Marienburg 1945, Luftwaffe Bordschützenschule 1

[Admiraal]

I'm looking for info on Bordschützenschule 1 from the Luftwaffe.
In late 1944 a big part of this unit was disbanded and in 1945 the remaining soldiers moved to Denmark to form a new school.
But apparently not all of them left. A part fought in westpreussen.
At least at Marienburg and Marienau, i got a soldbuch to back this up.

Does anyone know more about this?
Or any info on Luftwaffe or kampfgruppe units in the battle for Marienburg 1945 ?
Any help is welcome!

[Admiraal]

Any info on the battle for Marienburg and the breakout is welcome as well.
I can't find much info.
How many of the 2500 soldiers in Marienburg broke out on 9 March 1945?

[beaviso]

I'd be delighted to see that soldbuch, please, just for curiosity. (beaviso@wp.pl)
I live in Gdansk/Danzig, near Marienburg.

Bordschützenschule 1 was formed at Rahmel / Rumia, some 10 kilometres off Gdynia / Gotenhafen. There was a German military airfield in Rahmel, which remained active until the end of the war, so possibly some of the school personnel stayed there after a group moved to Denmark. When the frontline came close, in February 1945, numerous Alarmeinheiten were formed from any soldiers capable to hold their rifles, inlcuding Luftwaffe airfields ground personnel.

One of such units, Luftwaffen-Feld-Bataillon "Gotenhafen" might have been formed of former Rahmel airbase crew (includning Bordschützenschule 1), which is more than just probable.

The exact unit is listed in the Gliederung der 2. Armee from 12.Feb.1945 under command of Kampfkommandant Marienburg.

Regards,
M.

[Fleetenkiecker]

Hello,

the Fliegerausbildungsbataillon (OB) 4 Rahmel fought in Marienburg. The Bataillonskommandeur was Maj. Gerd Herbig. The Kompaniechefs were Hptm. Franz Trenkle and Hptm. Gerhard Renz. The Bataillon was part of the KGr Mickley and was since 26.01.43 in Marienburg.

Regards,
Sven

[Admiraal]

Oke, here are some scans from the Soldbuch.
This young soldier arrived at the Bordschützenschule around 14th of August 1944 at the age of 17, just before turning 18.
He got wounded the first time in Marienburg.
Later near Marienau, on 9 March 1945, he got wounded for the second time.
Looking at the date and place this second wound must have been during the outbreak of Marienburg.
He was lucky to be transported to Flensburg. Probably with one of the many ships full of wounded and civilians out of Danzig or Gotenhafen.

[Admiraal]

More:

[Admiraal]

Can anyone read the (name) signature at the text of the first wound?

[beaviso]

He got wounded the first time in Marienburg.
Later near Marienau, on 9 March 1945, he got wounded for the second time.
Looking at the date and place this second wound must have been during the outbreak of Marienburg.

No, it wasn't like that. I'll explain it. But first, thank you for posting photos of the Soldbuch.

The battle for Marienburg was divided into two main stages:
1. The battle for the town of Marienburg,
2. The siege of the castle Marienburg (which is placed at the western outskirts of the town, next to the bridges over Nogat river, which lead towards Dirschau and Gdansk/Danzig. And, at the same time, battles near the Nogat river, as the Russians tried to pass it in other places, building temporary bridges.

Stage One was quite a quick action, as the Russians cleared the town from Germans in about week time. The last German units left the town at 1st of February 1945 to the western and northern directions, behind the Nogat river (its left side). Only selected units secured the "bridgehead" left in the castle, on the right side of Nogat and were ordered not to let Russians through the bridges.

Stage Two consisted of two separate theatres of action:
- battle for the castle, which was defended by the Germans very long, until the evening of 9th of March, when the troops eventually retreated, blowing up the bridges after the last soldier passed them.
- battle for the so called "Nogatfront" - i.e. numerous small battles in the villages near Marienburg, when the Germans were trying to stop Russians passing the Nogat river and pushing towards Danzig in northwestern direction.

At the 9th of March, II./GR62 (7. ID) was defending Marienau, some 20 km north of Marienburg. It was the place and time where and when the owner of the Soldbuch got wounded.

At the same time, the crew of the castle Marienburg were preparing themselves for the outbreak.

