Rekr.Ausb.Btl. Merkel - April 1945

[naxos]

I'm looking for information

On April 22, 1945 Hauptmann S. was transferred from Batl.-Führer-Schule Güstrow to the below units.

Rekr.Ausb.Btl. Merkel
(I think this refers to Major Herbert Merkel - Knight's Cross Aug. 08, 1943 )

Auf? u. Ausb. Stab Wiegand (Wiepand)

Does anyone have any in info on these units from April 1945?

Thanks

.

[naxos]

There is one more clue that might help.

Hauptmann S. was wounded lightly during an air attack in the vicinity of Treuenbrietzen on April 21, 1945.

[naxos]

I'm still looking for info on the above unit

Any help is appreciated

[naxos]

[Ian Jewison]

I've spent some time on and off trying to find a connection between Merkel and Wiegand....also Treuenbrietzen.....but not found anything so far....

What does the stamp say for his Gold Wound Badge?

1 Gen.Kp. Ld.Schtz.Ers.Btl. I/13 ?

If so then Landesschützen-Ersatz-Bataillon I./13 was in Würzburg, Wehrkreis XIII.

Also....is that Major Merkel making the entry?

/Ian

[Ian Jewison]

Treuenbrietzen
With the approach of the Red Army, on April 23, 1945, the Wehrmacht executed 127 Italian POWs, who were interned in the camp. Between April 24 and May 1, 1945, the region was the scene of the Battle of Halbe between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army.

The town was first occupied by the 5th Guards Mechanised Corps on April 21, 1945 but German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS troops managed to return for a short time, finally retreating on April 23. Subsequently Red Army soldiers murdered an estimated 1000 civilian inhabitants of the town during the last days of April and early days of May in a nearby forest. In addition many women were raped. Relatives registered some 251 deaths with the municipal register office, while eyewitnesses, ordered to bury the victims at the local cemetery, stopped counting after they had buried 721 dead, today 125 known graves exist.

[Archi]

Hello !

Interesting puzzle !

The first thing that struck me, is that the entries for the Btl-Führer-Lehrgang
and the date when he was transferred to Rekr.-Ausb.-Btl. Merkel seem to have been
made by the same person.

This could perhaps be explained, because the Btls.-Führer-Lehrgang Güstrow in April 45
ended prematurely, because some/most of its personnel was used for the formation
of RAD Division 4 ?!
http://lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Glie...RADGustrow.htm

Anyway, with the nice research from Ian, it seems likely that Hptm. S. was on the way to his
new unit, when he was involved in the actions at Treuenbrietzen/Halbe and became a straggler.

-----------
I could not find any good infos either, on the last two units, mentioned in the Wehrpass.
I think the 2nd entry should be a shortcut for :
Aufstellungs- und Ausbildungsstab Wiegand beim Stellv. Generalkommando XIII (=HQ WK XIII).

There is a lenghty (but often vague) report by the last Kdr. of WK XIII, General Weisenberger in FMS B-228.
According to that, in late April, the HQ of WK XIII had withdrawn to Neustadt a.d. Naab and later
via Eslarn - Stadtlern to Schloss Gibacht bei Kladrau.

The HQ erected straggler collection points close behind the border at Plan (Plana, 50km WNW of Pilsen),
Heid (?), Hostau (Hostoun) (maybe more). The local HQs at these points had the task
to build new formations from the collected soldiers (and the very sparse arriving reinforcements)
and to send them to the frontline of WK XIII sector. Especially the collection point at Plan
seems to have formed several battalions within a few days.

It could well be, that the Aufstellungsstab Wiegand, was one of those.
Whether Btl. Merkel had a similar task, or just originates from a Lds.-training unit, is not clear to me.

Best regards,

Archi

[naxos]

Ian and Archi, thank you for taking time to shed some light on this.