FJ Veteran answers questions

[berliner]

Lieber Carsten,
tut mir leid. Ich denke nicht. Der Name kommt mir zwar bekannt vor, aber ich erinnere mich nicht mehr ob wir uns kennengelernt haben.

mit freundlichen Grüßen
Heinz

Dear Mr Groenke

there is only a little chance but i must ask. Maybe you know my Grandfather. He was an FJ too. Fought at eastern front and in Italy. Hermann Bode was his name.

Mit freundlichem Gruss

Carsten Bode

[berliner]

Dear Chris, Heinz's comments:

"Hallo, first, the cartridge cases, the Kartouchen were largely 'Messing' (copper zinc), in my memory. In Normandy I think they were different. I can't recall discussion on whether one was more reliable.

About our equipment, I'll include the uniform: I was impressed by our Ausgangsuniform or Parade uniform. Gefreiter upwards wore a dagger with this.

In the battlefield we wore our jump boots, and the Knobelbecher (standard issue boots) were in our packs as a reserve. I personally wore rags in my Knobelbecher and not socks. This was common. It was more comfortable and were permitted to do so. (Because we were on alarm status in Lyon, during the night, in Lyon, we had to wear the Knobelbecher. In the day we had to wear the jump boots).

Weapons: I was impressed by our SMG 42 which was air-cooled. I used it in Anzio Netuno. The paratroopers had confidence in their weapons, and I saw PAK and Panzerfaeuste take out tanks.

Allied weapons: We weren't supposed to use Allied weapons since we didn't no if they were sabotaged. I never touched them. I can't recall discussion on the strengths of these.

Year of issue: sorry.

Thanks for your questions!"

Herr Groenke,
I was wondering what your experiences were with the steel lacquered small arms (9mm/7.92mm) catridge cases (green in colour) as opposed to the brass ones. I have heard somewhere that frontline troops prefered brass cases for close quarter combat as they were more reliable. What is your opinion? Also, i was wondering whether you found your equipment satisfactory, and what you thought of it compared to the allied equipment that you encountered.
One final question, i know this one is a long shot, but do you remember the year of manufacture of the weapons that you were issued? I only ask as i would be interested to know whether you were issued weapons that were made a few years earlier in the war than at the time you were fighting etc. Thanks very much in advance, anything you can tell me is appreciated. Cheers Chris

[mightymouse]

Thank you very much! Much appreciated.

[berliner]

We received some questions on private mail. With permission of the sender, we're posting some of these here. Perhaps not too helpful since the bulk of his fighting was at Anzio were he didn't see any tanks at all.

"1. Did he ever come into close combat with an enemy tank?
I didn't fire the weapons, but I saw" comrades take out tanks using PAK and Panzerfaeuste. I believe those were British tanks in the first days of the landing near Caenne.

2. What education in close combat anti-tank fighting did he receive. Was it sufficient?
In training in Anguleme, I learned to use the PAK with live ammo at targets (Atrappen) there.

4. What close combat anti-tank weapons did his unit receive throughout the war? What was the situation like at the end of the war, did they receive enough mines, Panzerfausts and so on?
Panzerfaeuste for some of the FJ. "

On a side note, the battalion had a flame thrower team at Anzio and Heinz was witness to the devastating effect this had. He found these memories utterly horrifying, as he does the visual memories of the Kameraden killed by phosphor.
"They (the flamethrowers) marched in front of us, we backed them up. I think there was no escape for them (the Americans)."
"Also the Stalin-Orgel -I heard from Kameraden-was horrifying".

[Stottman]

Hope I am not late---

As a modern day paratrooper, I was wondering if you could describe the "actions in the aircraft", basically all the checks and everything you do in the plane before you are given the go.. Was their some sort of light or signal, like the red or green light in American jump aircraft, or the green, yellow, red and the loud buzzer in modern day German?

Were Fallschrimjagers awarded any sort of award for making a combat jump?

Does it give you any sort of satisfaction or sense of pride to have been a pioneer of sorts? I know modern Bundeswehr Fallschrimjagers are still quite proud of their WWII forbearers (and rightly so).. Having visited their barracks and jumped with them, they still have allot of photographs, murals, etc.... Not something you see in other Bundeswehr Kasernes.

[J.von Canon]

To Herr Groenke

Dear Herr Groenke;
Thank you for the very interesting information you have shared.
A few questions;
1) Did any of the FJ. units injest "pep pills',or "pep-injections" to help parachutists maintain high energy levels during combat?(One English account claims FJ. were "injected" by needle before the Kreta jump-to increase combat endurance...?)

