Africa unit Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633

[Radcollector]

hello,

im trying to figure out if the staff of Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633 was in Africa in 1943-from what i can tell from lexicon and tessin the unit was there but neither specifically mention the staff (from what i can tell with my poor german language skills)i have a soldbuch with several feldpost # stamps and a unit entry from this unit in 1943 and im trying to figure out if he was actually in Africa or only Italy.

[MilitaryCollect]

Africa unit Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633

Hi Yancy,

It appears that the whole batallion went to Africa (Stab and both companies) (a 3rd company wasn't added till 45'):

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...Gliederung.htm

Field postal service numbers:

Unit field postal service numbers

Stab 22188
1. Kompanie 24066
2. Kompanie ???
3. Kompanie ab Apr/45 56076

The battalion was created on the 15 February 1943 in the Wehrkreis III. It was set up as a supply-battalion of 633 the army troop with 2 companies. The battalion became part of the first the 5th tank army in Africa. End 1944 was subordinate the battalion of the 10th army in Italy. 1945 another 3rd company to the battalion came through the supply-company 526.

[Larry deZeng]

You were correct in questioning whether or not it was in fact in Tunisia. Think of the logistics and correlate this with the history of the campaign in Tunisia. Tessin (Bd. XII, p.6) says its date of formation in Wehrkreis III (Brandenburg/Mecklenburg area) was 15.02.1943. That clearly suggests that it could not have even arrived on Sicily to await transportation to Tunisia until mid-March. By that point in time, the German transportation system had been so interdicted across the 90-mile wide Strait of Sicily that they were barely able to get ammo, food and a few infantry replacements in to sustain the units that were already there. A large number of reinforcements and replacements backed up in southern Italy and Sicily awaiting transportation which never became available. So it would not be correct to assume that Nachschub-Btl. 666 or any part of it actually set foot in Tunisia. Just because it was slated for assignment to 5. Pz.Armee does not mean it in fact got there.

--Larry

P.S. If it had gotten there it would have been destroyed or captured on 10 May, yet there is no indication in Tessin of this happening or of it being subsequently rebuilt. Tessin always makes note of this.

[Radcollector]

Larry,

i had another wehrpass that was to a unit that was suppose to be in tunisia late in the campaign but i later researched it and found out that it was stuck in sicily for lack of transport,the same could definately be true for this unit,both tesin and lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de are very vague with the details of this unit other than the basics,does anyone else have any info about this unit other than from those 2 sources?i bought the SB for the Italy battles so i wouldnt be disapointed if he never was in tunisia it would just be all the better if he was!

[MilitaryCollect]

Africa unit Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633

Hello,

Units were arriving in North Africa through April, 1943. According to Lexikon der Whermacht, this unit was assigned to Afrika and I translated that text to mean that it "became part of" Panzer Armee Afrika. It is possible that it arrived in February/March and was evacuated in late April.

Here's the text:

Africa unit Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633

Das Bataillon wurde am 15. Februar 1943 im Wehrkreis III aufgestellt. Das Bataillon wurde als Nachschub-Bataillon 633 der Heerestruppe zu 2 Kompanien aufgestellt. Das Bataillon wurde zuerst der 5. Panzerarmee in Afrika unterstellt. Ende 1944 unterstand das Bataillon der 10. Armee in Italien. 1945 kam durch die Nachschub-Kompanie 526 noch eine 3. Kompanie zum Bataillon.

Die Ersatzgestellung vom Bataillon wurde von der Kraftfahr-Ersatz-Abteilung 23 in Sorau, Wehrkreis III, wahrgenommen.

However, I can't find anything which lists that unit actually being in North Afrika. The very often cited source for German formations & order of battle is: George F. Nafziger - The Afrika Korps: An organizational history 1941-1943. A link is provided below:

*Here's a well sited source for the German Order of Battle in North Afrika:

http://home.fuse.net/nafziger/WWII.HTM

Reference material on this unit:
George F. Nafziger - The Afrika Korps: An organizational history 1941-1943

German order of Battle: http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=2057

Found a few more sites regarding this unit's stab FP number:

http://www.militaria-fundforum.de/sh....php?p=1033451

FP# 22188 (for your unit between 10.2.1943 - 23.8.1943:

(Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) 12. Batterie Artillerie-Regiment 176
(2.1.1940-27.4.1940) gestrichen, wurde Fp.Nr. 10475 D
(28.4.1940-14.9.1940) 4. Kompanie Landesschutzen-Bataillon 285
(15.2.1942-30.7.1942) gestrichen, wurde Fp.Nr. 20254 E
(10.2.1943-23.8.1943) Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633.


