Hi guys,
Thought I would share a nice flak grouping I picked up a while back. I knew the Heeres flak document is rare, and I really liked the look of the doc, adorned with a flak badge at the top. I have researched the history and signatures a bit, here is what I have come up with:
Alois Herold was initially in the 3rd Battery of the Heeres Flak Artillery Battalion 312, where he received his Wound Badge in Black. The 312 was part of the 3rd Infantry Division and fought all the way to Stalingrad. Based on his Silver Wound document, Herold was wounded on Nov. 2nd 1942 and because of that, likely left the Stalingrad area right before the Russians counterattacked and encircled the famous Kessel on Nov. 22nd. That wound saved Herolds life and allowed him to fight another day, as the 312 Battalion and 3rd Inf. Div were both destroyed at Stalingrad.
In April 1943 Herold was retroactively awarded the EK2 for his actions the previous October near Stalingrad and was reasigned to 3rd Battery of Heeres Flak Battalion 280. He fought in Central Russia and in November had the pre-requisite 16 points to be awarded the Heeres Flak Badge. The following year, he was wounded for a 3rd time on August 8th, 1944 and received his Silver Wound Badge and document was still in the hospital recovering from his wounds on the 26th.
Flak Document: Signed by General Fritz Lindemann. He got the RK Sept. 4th, 1941 and the DK on Aug. 23rd, 1942. He was part of the July 20th plot against Hitler and was shot by the Gestapo and and later died on Sept. 22, 1944.
Wound Badge in Black Document: This one was harder to research, but I think its signed by Oberleutnant Helmut Speckenheier. He received the RK on Oct. 7th, 1942 and was caught in the Stalingrad pocket. He died on Jan. 14th, 1943.
I hope I pieced the history together properly. Researching really brings to life a name and experiences that are otherwise forgotten to time. Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the reading.
Tom
Thought I would share a nice flak grouping I picked up a while back. I knew the Heeres flak document is rare, and I really liked the look of the doc, adorned with a flak badge at the top. I have researched the history and signatures a bit, here is what I have come up with:
Alois Herold was initially in the 3rd Battery of the Heeres Flak Artillery Battalion 312, where he received his Wound Badge in Black. The 312 was part of the 3rd Infantry Division and fought all the way to Stalingrad. Based on his Silver Wound document, Herold was wounded on Nov. 2nd 1942 and because of that, likely left the Stalingrad area right before the Russians counterattacked and encircled the famous Kessel on Nov. 22nd. That wound saved Herolds life and allowed him to fight another day, as the 312 Battalion and 3rd Inf. Div were both destroyed at Stalingrad.
In April 1943 Herold was retroactively awarded the EK2 for his actions the previous October near Stalingrad and was reasigned to 3rd Battery of Heeres Flak Battalion 280. He fought in Central Russia and in November had the pre-requisite 16 points to be awarded the Heeres Flak Badge. The following year, he was wounded for a 3rd time on August 8th, 1944 and received his Silver Wound Badge and document was still in the hospital recovering from his wounds on the 26th.
Flak Document: Signed by General Fritz Lindemann. He got the RK Sept. 4th, 1941 and the DK on Aug. 23rd, 1942. He was part of the July 20th plot against Hitler and was shot by the Gestapo and and later died on Sept. 22, 1944.
Wound Badge in Black Document: This one was harder to research, but I think its signed by Oberleutnant Helmut Speckenheier. He received the RK on Oct. 7th, 1942 and was caught in the Stalingrad pocket. He died on Jan. 14th, 1943.
I hope I pieced the history together properly. Researching really brings to life a name and experiences that are otherwise forgotten to time. Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the reading.
Tom
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