Hello !
Here is a small group of docs, consisting of citations for an EK 2 and a VWA in Silber,
a listing of Nahkampf- and Sturmtage and some additional papers.
Typically, I am interested in groups, that allow to reconstruct a larger part of a soldiers career.
Here we have quite the opposite : Everything important happens just within a month !
I found this an interesting group nevertheless, because :
- the Sturm-Btl. AOK 16, was part of the Armee-Waffenschule, a very special type of unit I am interested in.
- it illustrates very well, how fierce the battles in summer 1944 were (16 CC-days and/or Sturmtage,
just within a month, seem quite remarkable).
- Finally, the listing of CC-days also allows to trace the way of this soldier and his units very closely,
almost on a day by day base for over a month (if you help me to close the gaps !) .
Here a short overview, what happened :
Obergefreiter Bretschneider fought with Sturmbataillon AOK 16 during Operation Bagration, in the
crucial timeframe from early July - early August 1944, when 16. Armee tried to avoid beeing cut off.
He was thrown into battle on the right flank of AOK 16 in early July, after the Red Army had achieved
a breakthrough South of Polozk.
Sturm-Bataillon AOK 16 launched a counter attack near Nowy Pogost on 2.7.44, ~30km S of Druya, tried to seal off
a Russian attack the next day, somewhere near Miory (?), 10 km further N. It was encircled during this action, but
could break out on 5.7.
By 8.7., the Sturm-Btl. had been forced back to the area of Druya. From 11.7. onward, the unit was involved for a week
in actions near Swiluki, a place I couldn't locate yet. A week later (24.7.), it fought near Lielraki, 20km SSW of Dünaburg (Daugavpils).
By end of July/early August 1944, OG Bretschneiders unit had been pushed back further to the West and fought in an area between Birzai
and Bauskas (~100km SSE of Riga). In this area, on the 4. August, OG Bretschneider was wounded for the first time. However, the wounding
must have been severe, as he was awarded the VWA (silber) for it.
For the actions in the month before, he was also awarded the EK 2, confirmed by the award doc and an additional paper doc,
signed by his Spiess (Hauptfeldwebel).
===========================
=> I have several questions, related to this group :
1.a) EK2 doc : signature should be Oberst Franz Eccard von Bentivegni ?!
1.b) But he should have been promoted already to Gen.Maj. by 1.8.44 ?!
2.) Most of the documents confirm, that OG Bretschneider was affiliated to Sturm-Btl. AOK 16 during the battles, for which he
was awarded the EK 2. However, the EK 2 citation mentions his unit as II./Gren.Rgt. 161 (and is also signed by the Kdr./Führer 81. ID).
Any explanation for that ?!
3.) The listing of CC-days : would this kind of list be an indication, that he was awarded a Nahkampfspange ?
=> 4.) I would like to locate all the places, mentioned in those CC-days listing :
I really hope for some help on finding/confirming the following places (but I am aware that this might be extremely difficult ) :
- 03.07.44 Wilnowo-Orce (I found some vague hint, that this is likely in the vicinity of Miory)
- 11.07.44-17.07 Swiluki
- 12.07.44 Kleijpaniszki
- 26.07.44 Odi
- 31.07.44 Gut Neu-Raden :
I think this could be = Jaunsaule (from several references) :
http://www.carstenwilms.online.de/or...n_lettland.htm
- 01.08.44 Schönberg : I think this could be = Skaistkalne ?! :
https://www.birzai.de/ziele/schoenberg.html
- 03.08.44 Uszubaliai ( a candidate is marked in the last map with ??)
The first map shows an overview of the general situation in July/August 1944, with the areas of action of Sturm-Btl. AOK 16.
After the documents of the group, I'll provide two maps, which display those areas of combat in more detail.
What do you think of this group ? Any comments are very welcome !
Any help on the questions would be very appreciated !
Thanks and best regards,
Archi
Here is a small group of docs, consisting of citations for an EK 2 and a VWA in Silber,
a listing of Nahkampf- and Sturmtage and some additional papers.
Typically, I am interested in groups, that allow to reconstruct a larger part of a soldiers career.
Here we have quite the opposite : Everything important happens just within a month !
I found this an interesting group nevertheless, because :
- the Sturm-Btl. AOK 16, was part of the Armee-Waffenschule, a very special type of unit I am interested in.
- it illustrates very well, how fierce the battles in summer 1944 were (16 CC-days and/or Sturmtage,
just within a month, seem quite remarkable).
- Finally, the listing of CC-days also allows to trace the way of this soldier and his units very closely,
almost on a day by day base for over a month (if you help me to close the gaps !) .
Here a short overview, what happened :
Obergefreiter Bretschneider fought with Sturmbataillon AOK 16 during Operation Bagration, in the
crucial timeframe from early July - early August 1944, when 16. Armee tried to avoid beeing cut off.
He was thrown into battle on the right flank of AOK 16 in early July, after the Red Army had achieved
a breakthrough South of Polozk.
Sturm-Bataillon AOK 16 launched a counter attack near Nowy Pogost on 2.7.44, ~30km S of Druya, tried to seal off
a Russian attack the next day, somewhere near Miory (?), 10 km further N. It was encircled during this action, but
could break out on 5.7.
By 8.7., the Sturm-Btl. had been forced back to the area of Druya. From 11.7. onward, the unit was involved for a week
in actions near Swiluki, a place I couldn't locate yet. A week later (24.7.), it fought near Lielraki, 20km SSW of Dünaburg (Daugavpils).
By end of July/early August 1944, OG Bretschneiders unit had been pushed back further to the West and fought in an area between Birzai
and Bauskas (~100km SSE of Riga). In this area, on the 4. August, OG Bretschneider was wounded for the first time. However, the wounding
must have been severe, as he was awarded the VWA (silber) for it.
For the actions in the month before, he was also awarded the EK 2, confirmed by the award doc and an additional paper doc,
signed by his Spiess (Hauptfeldwebel).
===========================
=> I have several questions, related to this group :
1.a) EK2 doc : signature should be Oberst Franz Eccard von Bentivegni ?!
1.b) But he should have been promoted already to Gen.Maj. by 1.8.44 ?!
2.) Most of the documents confirm, that OG Bretschneider was affiliated to Sturm-Btl. AOK 16 during the battles, for which he
was awarded the EK 2. However, the EK 2 citation mentions his unit as II./Gren.Rgt. 161 (and is also signed by the Kdr./Führer 81. ID).
Any explanation for that ?!
3.) The listing of CC-days : would this kind of list be an indication, that he was awarded a Nahkampfspange ?
=> 4.) I would like to locate all the places, mentioned in those CC-days listing :
I really hope for some help on finding/confirming the following places (but I am aware that this might be extremely difficult ) :
- 03.07.44 Wilnowo-Orce (I found some vague hint, that this is likely in the vicinity of Miory)
- 11.07.44-17.07 Swiluki
- 12.07.44 Kleijpaniszki
- 26.07.44 Odi
- 31.07.44 Gut Neu-Raden :
I think this could be = Jaunsaule (from several references) :
http://www.carstenwilms.online.de/or...n_lettland.htm
- 01.08.44 Schönberg : I think this could be = Skaistkalne ?! :
https://www.birzai.de/ziele/schoenberg.html
- 03.08.44 Uszubaliai ( a candidate is marked in the last map with ??)
The first map shows an overview of the general situation in July/August 1944, with the areas of action of Sturm-Btl. AOK 16.
After the documents of the group, I'll provide two maps, which display those areas of combat in more detail.
What do you think of this group ? Any comments are very welcome !
Any help on the questions would be very appreciated !
Thanks and best regards,
Archi
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