Need help ID'ing ribbons & badge

[Rick_Eberle]

I'm trying to identify the rank, ribbons and badge on this soldier's uniform. The photo was taken in 1944 (I think), and he was killed on the Eastern Front about two weeks later. I believe he was a tank crew member.



From what I've found (mostly here) online, it appears that he's wearing Totenkopf, a General Assault Badge, and ribbons for a War Merit Cross 2nd Class and a Winter Battle in the East 1941/1942 medal. Are these correct?

Also, can someone tell me what his rank was?

Thanks,
Rick

[callum]

hi
that badge on the uniform is the general assault badge and the ribbon bar with the swords crossed is the is for war merits cross 2nd class with swords and the one next to it is for the russian front medal also known as the eastern front medal. im not sure on uniforms or ranks sorry.

[Peter J.]

Unteroffizier.

cheers
Peter

[Don D.]

Possibly a Stug crewman.

[RonR]

Rick,

A shot of the awards:

Best regards,

[Rick_Eberle]

Great info! Thanks for the photo, Ron. That's definitley them.

Don, can I ask why you're thinking stug?

His name was Heinz Grützemann From Thale am Harz. He was my mother's cousin - She's the flowergirl on the right. Apparently, another relative saw him in a field hospital before he died, and he had opened the hatch and raised his head out, but had taken his helmet off due to the heat when he was hit. He lost an arm and had serious head wounds due to shrapnel.

My mother thinks that he was in the East for four years, so I assume that he was killed in the Summer of '44.

I've tried the War Grave database, but no luck. (I DID find his brother, Werner, though!)

Thanks for the replies,
Rick

[Bruce Simcox]

Hi Rick......

......Don stated Stug crewman because the awarding of the GAB was for assault gun crews. They were part of the artillery, and were awarded GAB's instead of PAB's, even though they wore panzer skulls on the lapels.

[birdie]

Very interesting...very sad



What happened to the bride? The brother?

[Rick_Eberle]

What happened to the bride? The brother?

The Bride's name was Gerda Kühne, She remarried about five years later, eventually moving to West Germany.

According to the war grave database, the brother, Oberschütze Werner Grützemann, is buried at Pirogowka (Pirogovka?) in the Ukraine, about 125km west of Kursk. He died on 31 July, 1942, at the age of 21.

Apparently, there is a photo of Werner in uniform when he first joined up. We're trying to find it.

Thanks for the replies!
Rick

[Rick_Eberle]

Just recently, Heinz Grützemann's grave has been added to the online War Graves register at http://www.volksbund.de.

Nachname:Grützemann
Vorname:Heinz
Dienstgrad:Unteroffizier
Geburtsdatum:13.04.1918
Geburtsort:Berlin
Todes-/Vermisstendatum:28.08.1943
Todes-/Vermisstenort: Pokorowo-Kirijewska

So he died in August '43, not '44, as I had previously thought. The place of death is "Pokorowo-Kirijewska", but I'm not finding anything that matches either of those names... any ideas???

I found some earlier photos of Heinz



This one on horseback is believed to be entering Paris.



Also, the photo of the younger brother, Werner Grützemann, has been found:



So, my next question is can anyone identify any unit or other information from what is in the picture?