Nahkampfspange Wehrpass

[Willmore]

Hello everyone,

Here is a late war Wehrpass to NCO Heinrich Eckey, Iron Cross 1st class and Close Combat Clasp in Bronze recipient.

Born 1925, He joined the Army in 1942 as a volunteer candidate NCO and was trained October 1942 - October 1942 at Army NCO schools in Eutin and Ettlingen. November 1943 he was transferred to Gren.Rgt.166 of the 82.Inf.Div then operating in Russia (Kiew, Tscherkassy).
In the Tscherkassy and ‘Hube’ pockets the Division was decimated (less then a regiment remained) and renamed Div.Gruppe.82 and was attached to the 254.Inf.Div, which was also active in the east (Tarnopol and Carpathians). Div.Gruppe.82 was disbanded in October 1944.
Heinrich Eckey took part in and survived without an injury no less than 22 confirmed close combat days from 8/3/44 till 14/4/44.
This combat must have taken a toll on him as he failed to return from leave in November 1944 as mentioned in a covering letter sent 27/3/45 by his unit to the Coesfeld Military Recruiting Dept.

Kind regards,

Will

[Willmore]

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[Willmore]

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[pauke]

It would be interesting to have an explanation of why he was at two different Uffz. school.

[Willmore]

It would be interesting to have an explanation of why he was at two different Uffz. school.

EDIT* his training period was October 1942 - October 1943..

I’m assuming it was different phases of training, for example If you were Joining the Parachute Regiment (UK).

Step 1
You start with the 30-week PARA Combat Infantry Course at Catterick. This includes your basic training and Infantry training (Phase 1 & 2), plus the famous 'P' Company training and tests. You learn skills such as survival, firing weapons and map reading. You also get your category B (car) or C (HGV) driving license. If you’re under 17 years and 5 months, you do basic training at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (for 49 weeks) and then 14 weeks at Catterick.

Step 2
Next, you do a three-week jumps course. You join your Regiment as a fully trained soldier, wearing your wings with pride.

[Willmore]

I don’t know if this is relevant, it’s an extract from - Handbook of Imperial German

[Willmore]

Extract from - The German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer)

[Archi]

Hello !

Very interesting WP, thanks for sharing it here !

The list of 22 close combat days in about a month is a very impressive document, showing how hard fought
the battles were in that timeframe.

The last letter is also very interesting :
It was sent from his replacement unit, Gren.EuA-Btl. 454 to WMA Coesfeld on 27.3.45.
Eckeys last field unit had informed EuA 454 on 17.11.44, so one might speculate he left his unit on 20.10. for a leave
and was expected back around 10.11.44 ?!

What I do not understand in the letter is the term :
Der oben genannte ist im Rahmen "Urlauber-Reserve West" aus dem Urlaub nicht zurückgekehrt.
Has anyone any explanation what that means ?!

-------------
The topic of Heeresunteroffizierschulen (HUS) is also very interesting. If I understood it correctly, the regular time
of service at such a school would be a year and after that (and after some front experience) a soldier would become NCO.
This is just as it is shown in this WP.

The change in school might be related to a change in his career plan (this just my assumption).
The school in Eutin was a regular HUS, while the one in Ettlingen was for Offizier-Bewerber.
So the long term plan might have been to become an officer. At least he signed in for 12 years (field 26).

The last two documents you showed, do have some relevance as well :
a) The second one should reflect the situation in mid 1944. At that time HUS Ettlingen had moved to Leslau (WK XXI).
b) Although the first doc refers to the Imperial Army, a lot of those principles were carried over to the Wehrmacht.

If you are interested in the whole topic, you might find some at least related information here :
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=955265

Thanks again and best regards,

Archi

[Willmore]

Hello !

Very interesting WP, thanks for sharing it here !

The list of 22 close combat days in about a month is a very impressive document, showing how hard fought
the battles were in that timeframe.

The last letter is also very interesting :
It was sent from his replacement unit, Gren.EuA-Btl. 454 to WMA Coesfeld on 27.3.45.
Eckeys last field unit had informed EuA 454 on 17.11.44, so one might speculate he left his unit on 20.10. for a leave
and was expected back around 10.11.44 ?!

What I do not understand in the letter is the term :
Der oben genannte ist im Rahmen "Urlauber-Reserve West" aus dem Urlaub nicht zurückgekehrt.
Has anyone any explanation what that means ?!

-------------
The topic of Heeresunteroffizierschulen (HUS) is also very interesting. If I understood it correctly, the regular time
of service at such a school would be a year and after that (and after some front experience) a soldier would become NCO.
This is just as it is shown in this WP.

The change in school might be related to a change in his career plan (this just my assumption).
The school in Eutin was a regular HUS, while the one in Ettlingen was for Offizier-Bewerber.
So the long term plan might have been to become an officer. At least he signed in for 12 years (field 26).

The last two documents you showed, do have some relevance as well :
a) The second one should reflect the situation in mid 1944. At that time HUS Ettlingen had moved to Leslau (WK XXI).
b) Although the first doc refers to the Imperial Army, a lot of those principles were carried over to the Wehrmacht.

If you are interested in the whole topic, you might find some at least related information here :
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=955265

Thanks again and best regards,

Archi

Brilliant information Archi, I appreciate it and many thanks!

I wonder if the term “Urlauber-Reserve West” could refer to a type of leave where the soldier could be recalled to duty if needed.

Am I right in thinking that his Wehrpass was returned, with this letter also?

Kind regards.

[Archi]

Hello !

Thanks for the kind words.
You are right, the WP was sent together with the notification from EuA 454.

Regarding the term "Urlauber-Reserve" :
I had the same thoughts as you, but I do not know. So maybe someone knows more on this.

What I am wondering :
If he simply would have hidden somewhere to avoid further combat, would there not have been
a court martial against him ?

Would be interesting if other members have such cases in their docs and could shed some light on this !

Best regards,

Archi

[Simon O.]

Whilst desertion is possible, it's equally possible, perhaps more likely, that he was draughted into some unit whilst on leave or traveling and the paperwork never caught up. As you can see, all they know is that he hadn't returned. It's something i've seen a lot of amongst the WP held in the Norwegian archives. Soldiers being sent on leave, courses or even prison sentences but not returning to their parent unit and that unit not being informed as to the reason and so couldn't forward on his paperwork anywhere.