Death of a Sniper – The Gothic Line in Italy

[InfanterieSammler]

Here is a set I recently reacquired and thought I would share. I formerly owned/sold this set at least 10 years ago and always regretted selling it.
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“In God's peace…Far from his beloved mountain homeland rests my beloved, unforgettable husband and father, son-in-law, brother and uncle.”
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A death card and portrait photo of a German sniper killed in action along the Gothic Line in Italy in September of 1944. What I find really interesting about this set, is how the family made it a point to mention his position as a sniper within the regiment after his rank (“Unteroffizier und Scharfschütze in einem Grenadier=Regiment”). And of course, most interestingly they listed his award of the Scharfschützenabzeichen - only one month after its introduction by the Wehrmacht on 20 August 1944. With the portrait, I am drawn to sharpness of his eyes - the eyes of a sniper!

Regards,
John

[InfanterieSammler]

Some historical background that I feel helps provide a greater context for the set.

Martin Wagner, born in 1906 in Thalkirchdorf, a small village in the Allgäu region of Germany, only a few kilometers north of the German/Austrian border. Growing up in the foothills of the Alps, Martin would have been well accustomed to the traditions of the Jäger and the importance of mastering the rifle. When war broke out in 1914, an 8 year old Martin could only read about the major battles of the day. Years later, when war erupted again in 1939, as a 33 year old he would have been seen as “too old” to serve. However, by 1942 and into 1943, the fortunes of war changed for Germany and the Wehrmacht was forced to conscript older and older men to fill its ranks. It’s likely, the Wagner was one such conscript. Based on his wear of the Romanian Anti-Communist medal, it would appear he did serve some time at or near the Russian Front prior to his service in Italy.
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As the Allied Armies fighting in Italy sought to drive north in 1943 and into 1944, there were only three routes available – east along the coast, west along the coast, or through a series of passes in the Apennine mountain range in central Italy. One such pass, the Casaglia Pass, is located approximately 52 Km north of Florence. Further complicating Allied efforts, Germany had constructed a defensive line, complete with concrete pillboxes, machine-gun nests, artillery positions, observation posts, and bunkers known as the Gothic line. In September 1944, the US Fifth Army lead by Lieutenant General, Mark C. Clark was set to launch a major offensive to breach the line. Fifth Army was opposed in this area by the German 10^th Army, commanded by Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff.
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By September 18^th, the defensive situation was becoming very serious in the German 14^th Army’s sector, and Kesselring authorized the transfer of the two units from 10^th Army, the 44^th Grenadier Division (H.u.D) and the 715^th Infantry Division. It was at this time, that the British 8^th Indian Division and the British 1^st Infantry Division were advancing north in the area of Casaglia. The 1^st Infantry Division had been tasked with leading the charge up road through the Casaglia Pass into Casaglia. With the withdrawal of the German’s 715^th Infantry Division, the British 1^st Infantry Division made it “unopposed” through the Pass on September 20^th.
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The death card, lists Wagner as “gefallen” on 20 September. How’s does one reconcile that with the narrative of the British 1^st Infantry Division making it through the Casaglia Pass unopposed? My theory goes back to how snipers are employed, there is an excellent section on pages 165-166 in Jenning’s book, At War on the Gothic Line: Fighting in Italy, 1944-45. Jenning’s writes “Italy’s terrain was perfectly suited to snipers. Hills, forests, trees, church steeples, small buildings hidden in narrow streets, mountain peaks all gave the sniper somewhere to lie up and hide and wait for the enemy. As the front line in Italy was moving constantly, a German sniper could wait behind while his colleagues withdrew – or operate ahead of them – and thus be in perfect position for when the Allies arrived.” Of course, we will never know the exact specifics of how the sniper, Martin Wagner, was killed from studying a death card alone. However, I believe it to be more than likely, that he was left behind in his role as a sniper while the rest of his division withdrew. And it was in this way, that as a lone sniper or member of a sniper team, he was killed while engaging the approaching troops of the 1^st British Infantry Division.

It is with an unfortunate irony, that a man who was born in the Allgäu and who called the mountains home, would later meet his death in the mountains of Italy.<o</o</o</o

[InfanterieSammler]

Martin Wagner is buried in the German War Cemetery at Futta Pass in Italy, just a few minutes drive from where he was killed at Casaglia.

[InfanterieSammler]

A close up of the portrait reveals the imprint of the photostudio, Heimhuber, still located in Oberstdorf today. They are celebrating their 140th year in business. Thalkirchdorf, where Wagner was born, is a suburb of Sonthofen-Oberstdorf.

[InfanterieSammler]

Here is the reverse of portrait with a dedication.

