Organisation Todt Dienstbuch. Oberbauleitung Normandie (Kanalinseln)

[Ian Jewison]

Here's a nice Organisation Todt Dienstbuch that I picked up a few years ago. It was issued to August Müller by Gefolgschaftstelle Trier on 9.10.1941.

He was born 12.4.1896 in Stuttgart. Page 3 bears a nice stamp for OT Einstatzgruppe West - OBL Normandie giving dates he was on the island of Jersey, however unfortunately no dates have been entered.

Page 10-11 record the Oberbauleitung (OBL) that he was under during his time in the Org.Todt, you can see his position as Polier or foreman in Fronteinzatz with the firm Heilmann & Littmann.

Heilmann & Littmann was a leading German construction and civil engineering companies that dates back to 1871. Heilmann & Littmann Bau-AG was created in 1934. Currently researching their roll but they are listed as being on the Channel Islands during WWII.

From 8.10.1941 until 17.1.1942 he was with OBL Paula, which had it's H.Q. in La Pallice (later La Rochelle) and covered the area from St. Jean des Monts to the Gironde.

18.1.1942 until 4.5.1943 OBL Normandie which had it's H.Q. in St. Malo and covered the areas from Granville to St. Brieux. Up to the end of 1942 OBL Normandie under Reg.Baurat Bürger covered a vast area in Normandy and Brittany extending from Trouville near the mouth of the Seine to St. Brieux on the Northern coast of Brittany. Its HQ was at St. Malo and it consisted of the Bauleitungen St. Malo, Jakob, Gustav, Adolf and Cherbourg. Late in 1942 Einsatz Normandie was created under ORBR Spangenberg with HQ at St. Malo. It included OBL Normandie, OBL Cherbourg and OBL Nord. Baudir. SAELET took over the control of Einsatz Normandie sometime in 1945. From June 1944 OBL Cherbourg by becoming an independent Einsatz broke away from Einsatz Normandie.

From 5.5.1943 with OBL Stuttgart, H.Q. Stuttgart.

Page 14-15 shows typical clothing issues including a gasmask.

[Ian Jewison]

Page 18 shows shoe re-soling and bears the stamp FP Nr. 41343 - Organisation Todt Oberbauleitung Normandie. The entry on page 19 is signed by Oberfrontführer Leuthardt of OT-Einsatzgruppe West.

Page 22 has the entry indicating that Müller swore an oath of allegiance to the Führer on 27.9.1942 and dated 16.11.1942. It bears the stamp Organisation Todt - Oberbauleitung Normanie - Abschnitt Jakob.

Lastly an Org. Todt medical certificate dated 30.4.1943 bearing the stamp Organisation Todt - Oberbauleitung St. Malo - Abschnitt Julius.

Abschnitt Julius (Inseln Jersey) under BR von Grienberger (prev. called Abschnitt Jakob; the name was changed in 1943 to avoid confusion with Einsatz Jakob in Russia).

The entries on page 22 and the medical certificate confirming he did indeed serve on Jersey!!!


Other Bauleitung, also known as Abschnitt under OBL Normandie:

BL Dinard - Dipl.Ing. Wolter.
BL Fougeres - Dipl.Ing. Hötzl.
BL Julius (Island Jersey) - BR von Grienberger (prev. called BL Jakob; the name was changed in 1943 to avoid confusion with Einsatz Jakob in Russia).
BL Gustav (Island Guernsey) - Dipl.Ing. Foerst.
BL Adolf (Island Alderney) - put under OBL Cherbourg in 1943.
BL Schöne Aussicht - (only in 1942)

[Ian Jewison]

Heilmann & Littmann of Stuttgart, Germany were on Jersey and their construction projects included:
Excavation of the tunnels Ho 13 & 15 in Beaumont Valley; Construction of the artillery battery Moltke at Les Landes Common, St. Ouen; and all fortifications along St. Ouen's Bay from Les Brayes northwards


Taken from the book by Michael Ginns M.B.E. "Jersey Occupied - The German Armed Forces in Jersey 1940-1945" (Amazon UK)....incidentally an excellent book if you are interested in the occupation of Jersey!!

Although directed from Organisation Todt Zentrale in Berlin, for operational purposes the OT was divided into nine Einsatzgruppen (Project Groups), with responsibility for specific areas of occupied Europe. The one for France, Holland, Belgium and the Channel Islands, with a H.Q. in Paris, was Einsatzgruppe West, which was under the direction of Oberbaudirektor Karl Weiss.