If you studied carefully what I wrote, you can see that Marienau, which is 20 kilometres far from Marienburg, was a place of battle at the same day, when the troops left Marienburg castle in the evening. But those were completely different units. The crew of the castle could NOT have been involved in the battle for Marienau. Units subordinated to the 7.ID were fighting in the "Nogatfront", but not for the castle. Marienau is a village located deep into the Nogatfront.

As for his wounding on the 11th of February in Marienburg - there are two possibilities:
- he might have taken part in a counter-attack towards the suburbs of Marienburg, acting at the "Nogatfront" frontline,
- he might have been in the castle at that time, but got evacuated due to his wound, and returned after several days, while the unit was moved from the castle to the Nogatfront.

Again, there were separate theatres of action:
- Marienau (lost on 9th of March) belongs to the "Nogatfront", which was fought for the whole February and the first half of March.
- And the famous "outbreak from Marienburg" (9th of March 1945, in the evening) concerns only the retreat of the castle's last defenders.

Kind regards,
M.

[Admiraal]

No, it wasn't like that. I'll explain it. But first, thank you for posting photos of the Soldbuch.

The battle for Marienburg was divided into two main stages:
1. The battle for the town of Marienburg,
2. The siege of the castle Marienburg (which is placed at the western outskirts of the town, next to the bridges over Nogat river, which lead towards Dirschau and Gdansk/Danzig. And, at the same time, battles near the Nogat river, as the Russians tried to pass it in other places, building temporary bridges.

Stage One was quite a quick action, as the Russians cleared the town from Germans in about week time. The last German units left the town at 1st of February 1945 to the western and northern directions, behind the Nogat river (its left side). Only selected units secured the "bridgehead" left in the castle, on the right side of Nogat and were ordered not to let Russians through the bridges.

Stage Two consisted of two separate theatres of action:
- battle for the castle, which was defended by the Germans very long, until the evening of 9th of March, when the troops eventually retreated, blowing up the bridges after the last soldier passed them.
- battle for the so called "Nogatfront" - i.e. numerous small battles in the villages near Marienburg, when the Germans were trying to stop Russians passing the Nogat river and pushing towards Danzig in northwestern direction.

At the 9th of March, II./GR62 (7. ID) was defending Marienau, some 20 km north of Marienburg. It was the place and time where and when the owner of the Soldbuch got wounded.

At the same time, the crew of the castle Marienburg were preparing themselves for the outbreak.

If you studied carefully what I wrote, you can see that Marienau, which is 20 kilometres far from Marienburg, was a place of battle at the same day, when the troops left Marienburg castle in the evening. But those were completely different units. The crew of the castle could NOT have been involved in the battle for Marienau. Units subordinated to the 7.ID were fighting in the "Nogatfront", but not for the castle. Marienau is a village located deep into the Nogatfront.

As for his wounding on the 11th of February in Marienburg - there are two possibilities:
- he might have taken part in a counter-attack towards the suburbs of Marienburg, acting at the "Nogatfront" frontline,
- he might have been in the castle at that time, but got evacuated due to his wound, and returned after several days, while the unit was moved from the castle to the Nogatfront.

Again, there were separate theatres of action:
- Marienau (lost on 9th of March) belongs to the "Nogatfront", which was fought for the whole February and the first half of March.
- And the famous "outbreak from Marienburg" (9th of March 1945, in the evening) concerns only the retreat of the castle's last defenders.

Kind regards,
M.

Thanks for the info!
It raises many questions though, maybe you can help:
On the internet i can see more Marienau's, do you mean: Marynowy ?
How quickly was Marienburg fully surrounded, at which date?
Do you happen to have a map of the area with the unit defence lines on it?
What was the escape route taken by the castle's defenders?

[Admiraal]

Bumping this thread, hoping for more info.

I've read the combat account of the above mentioned "Fliegerausbildungsbataillon (OA) Rahmel" under command of Major Herbig. He states that although most of the time they were stationed outside of the castle (at Stadtfelde), the 2.Kompanie and on a later date 2 platoons of 3.Kompanie were stationed inside the castle and fought from there. The Bataillon retreated from the Marienburg area in late February 1945. They were send in the direction of Mewe and continued fighting in Prussia.

