Why not, another 1 Panzer Division group

[Angel Farré]

After a couple of Panzergrenadiers what about a nice artillery one.

Jurgen Koke

Our man was born on Bielefeld on June 6th, 1.920 and was an student, evangelic and single. His father was Reinhold (in the Kriegsmarine reserve) and his mother Herta and he has a good level in both English and French languages.

He was an active member of the HJ from April 1st, 1.933 till September 26th, 1.937 as per his attention in an SS admittance document.

Not only a member of the HJ, but also a sport lover as we could see, he was awarded the Reichsportsjugendabzeichen on December 8th, 1.936 after passing the mandatory test during the months of June, 20th and 23rd, September, 26th, and October 2nd. Also a Freiswimmer and holder of a Driver License class 3 at the time he was registered in WBK Schwab.Hall on July 12th, 1.939.

He was decided to become an officer and request permission from his father and he agreed on December 23rd, 1.938 (letter in the group)

Than he maintain several letters with the unit regarding his admission, when and where to incorporate and what he need when he went into service. In those letters we find signatures from commanders of the Artillerie Regiment 73, two dated June 22nd and September 5th, 1.939 signed by Oberst Albrecht Baier who ended as Generalleutnant and commander of 297 I.D. surrendering to the US Army not before winning the DKiG on August 31st, 1.943, she rank and commanding the 342 I.D. and one dated September 10th, 1.939 signed by Oberstleutnant Max Eichstädt who had recently took command of the unit (September 6th) and who will be posthumously promoted to Generalmajor after being killed of route to Africa as commander of A.R.33.

[Angel Farré]

He skip the RAD service and goes directly to serve with the Wehrmacht, being declared suitable for the Ersatz Reserv I on July 12th, 1.939.

With all of this in mind he arrived to his new home on December 1st 1.939 and took his oath on December 13th, signing on the 20th his new contract valid from December 1st.

Now is time to be prepared properly to be an Officer and first step is to be a good soldier so he spent the first year training to be so:

From December 1st, 1.939 till January 7th, 1.940 with 2./le.Art.Ers.Abt. 73 in Weimar
From January 8th till March 31st, 1.940 with 1./le.Art,Ers,Abt, 73
From April 1st, till June 6th, 1.940 with 5./l.Ers.Batter. 73
From June 7th till June 29, 1.940 with I can not see properly the unit, looks a travel one
From June 30th, till September 24th, 1.940 with 6./A.R. 73
From September 25th, 1.940 till January 5th, 1.941 with 4./A.R. 73 Weimar
From January 15th, 1.941 till April 30th, 1.941 he took part on 6 Officer Anwarter Lehrgang, Lehrstab fur die Artillerie Schule Lehrganag I

[Angel Farré]

During this course he took part on the test to receive the Reichsportabzichen in bronce, all test were done in Jüteborg on April 28th, 1.941 and the insignia approved the next day, on 29th, just one day before the end of the Officer’s course. As a curiosity all test, except the swimming one have as referee a well known athlete, Erwin Blask who won the silver medal in the Olympic Games of Berlin 1936 in Hammer Throw with a mark of 55.05 meters (Gold go to fellow countryman Karl Heir with a mark of 56,49 meters and bronce to Swedish Fred Warngard with 54,83 meters)

Prior to arrive to the training course he was promoted to:

Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter on September 1st, 1.940
Unteroffizier on December 1st, 1.940

During the course to

Fahnenjunker-Wachtmeister on April 1st, 1.941

[Angel Farré]

Unfortunately our guy didn’t pass the exams and so the note Fahnenjunker was erased from his ranks and he was a mere 20 years old Wachtmeister.

Not passing the exam put our NCO back into his unit and he went to serve in the next:

From May 1st till July 20th, 1.941 with 7,/A.R. 73
From July 21st till October 20th, 1.941 with le.Art.kol. II (schw) A.R. 73
From October 21st, 1.941 till September 12th, 1.942 with 8./A.R. 73 Interesting noted in two lines

It was while serving with this unit when he suffered his first wound, he suffered wounds to his left foot, arm and upper leg via shrapnel on May 4th, 1.942.

Not so long he was wounded again, on August 12th, 1.942, this time more seriously and with some permanent scars, he received shrapnel on his left hand and lost his index and little fingers plus damage his ringer one in his second and third falanges. This was attested by the Truppenarzt of Schw.Artl.Ers.Abt. 65 (mot) on December 22th, 1.942.

The combats which guide him to being wounded provided him with moments to prove his valor and he was rewarded with:

Iron Cross 2nd class, unfortunately no date on the Wehrpass and citation is lost
Wound Badge in black on May 11th, 1.942, no date on Wehrpass but citation present
Ostmedaille on August 1st, 1.942, citation signed by Oberst Wilhelm Söth RK as Hauptmann with II./A.R. 56 on November 28th, 1.940 and DKiG as Major with III./Pz.A.R. 73
Sturmabzeichen on September 10th, 1.942, citation signed by Oberst Oswin Grolig

Still attached to his unit while in hospital he was transfer for recovery to a new one where he served:

From September 13th, 1.942 till December 9th, 1.942 in Gen.Battr.s. A.E.A. 65(mot) Mühlhausen/Thür

[Angel Farré]

Wound Badge in silver

[Angel Farré]

Than to retrain or serve as instructor:

From December 10th, 1.942 till April 1st, 1.943 in Stammbatterie scow.Art.Ers.Abt. 65 Mühlenhausen/Thür

While serving with the last unit he was granted an student leave longing from December 10th, 1.942 till March 31st, 1.943 to attend course at the Heidelberg University.