The OT in the Channel Islands was initially administered by Oberbauleiting Normandie (Senior Construction Section Normandy), which was based at St. Malo. However February 1943, as the fortification programme intensified, this was split in two, with Guernsey and Jersey allocated to Oberbauleitung St. Malo and Alderney to Oberbauleitung Cherbourg. The official in charge at St. Malo was Oberreichsbahnrat Spangenburg. Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey were codenamed Adolf, Gustav and Jacob respectively, although the last named was changed to Julius on 31 july 1942, after a brief period when it was known as Jacob West, when the vast OT operations in Russia were named Jacob in honour of General Alfred Jacob, Inspekteur der Pioniere und Festungen at OKW in Berlin. At first each island was designated as a Bauleitung (Construction Section) in its own right, but they were later downgraded to Abschnittbauleitung (Sector Construction Section) under the control of a Bauleiter (Construction Supervisor). Under his direction the labour force and their camps were administered by a Truppfüher (Troop Leader) and a Frontführer (Front Leader), with a Lagerkommandant in charge of each camp. The lower ranks of OT Meister and OT Vorarbeiter, both meaning foremand and equivalent to a Corporal and Lance Corporal, were responsible for the workforce both in and out of camp.

The headquarters of the OT in Jersey were located at 17 Midvale Road, St. Helier in what was the Portland Hotel.


Heilmann & Littmann(Stuttgart, Germany)
Projects: exvacation of tunnels Ho 13 and Ho 15 in Beaumont Valley; construction of artillery battery Moltke at Les Landes, St. Oeuen; and all fortifications north of Le Braye, St. Ouen's Bay.

Ho 13 - Munitions Store IV (Flak): Beaumont Valley, St. Peter.
Work on Ho 13 began on 12.10.1942, but there were several false starts, caused initially by difficulty in finding a reasonable rock surface through which to drill, and then by water problems and flooding. Eventually a suitable location was found just to the north of Warren Farm and work procedded apace. Most of the excavations had been completed and work on lining the interior was in hand by the end of Semptember 1943, when the OT firm of Heilmann & Littman and its workforce wre removed to the Pas de Calais area in Frnace to work on rocket launching sites. The tunnel was sealed up and remains in this condition to the present day.

Ho 15 - Stores: Beaumont Valley, St. Peter.
Construction of Ho 15 commenced on 21.11.1942, with a pilot tunnel bored into the hillside on the west side of the valley, opposite Warren Farm, but it was never completed and only the floor was lined with concrete.

Here's a map that shows the west coast of Jersey and locations that Heilmann & Littman were involved in constructing. The north and south extremeties of their construction are marked by the yellow arrows.

[Edward]

Barry, that's a nice OT Dienstbuch and write up presentation. Informative breakdown of the different Bauleitung in Normandy. Also enjoyed looking at the Jersey map showing the different defensive locations. Very detailed. Thanks for sharing.

[mufasa]

Great presentation Ian.

[Gerdan]

The medical certificate gives a diagnose: "Verdacht auf Magen - Ulcus" suspectes stomach ulcer

Gerdan

[Admiraal]

Nice OT-Dienstbuch and presentation Ian
You might have seen it before but i have an OT-Dienstbuch issued by the same OT unit at Trier. A month earlier then yours. This guy was also a Polier as profession and also served in France. (Lorient, some other places and Rennes). Pictures:

[Ian Jewison]

Here's another one, also Einsatzgruppe Jakob, however this is the Russian front one, not Channel Islands.
Showing his awards page, units and equivalent page from his Arbeitsbuch.
He served in France, Romania, Russia and the west (Ruhr) until the end of the war.

[Ian Jewison]

Also with his award citations...nice original signature of the later Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein RK m. EL u. S.


/Ian

[mufasa]

Nice addition! I like Todt documents.
My contribution: the Dienstambuch of an engineer of the OBL (oberbauleitung) Adria Sud VI active here on the Adriatic Coast

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ght=Cesenatico

[mufasa]

With a Astra pistol...

[NRIK]

With a Astra pistol...

Hi,
My contribution ,here my Dienstbuch Todt , it was with Guernsey. OBL St Malo , Cherbourg , Sud (st Nazaire) , Marne .