of what I was able to find (and what not) on this unit and this soldier :
I think this soldier fought at interesting places, in support of interesting units (11. PzD., PzGrenDiv. GD,
roem. 48 PzK.) and with interesting equipment (15cm Hummel Haubitzen (SFl.)).

s. Art.Abt. 101 was equipped with 3 batteries, each bttr. w/ 4 s.FH. 18 (15cm) (mot.Z.) from 1940 - early 1944.
From February 1944 onward, the unit was equipped with 3 batteries ea./w. 4 Hummel (15cm Haub.(Sfl.)),
plus some in reserve, for a total of 17 for the Abteilung at that time.

For the subordinations, here is what I think are the most likely stations of this soldiers career :
(I found this really difficult. Please feel free to criticize, ask or to post different oppinions,
especially for the Stalingrad related timeframe. Any kind of discussion would help me very much !)

- Drafted in early 1942 and training with Art.Ers.Abt. 61 (at Epinal/France)
- end of May 1942, issued equipment, a gek. Eiserne Portion and a Wolldecke
- sent to the front, where he arrived at s.Art.Abt. 101 at Mogilew, sometime in June
- he fell ill and after 1.7. stayed in different hospitals at ..., Minsk, Litzmannstadt, had some leave, was posted
to the Marsch-Bttr. of his replacement unit on 5.11.42, and sent to the front again a few days/weeks later.

=> Then the crucial question: when and where did he arrive near the Stalingrad front again (likely outside the cauldron) ?

IMO, the only clue on this can come from the payment entries on p. 21, (shown above) which reads :
payment made on 11. and 17.11.42 for the timeframe 11.-31.12.42

However, this must contain some clerk error, as I think payment was made for every 10 day period in advance
and therefore 2 cases are possible :
a) entry of date of payment is correct and it was made in November, but for the timeframe 11.-30.11.42 or
b) entry was made on 11. and 17.12.42 for 11.-31.12.42

Case a) would require, that he arrived near the front within 5 days after being posted to the Marsch-Bttr.
In addition, I have serious doubts, that any Urlauber-Kp. would have been formed in mid November, I assume
this happened only at some time in December, when the desaster at Stalingrad already had evolved.
Therefore, I would assume, case b) is correct, but any comment/idea etc. on this would be highly appreciated !

- So : he likely arrived near the front in first half of Dec. 1942, was first posted to a Urlauber-Kp. 22,
fighting as infantry and later was attached to Sammelstelle AOK 6, in early Jan. 1943.

- He might have finally joined his unit in January, 1943, as there are no further payment entries from other units.
There he was posted to the Stabs-Bttr. (second field unit on p. 4 = security check on p. 15, from 22.4.43,
both with same Kr.St.R.Nr. II/103)

- s.Art.Abt. 101 fought in the winter battles under Armee-Abt. Hollidt and finally arrived at the Mius front.
- from April 1943 onward, the unit was given some time for rest and refit under command of XXXXVIII. Pz.K.
- In July 1943 at Kursk, it fought under the same corps in support of 11. Pz.Div and Pz.GrenDiv. "Grossdeutschland".
- On 18.Aug. 1943, he was wounded by a shrapnel. At this time, his unit was fighting in the area of Achtyrka,
against a deep Russian breakthrough NW of Charkow [see map].
- After ~4 weeks, he was released from hospital and returned to his replacement unit, where he stayed at least until 15.12.43.

- He perhaps returned to his unit in early 1944, around the time, when the unit was equipped with 15cm(SFl.) Hummel.
In the first half of 1944, his unit was fighting under 4.Pz.Armee in the area E of Lemberg, first under XIII. A.K.,
and from April onward under II. SS-Pz.K.
At this time the unit became redesignated as : Heeres-Artillerie-Abteilung (s.F.H./SFl.) 101, exactly as in the Soldbuch.
(Perhaps at the same time, his replacement unit changed to :
Pz.Haub.Ers.Abt. 201 (located first at Gross-Born-Linde, later at Horschowitz, Böhmen u. Mähren)

- In July 44, the Abteilung fought under command of Stab Artillerie-Division Thoholte (parts of 18. Artillerie-Div.),
1.Pz.Armee, also near Lemberg.
- In Sept.-Dec. it fought in the general area of Tarnow, 80km E of Krakau, likely under 17. Armee
- In Feb. 1945, the 1. Bttr./H.Art.Abt. 101 (SFl.) is subordinated to 20. Waffen-Gren.Div.-SS (estn. Nr.1),
- According to Tessin, the unit remained in Schlesien under 17. Armee, Gen.Kdo. VIII until the end.

