272. Volks-Grenadier-Division Soldbuch

[Stormfighter]

Here is another Soldbuch I acquired at the Show of Shows. It belonged to Grenadier Horst Swensen of Grenadier-Regiment 980 of the 272. Volks-Grenadier-Division who was killed in action on 20 November 1944. This Soldbuch was brought back by an American soldier of the U.S. 79th Infantry Division. I have six or more Soldbücher for members of the 272. Volks-Grenadier-Division that were among a large grouping originally offered by Emilie Caldwell Stewart around 1994 - many of the Soldbücher, Wehrpässe and documents in the grouping are now in the hands of Douglas Nash, who is the author of Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp: With the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Hürtgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich.

I already own the Soldbuch of Gefreiter Harald Nehring (also KIA), who served in the same exact unit as Swensen. They surely knew each other on some level when they both served with Infanterie-Nachrichten-Ersatz-Kompanie 208 - their Soldbuch numbers are only four digits apart as are their unit roster numbers. Thanks to Der Erste Zug, a living history organization, write-ups about Nehring and Swensen (incorrectly spelled as Swenssen on their web pages) have already been done, so there's no need for me to elaborate:

http://www.dererstezug.com/SoldbuchNehring.htm

http://www.dererstezug.com/SoldbuchSwensen.htm

I hope you enjoy reading about these two young soldiers who lost their lives in the final six months of the war.

Barry

[Daniele C]

Great Stories, the reason why we collect these documents, thanks for sharing!

[Edward]

Nice Soldbuch and write up Barry. Congrats. Good examples of how increasingly younger aged front line units were becoming by that stage of the war.

[Imperialgunner]

Another great Soldbuch

Barry,

Thanks for sharing - another great Soldbuch. The Nehring Soldbuch is of particular interest to me, as this is a family name on my fathers side. First Soldbuch I've ever seen with that last name! Really fascinating stuff!

[matthias_AC]

Nice Soldbuch of a highly interesting Division for any Western Front collector! I am still looking for an EK citation of this unit which can clearly be linked to the battles south of Aachen (especially the Kesternich battles)...

I highly recommend Douglas Nashs book, by the way.

[Lee Luke]

The same with me, my grandmother was born a Swenson in North Dakota. Her father left Sweden when he was 10 alone, an orphan.

Another fascinating soldbuch Barry!

[Luft 76]

Nice one indeed. Personaly, I am more interested by the fights of 272.ID in the west but second part with 272. VGD can be interesting, if both are connected. All the six Sb. or Wp. of that division I belong have done the first and second parts of its fights. Anyway I confirm : book of D. Nash is great.

[bachmanity]

This is a great find, I always wondered what Swenson’s Soldbuch had looked like. Any soldbücher and wehrpäße of the 272. VGD and especially the Fusilierkompanie are great to see.

[Simon H]

Very nice Soldbuch to one of the seminal units involved in the death factory.