2) Did your unit ever fight Allied parachute troops? If so,was there any attitude of "chivalry" between opponents?

Greetings to you from a military parachutist(27 years)
My mother's people came from Silesia (Glogau)and I was wondering if you,being from Prussia, have any thoughts concerning ancient German territories someday being returned to Germany?
J.A.M./J.v.C.

[berliner]

Greetings to all,
Heinz has extended his stay in the city, and he's very keen to answer the questions.

'Hallo,
q.1. There were lights: As far as I can remember, I think it was a red light that went to green, indicating the first person was to jump. There was also a kind of siren.

Entering the plane, we hooked up. For the first few jumps, there was security unteroffizier who checked the hook. There was a security screw that went through the hook. Then we sat.
The pilot indicated when to get ready with the red light.

To pass your FJ exam, you had to make at least 7 jumps.
Our salary for qualified jumpers was at the level of a Lieutenant in the Infantry.

Award: I'm sorry I can't remember exactly.

About esprit de corps: Of course! I am still proud. I was very interested in the military even before I went to the FJ. Already by the time i went to the FJ, I had memorised the Herresvorschrif in the Jungvolk (Hitler Jugend) t, I knew the Spatengriff (a shovel drill-MK's note), and the Gewehrgriff (rifle drill-Mk's note) from my brother.
I knew that the FJ was an elite organisation, and I can say we were very
idealistic.

About the Bundeswehr, I heard the same thing just two days ago when I got a phone call from a retired Bundeswehr officer.
Thank you for your letter.
Heinz"

Hope I am not late---

As a modern day paratrooper, I was wondering if you could describe the "actions in the aircraft", basically all the checks a
nd everything you do in the plane before you are given the go.. Was their some sort of light or signal, like the red or green light in American jump aircraft, or the green, yellow, red and the loud buzzer in modern day German?

Were Fallschrimjagers awarded any sort of award for making a combat jump?

Does it give you any sort of satisfaction or sense of pride to have been a pioneer of sorts? I know modern Bundeswehr Fallschrimjagers are still quite proud of their WWII forbearers (and rightly so).. Having visited their barracks and jumped with them, they still have allot of photographs, murals, etc.... Not something you see in other Bundeswehr Kasernes.

[berliner]

"Hallo,
1. I don't think I heard of that but it is possible. However, for my jump against the Partisans, we were offered a pill of cyanide, and I took it. I didn't intend to be captured alive by the Resistance.
2. Allied parachute troops. I never fought them. But I had respect for them as fellow paratroopers.

3. Lost territories: I better not say anything. My family lost everything.

Thank you for your questions and my respect to a brother parachuter."

Dear Herr Groenke;
Thank you for the very interesting information you have shared.
A few questions;
1) Did any of the FJ. units injest "pep pills',or "pep-injections" to help parachutists maintain high energy levels during combat?(One English account claims FJ. were "injected" by needle before the Kreta jump-to increase combat endurance...?)

2) Did your unit ever fight Allied parachute troops? If so,was there any attitude of "chivalry" between opponents?

Greetings to you from a military parachutist(27 years)
My mother's people came from Silesia (Glogau)and I was wondering if you,being from Prussia, have any thoughts concerning ancient German territories someday being returned to Germany?
J.A.M./J.v.C.

[Gregory Koepp]

very interesting, sorry for your brothers loss.

i have a question for you:

1. did you have to dig a fox hole every time you stopped to set-up over night?
2. what kind of vehicles did you use?
3. what was the most frightening day of the war for you?
4. did you pick up any items from other alive or dead men who you came upon?

thank you and looking forward to reading your book!!

greg karl koepp

[Edward]

Hello Berliner,

An excellent thread. Could you please relay several questions I have to Herr Groenke.

1. When you were issued your Soldbuch, where was it carried on your person, and at what times?

2. Did you wrap the Soldbuch in any material to protect it from damage?

3. Were you ever issued a replacement Soldbuch?

4. After you were awarded your medals to whom did you give your Soldbuch to have the appropriate entries written into it?

5. When stationed behind the lines, or at the front how often were you stopped to have your Soldbuch checked by the feldgendarmerie?

6. Was there any punishment for a soldier losing his Soldbuch?

7. What was your opinion during that time of Heer landser veterans who had served on the Russian Front and had been transfered to fight in the West? Did you have any encounters or conversations with them while in Italy or France?

Thank You

[CRAIGGOODWIN]

hello again

From the last post it had given me an idea.

Did soldiers really wear their awards into combat situations or were they left behind in your packs etc.

