5./ Infantry Regiment 392 in the 169 Infantry Division.

[Don Scowen]

Hi,


I'm not sure whether anyone can help me. I am looking to see if anyone has any info on Oblt. Konrad Schluter (or possibly Schlüter) company chief of 5./ Infantry Regiment 392 in the 169 Infantry Division.


I have been given a small photo booklet commemorating the Finnish campaign by his granddaughter as she knows of my interest in TR items. She asked me whether I could find out any information on him & his regiment etc.


In the back of the booklet is a hand written inscription which translates as


"In remembrance of my mission at northern finnland as company chief of 5./ Infantry Regiment 392 in the 169 Infantry Division. In the battlefield, in december 1941
Konrad Schluter, Oblt."


(Zur Erinnerung an meinen Einsatz in Nordfinnland als Komp.-Chef der 5./I.R. 392 in der 169 I.D.

Im Felde, im Dezember 1941

Konrad Schluter, Oblt.)


Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks
Don

[Simon O.]

Don, i take it you already have the basic information that can be found on the internet?

I actually have a grouping to an oberfeldwebel from the same battalion, though not the 5 Kp.

[Don Scowen]

Hi Simon, thank you for your reply. I'm afraid that I am a complete novice when it comes to the war & this sort of information. My area of knowledge is of physical items such as enamel badges & shooting awards etc. I know nothing of regimental units, divisions, theatre of war etc.

The daughter of the veteran who owned the document (Konrad) used to do my translation work for my reasearch into the Austrian shooting festivals which is my area of interest. Unfortunately she has developed dementia & is now in a care home. Her daughter found the booklet while clearing out her mothers home & gave it to me. It transpired that she knows very little about her grandfather & wondered whether I could help her. Unfortunately this area is a mystery to me as well.....

Don

[J Temple-West]

Hi. Don...
Something to start you off:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/169th_...acht)#See_also


http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...onen/169ID.htm

[Simon O.]

If that's all she knows about him i would advise her to apply for his service records.

https://www.dd-wast.de/en/tracing-re...-research.html

As you can see from the links above the basics are that the division was sent to Finland in june 41 and along with the 163 Inf.div. made up the XXXVI Gebirgs Korps. Basically, after the battles in 1941 as they tried to push east towards Kandalaksha in an attempt to cut off the rail link between Murmansk and Leningrad they got bogged down in the thick forests and swamps. they sebsequently spent more than 3 years in static positions until Finland made peace with the Soviet Union in sept.44 . The division, along with the whole 20 Gebirgs Army then pulled out of Finland and in to North Norway. There then followed a long drawn out process of moving down Norway to the Oslo area before being shipped over to the continent in march 45 and sent straight to the Oder front where the division was chewed up and spat out by the Soviet steam roller.

If Konrad was an oberleutnant and kompanie chef in dec.41 it's reasonable to assume he was promoted further. He clearly survived so it would be interesting to know how the rest of his war turned out.

[Don Scowen]

Thank you Simon & John,


I believe Konrad survived the war dying in the late 1990's. However like most families the war was rarely if ever discussed.


In conversations that I had with Konrads daughter, she told me some of her life during the war & being moved around the country due to fear of air raids etc (I believe that she was born in 1932). She often mentione her mother (Konrad's wife) but never her father. She came to the UK after the war having married a British service man.



I shall pass the information you gave onto Konrad's granddaughter. One finak question, are there any lists available online that list the officers etc? Can I check anywhere whether he was promoted further?


Thanks again
Don

[Simon O.]

Officer's service records are far easier to find than other ranks so you may have some luck. I believe the American archives, NARA, have them and there one or two members here that offer a research service.

[Don Scowen]

Thank you again. I will see if I can find someone who can help me with that.

cheers
Don