The Bataillon was made up from 17-18 year olds that had not yet finished their full pilot training, just basic training (they still had the rank Flieger, but where O.A.). In late January 1945 the Bataillon (stab, 2. and 3. Kompanie. 417 soldiers total) were mobilized and send to the front. 100 men from the Bataillon stayed behind at Rahmel (probably 1.Kompanie?). Part of the cadre came from the Bordschützenschule at Rahmel, just like the soldier of my Soldbuch. I doubt that he was part of this Bataillon. But i can imagine that more Kampfgruppen were made in 1945 at Rahmel and send to Marienburg.

@beaviso
After reading the above mentioned account i think that the soldier of my Soldbuch fought in Festung Marienburg and after that outside the Festung, at Marianau (location of his second wounding). The account mentioned that wounded soldiers got transported out of the Festung towards a Hauptverbandplatz at Stadtfelde and a Luftwaffe-Krankenrevier of a Flak-Rgt. at Kunzedorf.

Looking at the writing of the the first wound in the Soldbuch i can see that it was signed by "Rev. U.A. Rullinz" or something similar. Hard to read. Does the "Rev." part mean "Revier" ? that could be the LW-Krankenrevier of the Flak-Rgt.

[Archi]

Hello Rick !

Very interesting puzzle to a late war unit.

Regarding your questions :
- I would think that the first entry on p. 23 reads :
1. Verwundung am 11.2.45
Marienburg III. B.S.S. /3. L.W. Feldeinheit.
Rev.[ier] U.A. [=Unterarzt ?!] ... signature
Mb. [=Marienburg ?] 14.2.45
(perhaps 14.2.45 was also the date when he was released from hospital ?!)

[Revier should be = Krankenrevier, all in agreement to what you and Gerdan already suggested.]

- The first wounding probably occured with Lw.Ausb.Btl. Rahmel at Marienburg.
(it seems, that Fleetenkiecker has more informations on this unit ?!)

It also seems, that the wounding was not too severe, and he could return to his unit very soon.
The main question is : what happened after that ?

If Btl. Rahmel was sent to the South, he was no longer with that unit, when he was wounded at Marienau (N of Marienburg).

What could have happened ?
Either elements of Btl. Rahmel were incorporated into the 7. Inf.Div. or after his wounding, or he was
with another unit (e.g. Lw. Feld-Btl. Gotenhafen). He then finally ended up in a unit of 7. ID., whith which he fought at Marienau.
This seems to me the most logical explanation (and everything in the post of beaviso seems very precise !).

I found some supporting info in a book by Pantenius, Letzte Schlacht an der Oderfront.
The map is dated from 10.3.45, so one day late, but that area should have been covered by 7. ID. the day before.
On the other hand, a report of the 2. Armee on the combat readiness of its divisions lists the strength of this division
(which had been heavily mauled in January) with 10000+ men ! (see scan, dated 9.3.45).
This could only be accomplished by the incorporation of a huge amount of Alarm-units !
Whether this were elements of Lw.-Btl. Rahmel or Lw. Feld-Btl. Gotenhafen, remains unclear. Both disappear in the listings of
2. Armee after end of February, 1945 (date of 1st scan).

One sidenote : The entries for the woundings on p. 23 :
Could this be a kind of VWA (schwarz) for the first wounding and a VWA (silber) for the second, both entered in an imprecise way by unexperienced Sanis ?
(The second wounding must have been very severe, as he had to spent 5 month in hospital ?!)

Best regards,

Archi

[Admiraal]

Thanks Archi!
The list with units is from units attached to the 7.ID ?
Do you think that the LW-Ausb.Btl. that you mention in the list of alarm units is another LW-Ausb.Btl. then LW-Ausb.Btl. (O.A.) under command of Major Herbig ?

[Archi]

Hello Rick !

Gr. Gen. von Rappard is essentially the HQ of 7. Inf.Div.
It controlled several Kampfgruppen at various times (and perhaps tried to rebuild the 7. Inf.Div.).

There was not much left of 7. Inf.Div. !
I think that the HQs of Gren. Rgt. 61 and 62 fought as KGr. Nagerl and Schmidt, but mainly controlled Alarm-units, etc.

On the other question I currently have no clue. It might be very helpful if Fleetenkiecker could give some
further infos (e.g. on KGr. Mickley, which I couldn't find). The problem is, that there were so much battlegroups in this area,
from Heer, Marine and Lw., that the general picture is very confusing ! Sorry !

Best regards,

Archi