23/01/1944 - Sseweriniwka

[Hellraiser]

Dear All,

A family member of mine got wounded on 23/01/1944 at Sseweriniwka,
(Durchschuss re. Unt-Arm) and got to a Laz.-Zug.

But can anyone give me more info about the date/location and troops
down there?

Thanks in advance!

Kind Regards,
Johan

[Angel Farré]

Do yo have any other info about your family member? Unit at least, this will narrow the search a lot.

Angel

[Hellraiser]

Hello Angel,

1./West/SS Ausb. Lager Sennheim as of 04.10.1942
SS Freiw. Leg. 'Flandern' till 30.05.1943 FP 44853
I. Btl./4./6. SS Freiw. Sturm Brig. 'Langemarck' from 31.05.1943 FP 34695 E

Kind Regards,
Johann

[Angel Farré]

The unit was in the Zhitomir area in January 44 where it was encircled alongside the Das Reich division and suffered serious casualties that reduce his combat strength to around 400 men, I suppose your familiar was wounded during those combat.

My suggestion is try Google maps and check around Zhitomir to a village with a similar name, it works for me in the past. To reduce the searching area try to find a period map that marked the operational area of the Sturmbrigade and try to pinpoint any city or village in it and start looking from there.

Angel

[Hellraiser]

Thanks Angel,

I found 2 Severynivka 's, both 100km away from Zhytomyr,
one is on the road to Kiev and the other closer to Lviv

[Simon O.]

Quote from the book 'Lions of Flanders' by Richard Landwehr

The W-SS offensive had the net result of regaining old positions and stabilizing the front by throwing the enemy completely off balance. The successes of 15 January 1944 were reported in the Wehrmacht bulletin for the day: "West of Berdychiv, counterattacking formations of the W-SS shattered two enemy regiments and dealt heavy, bloody losses to the Bolsheviks."

On the next day, 16 January, the troops of the Langemarck Brigade began patrolling a new front sector that ran for some 15 to 2o Km.. 3rd Kp. was sent to Kampfgruppe Pieper at Stetkovzie and remained with it through 17 January. The only action in the next several days came from the frequent artillery exchanges between both sides. The Das Reich nebelwerfer battery was set up right behind the middle of the Langemarck's lines near 6th Kp. positions at Zherenivka.