Guys,
together with the Soldbuch 9. Panzer I posted the other day came this late-war Soldbuch of an Artillerie soldier. It is a Zweitschrift (copy or duplicate) and was issued January 4 1945 by Infanterie Nachrichten Ersatz Kompanie 519 in Wetzlar an der Lahn. Shortly after young Grenadier Tantsch was transfered to Artillerie Ersatz Abteilung 12 and later to 5./Artillerie Regiment 12 of 12. Volksgrenadier-Division which was deployed in the west fighting the Americans by that time.
The portrait picture seems to have been removed from his previous Soldbuch and put into the Zweitschrift as it is stamped, but has not been stamped again. It makes me assume his first Soldbuch didn´t get lost, but was in bad shape, and to make things easy they just re-used the old picture.
One would assume Tantsch was a late conscript, and that was my initial thought as well, but his shooting certificate which came with the Soldbuch proofs he had been in the Wehrmacht at least since August 1943, probably in a unit which has not been entered (I assume there was no point in listing all his previous units in the Zweitschrift in early January 1945). Also, the decision to send him to the Artillerie must have been relatively spontaneous, since his rank in the Soldbuch is Grenadier instead of Kanonier?
Tantsch did not get killed, he was taken prisoner between January and March 1945 by the Americans; His POW number is noted on page 1, and on page 11 there is a medical note issued by the Allies on March 4.
In the back pocket of the Soldbuch was a lot of paperwork (war and post-war, German and Allied). It seems that Tantsch found quite a few American friends, since there is a list with many names and addresses of men spread all over the United States. The little prayer card ("Prayer to St. Judas Thaddaeus") might indicate that Tantsch was a devout Catholic.
Although Tantsch didn´t earn any awards, this Soldbuch definitely is a keeper for me. It has that nice "battlelook" to it, you can tell it has run through a lot of hands! And 12. VGD saw lots of action on the Western Front, in the Aachen area and during the Bulge.
Opinions, thoughts and corrections are much appreciated!
Best,
Matthias
together with the Soldbuch 9. Panzer I posted the other day came this late-war Soldbuch of an Artillerie soldier. It is a Zweitschrift (copy or duplicate) and was issued January 4 1945 by Infanterie Nachrichten Ersatz Kompanie 519 in Wetzlar an der Lahn. Shortly after young Grenadier Tantsch was transfered to Artillerie Ersatz Abteilung 12 and later to 5./Artillerie Regiment 12 of 12. Volksgrenadier-Division which was deployed in the west fighting the Americans by that time.
The portrait picture seems to have been removed from his previous Soldbuch and put into the Zweitschrift as it is stamped, but has not been stamped again. It makes me assume his first Soldbuch didn´t get lost, but was in bad shape, and to make things easy they just re-used the old picture.
One would assume Tantsch was a late conscript, and that was my initial thought as well, but his shooting certificate which came with the Soldbuch proofs he had been in the Wehrmacht at least since August 1943, probably in a unit which has not been entered (I assume there was no point in listing all his previous units in the Zweitschrift in early January 1945). Also, the decision to send him to the Artillerie must have been relatively spontaneous, since his rank in the Soldbuch is Grenadier instead of Kanonier?
Tantsch did not get killed, he was taken prisoner between January and March 1945 by the Americans; His POW number is noted on page 1, and on page 11 there is a medical note issued by the Allies on March 4.
In the back pocket of the Soldbuch was a lot of paperwork (war and post-war, German and Allied). It seems that Tantsch found quite a few American friends, since there is a list with many names and addresses of men spread all over the United States. The little prayer card ("Prayer to St. Judas Thaddaeus") might indicate that Tantsch was a devout Catholic.
Although Tantsch didn´t earn any awards, this Soldbuch definitely is a keeper for me. It has that nice "battlelook" to it, you can tell it has run through a lot of hands! And 12. VGD saw lots of action on the Western Front, in the Aachen area and during the Bulge.
Opinions, thoughts and corrections are much appreciated!
Best,
Matthias
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