We always see pictures of troops wearing the awards on their tunics but were they staged etc or you did really wear them.

If so were you worried about losing them etc, I can imagine crawlling on your stomaches etc would have caused some to have come off.

Sorry if this is a silly question

Craig

[Matt Wilson]

No Craig,

I think it is an excellent question, & I look forward to Herr Groenke's reply. I have been pondering another thread on the FJ forum (regarding the FG42, & the photo of the dead German soldier, purported to have been taken in Berlin). I have felt from the first time I viewed that pic that the EK appears to have been added to the image. It seems too vivid, given the subdued detail of the rest of the photo, & the angle seems not quite right. I'm not a photo analyst, it just doesn't look right to me. In law enforcement (working most of my career on nightime hours), I shunned ribbons, pins, awards, gee-gaws, & anything shiny or loose on my uniform. Frankly, I didn't particularly care for the badge, as I felt it was polished target! But while I doubt that any modern soldier would be wearing such medals or awards in combat, ideologies differ, & change over time. As I say, I shall be quite interested in Herr Groenke's response.

Best,
Matt

[GHP]

Regarding the actual wear of awards in combat, a German veteran elsewhere responded to the question: "did you wear medals in combat." His answer (paraphrased) was, "..we went into combat wearing our 'Sunday best' with medals, ribbons, and badges ...." Again, not a direct quote -- but that was the gist of his statement.

It will be instructive to hear Herr Grönke's recollection.

Regards,
Guy

"C-130 rolling down the strip,
Airborne-Ranger on a one-way trip.
Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door,
Knees get weak and you fall to the floor.
Jumpmaster picks you up with ease,
And kicks your ass into the breeze.

One-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand, FOUR!
If my 'chute don't open wide,
I'll be a part of the country side.
If I die on the Russian Front,
Bury me with a Russian [woman].
If I die on the Chinese shore,
Burry me with a Chinese [woman].
But if I die on the old drop-zone,
Box me up and ship me home.
Pin my wings upon my chest,
Tell my girl I'd done my best.

Airborne the way, we run every day!"
[Hoo-ah!!]

[J.von Canon]

Message to Herr Groenke

Dear Herr Groenke,
Thank you for your reply to earlier questions.
A few more questions that have come to mind:

How did you find your jump boots to be adequate in cold weather,or snow?
(I think many FJ. must have suffered frozen feet,as did the Americans in the Ardennes fighting,since they are so similar to American parachute boots.)
In other words,did you wear long boots instead of jump boots when possible in cold weather?At least with regular boots one can put on foot rags,unlike jump boots.

I noticed that you fought partizans.
Were FJ. awarded the anti-partizan badge?
The scarcity of photographs with FJ. wearing this particular badge makes me wonder about it.

Did you find,in low altitude parachute jumps,that "air sickness"(vomiting)was a problem?
I've noticed that the low jumps cause the most sickness among paratroops...

Thank you BOTH for this very informative dialogue.
J.v.Canon/J.A.M.

[berliner]

Dear Edward,
Heinz's response:

"Hallo, I'm very sorry. I don't have many memories about a Soldbuch now. Maybe in the next few days I will recall something. I do however recall my Soldbuch from the RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst), and that (we wrote about this earlier) after my seventh jump I got the salary equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Infantry; this money I sent to my parents.

Re Landser: I didn't have much contact. In Anzio Netuno, we were relieved by the Division Hermann Goering. In Normandy, we were backed up by the Division Hohenstaufen, which was a Panzer Division. We had a rhyme about them :
Rechts ein Haufen
Links ein Haufen
Hinter uns kommt Hohenstaufen

When we moved back, a few of us even hopped a ride with a Tiger (I believe) from the Hohenstaufen.
Best,
Heinz"

Not much directly relevant info, but perhaps useful otherwise (MK)

Hello Berliner,

An excellent thread. Could you please relay several questions I have to Herr Groenke.

1. When you were issued your Soldbuch, where was it carried on your person, and at what times?

2. Did you wrap the Soldbuch in any material to protect it from damage?

3. Were you ever issued a replacement Soldbuch?

4. After you were awarded your medals to whom did you give your Soldbuch to have the appropriate entries written into it?

5. When stationed behind the lines, or at the front how often were you stopped to have your Soldbuch checked by the feldgendarmerie?

6. Was there any punishment for a soldier losing his Soldbuch?

7. What was your opinion during that time of Heer landser veterans who had served on the Russian Front and had been transfered to fight in the West? Did you have any encounters or conversations with them while in Italy or France?

Thank You