I wasn't able to find out the position/subordination of H.-Art.Abt. 101 in late April 1945, when he was awarded
the Allg. Sturmabzeichen. Also, there are large gaps, as these Heerestruppen units are hard to track.
Any help on this or any further comment on this summary, would be really appreciated !

I'll attach a situation map from around the time he was was wounded
and my ideas of his sequence of units (the diagonal arrows refer to his illness/wounding.

Thanks for looking and best regards,

Arrchi

[brooksbz]

[QUOTE=Archi;7966475]

brooksbz was asking for the immunization pages, so I'll post that first, and then other
entries, related to the following questions :

[QUOTE]

Thank you for posting the immunization pages. I have a theory that replacement troops arriving at the front were innoculated before they went to the front. This only happened if their immunizations were due for update. I see this when a soldier has innoculations in the spring or early summer, and arrives in the Stalingrad area of operations in Oct-Nov 1942.

I have several Soldbuchs that show this type of entry when they arrived in theater in a March Kompanie after a leave. Your guy was not updated in October or November so this MAY be an indicator tells me that he was not in a combat theater before the pocket closed in late Noember.

This is all a theory of course. So check your Soldbuchs and see what you find!

[Archi]

Hello brooksbz !

I thank you very much for your reply and for explaining your theory in detail !
I think the exchange of this kind of information makes this forum so valuable.

I always hoped, there would be a way to make use of the few dated Soldbuch entries.
This could be a really interesting tool ! I will check.

Thanks and best regards,

Archi

[GuntherWolfram]

The brother of my grandpa, Hans Herbert Loehmann (original written with two dots above the “o” instead of “oe”) was also serving in the “Schwere Heeresartillerieabteilung 101”, based in Frankfurt / Oder. He was trained - beginning in September 1939 - as a cannoneer by the “schw. Art. Ers. Abt. (mot) I/59”, so the identification badge of Hans Herbert was printed as:” - 137 – 3./schw. Art. Ers. Abt. (mot) I/59”. Inside the presented Soldbuch of Ernst Schilling, page 4, same training location is noticed (1. Marsch Batterie A, Schw. Art. Ers. u. Ausb. Abt (mot) 59). Therefore, the brother of my grandpa and Mr. Schilling got their training at same location, at Frankfurt /Oder. After finish training, both of them were transferred to the “Schwere Heeresartilleriabt. 101”, remarked for Mr. Schilling also on page 4 of the presented Soldbuch. Field-post number of Mr. Schilling was 03932A, mentioned on page “Verwundetenabzeichen Besitzzeugnis”, inside the Soldbuch. Field-post-number of Hans Herbert was 03932B. The difference concerning Mr. Schilling is the extension “A” and “B”; “A” for stuff, “B” for first battery, “C” stands for second and “D” for third battery. The “stuff” was always connected to the batteries because only stuff members were equipped and able to control fire, e.g. as an observer ahead (vorgeschobener Beobachter) gave by wireless correction values to the batteries, when they fire on long distances, e.g. more than 10 km. From Hans Herbert I know he was first missed dated 23. November 1942 in the area of Kalatsch; a town located at the river Don, approx 60 km west of Stalingrad. They tried to keep the bridge across the Don-river free to avoid to be encircled. This operation failed and was the starting point of the Stalingrad cauldron. So, the assumption, Mr. Schilling was there, he had to appear in the Kalatsch area latest 19. November 1942 when operation “Uranus” was launched by the Russians On page 14 of the soldbuch, you can see, that he was back in Frankfurt /Oder at his home location (Hornkaserne), where his career started, dated 05. November 1942. Under difficult conditions, I assume, he could not reach his unit in time to participate the attacks against the Russian. So for me it is clear, Mr. Schilling came too late to fight in the cauldron of Stalingrad. On top, page 21 of the soldbuch indicate, that he got his payment until end of 1942 from 22nd Urlaubskompanie. The last remarks at this page about “Frontzulage” as well as “Wehrsold” means, this was charged to AOK 6 which is correct because the heavy artilleries were directly under control of the AOK 6th .army. So I can confirm all what “Archi” jet mentioned. The brother of my grandpa died in the Stalingrad area 02. January 1943. If anyone knows more about the remaining 185 persons of the “schwere Feldartillerieabteilung 101” (Archi said 185 solders from Schw. Heeresartilleriabteilung 101 remained inside the cauldron) every comment or remark is highly appreciated. Following this document some pictures from second battery of the Schwere Herresartillerieabteilung 101 in Russia.