Obergefreiter Josef Reich. KIA 25/12/1944 Poland

[Depaor01]

Hi all,
I'm fortunate to have a family connection to this soldier. My aunt married a former Luftwaffe radio operator. Although Franz Reich is deceased, she's still alive and the chap I'm enquiring about is Franz's brother, Josef.
She and her son have been asking the Red Cross about Josef Reich, and the enquiries have prompted a response from the Volksbund and they have given additional info. The woman is very elderly and I would love to be able to give her more info on Josef - for instance the battle in which he was killed, some info about his regiment and absolutely anything else anyone could contribute to complete the picture on this man would be hugely appreciated.

Here is all the info I have:

Name: Josef Reich
Born: Vienna, 8/5/1921
Killed in Action 25/12/1944 Stara, Bez.Petrikau/Polen (not sure exactly where this is)

Per the Volksbund, his regiment was 5 Panzergrenadier regiment 64, but his erkennungsmarke details read 5107-2J Ers Btl. 372.

I would love is someone on here could interpret any of the above.

Thanks,

Dave

[Simon O.]

The basics is that he served with the 5 kompanie of Pz.Gren.Rgt.64, 16 Pz.Div. at the time of his death. His ID tag has his original home depot replacement unit. If you want to research further, the way to go would be via the history of the 16 Pz.Div.

Was Pz.Gren.Rgt.64 the only field unit the volksbund had for him?

[Lionel H.]

You need to be very exact in German with abbreviations, otherwise It lost all his Significance. His Dog tag was - correctly written : "2./Inf.Ers.Btl.372" (+ personal number + Blood Type). This formation unit was created in Oppeln then tranbsfered to Gleiwitz, inh Dez.40 to Diedenhofen / Lorraine France (nowadays : Thionville)

[Simon O.]

This is, i believe the Stara you're looking for.

[Depaor01]

Thanks for those pointers. Much appreciated.
I haven't seen the Volksbund docs yet. When I do I'll post more accurate information.
Best,
Dave