Well time to go back to the thick of the action so he spent from April 2nd till $th with Marschbatterie scow.Art,Ers.Abt. 65 (mot) in Mühlhausen/Thür

Then he arrived again to the 1 Panzer Division.

From April 6th, 1.943 till November 11th, 1.943 with Stabsbattr. I./Pz.Art.Rgt. 73 Rest and refit in Greece and back to the front

During this time he suffered from hay Fever and was in hospital on October 16th and back from October 25 till March 15th, 1.944. Due this he was transfer to:

From November 26th, 1.943 till April 25th, 1.944 with Genesendenbatterie 1. Art.Ers.Abt. 29 (mot)
From April 26th till May 3rd, 1.944 with Marsch batter. 1 Art.Ers.Abt. 29 (mot)

Again need help here, I think another travel unit on its way to the frontline from May 5th till May 22nd.

He was back at home:

From May 23rd till June 11th, 1,944 with Stabsbatterei I/Pz.A.R. 73
From June 12th till July 10th, 1.944 with 8./Pz.A.R. 73
From July 11th, 1.944 till February 10th, 1.945 le Art.Ers.u.Ausb.Abt. 29 (mot)

During this period he was finally awarded the Wound Badge in Silver, in Wehrpass the date is June 11th, 1.944, but we have in the group a letter sent to his parent dating the award July 11th and also a literal copy of the citation with also the date as July 11th. Formal citation was signed by Hauptmann Werner Wendt who received the DKiG on September 23rd, 1.944 while serving with III./Pz.A.R. 73, unfortunately it was lost and all we have is the copy.

Now is his second chance to be an officer and he was promoter to Fahnenjunker on January 1st, 1.945.

His last assignment was as a member of the 18 Fahnenjunker Lehrgang bee Schule fur Fahnenjunker der Artillerie Lehrgang II

This time he passed the course and was promoted to full Leutnant on April 20th, 1.945, but I doubt he had time to command any unit, but some ad hoc one in the final weeks of the war, but nothing notated in his Wehrpass and no additional document which provide any light about this last weeks.

[Angel Farré]

Pics

[Angel Farré]

Photos from our man

Schutze
Unteroffizier
Wachtmeister
Leutnant

[Angel Farré]

With his brother, Hans Joachim, an Oberleutnant decorated with the Ek II for the Poland Campaign and, I guess, serving with the same unit as Jürgen, some photos from H.J. wedding shows Oberst Max Eichstädt and I doubt a recruit will invite his commander officer, but a fellow officer yes.

Angel

[JUNGCO]

Angel,
Nice set of three Wehrpäße! Are you trying to corner the market?
Jeff

[Angel Farré]

Sincerely........ yes.

Angel

[Archi]

Hello !

Angel,
Nice set of three Wehrpäße! Are you trying to corner the market?
Jeff

Sincerely........ yes.
Angel

Great group with excellent and very detailed research !!
I like all 3 sets you presented, but especially this one, due to the photos and
the additional papers.
How could you recognize the signature of an olympic medallist ?! Amazing !

Regarding his brother :
There is an Oberleutnant Koke mentioned as Regiments-Adjutant of Art.Rgt. 73
at the start of Barbarossa.
There is no first name given, but I think it is likely that this is his brother.

He later was promoted to Hptm. and became Batterie-Chef of 6./Pz.AR 73.
Incidentally, he fell on the same day, when Jürgen was severely wounded.
These were days of heavy combat with high losses (see scan).

Best regards,

Archi

[Angel Farré]

Thanks Archi, this group is the most interesting of the three because the extra documents and, not shown, a lot of maps with detailed positions of the unit.

I must give credit on the signature to the own Jürgen, he wrote it in the DRL booklet, I just need to check online the name and found some nice details.

I am sure his brother Hans Joachim was also serving with Pz.A.R. 73, a lot of photos from him in his wedding with the presence of the commanding officer of the then A.R. 73 make me guess he was serving with the same unit since before the war, he was an Oberleutnant around March/April 1.940 and decorated with the EK II.

Angel

[Edward]

Nice focused divisional collection Angel that has certainly grown over the years.

[Angel Farré]

Checking again this group I think I found a RK signature, one with a connection to my country as this man comes from an Spanish family, more precisely from the Basque Countries in north Spain.

His DRL booklet is signed by a Major von Ondarza and I think he was Leon von Ondarza who, at that time, (From November 24th, 1.938 till April 30th, 1.941) was serving with Artillerieschule Jüterbog as was our soldier attending an officers course.

Leon von Ondarza was dead in an accident at the end of the war on April 21st, 1.945.

Not too much about his career, only some medals, promotions and units.

Ek II on September 25th, 1.939 (so he must be at the front with some unit during the time supposedly at Jüterbog)
EK I on July 10th, 1.941
RK on September 2nd, 1.944 as Oberst and commander of Pz.A.R. 2

His father was a General and won the DKiG, Herbert von Ondarza on December 19th, 1.941 as Generalmajor in Art.Ddr. 17.

Further info is welcomed as always.

Angel