Can you identify him?

[François SAEZ]

I have no name for this pic I will put soon on estand.
If you know him

[François SAEZ]

maybe the signature helps

[D. Löwenhamn]

Josef, "Sepp", Allerberger.

Best regards/ Daniel

[François SAEZ]

Thanks Daniel

Do you know more about him

RK added on the picture, he is not listed as RK winner???

[Mark S.]

hmm...is that a cloth badge on his right sleeve .. or wishful thinking?

[François SAEZ]

hmm...is that a cloth badge on his right sleeve .. or wishful thinking?

You are probably right Mark, but which one? More info on the owner could help (couild be Moutain troops, .......)

[Adrian Stevenson]

You know the more I look at it, the more I think it could be a snipers badge and not a Jaeger badge. It certainly does not look like Gebirgsjaeger badge.

I have been looking at the angle of the oakleaves and the gap between them and the next part of the badge. That gap is different to the Jaeger badge and looks more like the gap found between the oakleaf and eagle on the sniper badge.

Cheers, Ade.

[François SAEZ]

Bigger close up

[D. Löwenhamn]

It's the Gebirgsjäger patch you can see on his arm. Allerberger spent most of his time with 8./Geb.Jäg.Regt. 144. On the 2.3.1945 he recieved the Knight's cross by Generalfeldmarschall Schörner but the award hadn't been officialy granted. Allerberger also recieved the Scharfschützenabzeichen III Stufe and with 257 confirmed kills he was the second most successful sniper in the German armed forces.

I have a signed portrait photo of him if anyone is interested.

Best regards/ Daniel

[François SAEZ]

Iit's ... he was the second most successful sniper in the German armed forces.

For my info, who was number one and how many "kills"

Thanks

[D. Löwenhamn]

Matthäus Hetzenauer, 7./Geb.Jäg.Regt. 144 had 345 confirmed kills. He recieved the Knight's cross.

Best regards/ Daniel

[Ludwig]

Allerberger

Hur mycket kostar fotot? Är det samma motiv?

[Simon O.]

That's a cracking photo of Allerberger

A few years ago i found out with the help of an Austrian friend that Hetzenauer was still alive although his family didn't want people contacting him about 'that' time. There was a third Scharfschutze from GJR 144 who was apparently awarded the RK by Schörner in the last days of the war but remains unconfirmed, Obergefreiter Franz Karner. There is a biography out about him called 'Im auge des jägers' by Albrecht Wacker, in German only unfortunately but there are some good if not a little grissly photos in it as well as various scans of his scharfschutze docs.

I wonder what it was about GJR 144 and the 3 Geb.Div. that spawned the top German (or Austrian) snipers? It's interesting to note that these guys were very young (Hetzenauer and Karner were only 21 at the war's end) and were either gefreiter or obergefreiter (none of that fantasy Major Koenig rubbish from enemy at the gates). Also all their 'kills' came from the last 18 months to 2 years of the war.
It's also worth mentioning that unlike other nations where snipers were held up as heroes and truly elite, in the German army sniping was regarded with distaste by many.

[Si1964]

Great photo and information supplied by Simon and Daniel.

It's increadible to think as Simon said that these "kills" where obtained in such a short time scale.

The question that now springs to mind, why was the sniper held in such disregard by so many???

[D. Löwenhamn]

Hi Simon,

the answer to that question is simply because some thought of snipers as sneaky. In the meantime, many german soldiers had the greatest reverence<!--__DE_--> for the snipers.

Another sniper in 8./Geb.Jäg.Regt. 144 recieved the Knight's cross at the same time as Allerberger. His name was Josef Roth and he had over 200 confirmed kills. His award was declared unofficial for the same reason as Allerberger's was. I believe Roth died sometime during the seventies.

Best regards/ Daniel