Order of Bttle (5th Panzer Armee - Afrika): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Fifth_Panzer_Army

Lexikon der Wehrmacht (5th Panzer Armee Afrika): http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...nzerarmee5.htm

Order of battle in Italy:

http://194.242.233.149/ortdb/DHI_LISTEIT_IT.pdf


Christopher

[Larry deZeng]

Christopher -

I commend you on your research effort, diligence and resourcefulness, but I don't think what you provided moves us forward on the matter of whether or not Nachsch.Btl. 633 or elements thereof ever actually made it to Tunisia. I read German fluently and the Lexikon blurb is virtually identical to Tessin, albeit with a few more articles, conjunctions, adjectives and adverbs added.

There are a number of books, especially in Italian, that detail the supply difficulties across the Strait of Sicily. There are also reams and reams of captured German documentation on NARA microfilm and in Record Groups 165 and 319 that list every German and Italian unit in and out of Tunisia, provided one has the time and motivation to go through it all. There are also the ULTRA intercepts for Tunisia which total about 14 rolls of microfilm. These are particularly interesting because they are the original Fernschreiben that went back and forth between the commands in Tunisia and those in Italy and Sicily regarding the transporting of units, i.e., which were standing by awaiting transport, which had managed to get a few people across, which had been en-route but were lost when their ship was sunk by Allied air and sea forces, which were bumped in favor of infantry replacements, etc. I have read all of this material, but since I was only concerned with Luftwaffe matters I cannot recall anything specific about Nachschub-Btl. 633.

If you are going to concern yourself primarily with DAK matters, you might give some thought to really, really getting into the primary material in the archives. There is also a generous amount of scholarly material out there in books and journal articles written in German, Italian and English. In fact, you wouldn't have to dig too far before you would have full details on each and every unit arriving in Tunisia down to and including the selbständige Trupp. Sounds like a lot of work, I know, but it's also fascinating and fun.

Best,

--Larry

[MilitaryCollect]

Africa unit Stab Nachschub-Bataillon 633

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your compliment. I'd like to learn more. Can you please help me get started?

Thank you!

Christopher

[Simon O.]

I cannot agree more with Larry. Now that NARA's microfilm are available on DVD the cost of each one is about the same as a book but with the benefit of it being primary material.

When dealing with Tessin, Fp.numbers and the Lexikon you have to bare in mind at what level the information is coming from and where. Tessin's work is based on fp. numbers, it's very general in it's detail which is perfectly understandable given the scope of the work. If you're going to specialize on a particular unit, formation or theater as i do with Finland\Norway you have to get into the detailed primary source material only then will you get a proper view of what was actually going on on the ground.

Here's an example.

This is the 7 Gebirgs Division, if you look at what it says for where the division was in 1945 it simply says 'Norwegen'. That's correct but Norway is a big country and it gives no detail as to where in Norway. Other published sources sometimes go a little further and say 'Lillehammer' but the reality was in fact quite different. Through the archives i found out that elements of the division were spread out over more than 1000 miles as it moved southward through the country. It was only through research that i could identify which elements were where at any given date which is far, far more detail than works like the lexikon or Tessin can give or were ever designed to do.

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...onen/7GebD.htm

The same applies to this quite obscure supply unit. Which formation it was assigned to on paper by higher command could be quite different to where it or parts of it were physically on the ground.

[Simon O.]

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your compliment. I'd like to learn more. Can you please help me get started?

Thank you!

Christopher

Read the pinned thread on NARA microfilm rolls, that should be a good enough starting point.

[Larry deZeng]

Hi Larry,
Thank you for your compliment. I'd like to learn more. Can you please help me get started?
Thank you!
Christopher

Hi Christopher,

Simon has given you some good advice and tips on working with the NARA microfilm, so I will limit my remarks to just the published material.

The best way to start researching anything is to begin with the general works that take a broad look at the subject and then progressively work your way down to the more specific and detailed. Here is a link to a list that can get you started. In addition to the titles listed, you will see a menu of closely related but more detailed topics along the right margin. You can use Google to get more information on each book, such as the publisher's description and independent reviews. In the better and more scholarly of these works you will find a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. Study those carefully because they will identify even more detailed material that you can try and obtain. Here is the link:

http://books.stonebooks.com/cgi-bin/...bjects?1000030

Good luck, Christopher, and don't expect to become an authority on the North African Campaign overnight. It will take years and years to get to that point.

--Larry