Can someone give me a hand with this? I can read "XX XX Grüssen. von deinem Martin."

Thank You,
John

[InfanterieSammler]

Map of the fighting. Note the Infantry Unit (715th) located on 18 September right at the Casaglia Pass.

John

[WalterB]

Here is the reverse of portrait with a dedication.

Can someone give me a hand with this? I can read "XX XX Grüssen. von deinem Martin."

Thank You,
John

Very interesting and moving. If you ever want to sell it a second time around, please let me know!!

[OSS]

Is this pattern badge what they are referring to as a Scharfschutzen Abzeichen?

[Norm F]

Very nice personal history. Thanks for posting.

Is this pattern badge what they are referring to as a Scharfschutzen Abzeichen?

That is indeed the approved design for the Scharfschützenabzeichen but there’s no solid proof to date that they were actually produced or physically awarded during the war - certainly on paper though as John’s post shows. Here’s one of many previous discussions containing links to a few others:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...72#post7759372

Best regards,
—-Norm

[InfanterieSammler]

...but there’s no solid proof to date that they were actually produced or physically awarded during the war ...

Thank you gentleman.

Norm, I don't want to stray too far off the intended purpose of my thread, however I don't entirely agreement with this statement. I think there is ample proof that they were produced and awarded. For example, my death card references the actual award of the badge in September of 1944. I'm sure you are familiar as well with the US Army's TM series - evidence that as of 1945 the allies were fully aware of this badge's existence.

I do understand the discussion regarding what are accepted to be "wartime-produced" examples. Here we really have no proof either way. The ones I owned in the past came from "reputable dealers", however there is really no way to definitively prove which styles are wartime-produced versus postwar, so I decided they were not something I was comfortable owning.

Best,
John

[InfanterieSammler]

Here is one of the ones I used to own. I understand this style to be among the "accepted" versions.

Regards,
John

[Norm F]

...For example, my death card references the actual award of the badge in September of 1944. I'm sure you are familiar as well with the US Army's TM series - evidence that as of 1945 the allies were fully aware of this badge's existence.

Hi John,

Yes, as described in the March 25, 1945 War Department Technical Manual, and discussed in this thread, the design was well-known to the allies and published in the German journals well before that in October 1944, but that's the existence of the approved design not proof of the physical existence of the badge on the field.

There are many examples of official award documents bestowed long in advance of the physical availability of the award, and in some cases, like the Marine-Frontspange and the Luftwaffe Seekampfabzeichen (both instituted in November 1944), we know the award was never actually produced in wartime.

Actually, in September 1944, although the Scharfschützenabzeichen had been announced, the final design hadn't yet been published so Martin Wagner (or his family) could not have received the actual badge at that time, just the citation.

I'm not saying the award was never made in wartime, it may very well have been. It's just that we still lack ironclad proof that it was --- all evidence is circumstantial at best and most of the numerous examples that we see posted were likely post-war.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Here is one of the ones I used to own. I understand this style to be among the "accepted" versions.

Regards,
John

No, that patch is the "Type 2" as described in this thread, the more commonly posted type, and has no known wartime provenance.

In fact there is no "accepted" type per se since this is a controversial field; the "Type 1" has somewhat better provenance in the form of the Heinrich Franken patch published by Hormann in the 1980s, so it is the "favoured" type, and is much more rare as well. (Also summarized in a later post in the same thread.)

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Is this pattern badge what they are referring to as a Scharfschutzen Abzeichen?

The Type 2 patches shown by OSS in post #8 are from the put-together Josef Weissinger grouping as described here in 2014 which was the only provenance causing some collectors to name it the "accepted" type for a while.

Anyway, none of this detracts from John's very interesting and historical photo and death card grouping.

Best regards,
---Norm

[InfanterieSammler]

No, that patch is the "Type 2" as described in this thread, the more commonly posted type, and has no known wartime provenance.

In fact there is no "accepted" type per se since this is a controversial field; the "Type 1" has somewhat better provenance in the form of the Heinrich Franken patch published by Hormann in the 1980s, so it is the "favoured" type, and is much more rare as well. (Also summarized in a later post in the same thread.)

Best regards,
---Norm

Hi Norm,

I'm not familiar with the terminology of Type 1 or Type 2. I probably had stopped collecting them when someone came out with these terms. That said, reading that thread briefly and using the image you posted as a reference. The "Type 2" has a field grey wool base cloth - this was a style I never owned nor considered original. I understand the design of the eagle more closely resembles the "Type 2". Either way, I have never seen anything that proves to me that any of these styles positively "wartime-issued." Everything seems to just be conjecture.

Regards,
John