A bit of my Grandpa´s history

Hi to all,

here is the history ( all that i know ) of my Grandpa. He was a German Paratrooper in WWII and served at the 2.Fallschirmjäger Division and as i suppose in the 1. Fallschirmjäger Division before.

He started service somewhere around 1933 as a member of the Police at Dresden/Saxonia and changed than to the Reichswehr. In 1939 he joined the Luftwaffe as an Radio Operator at the Luftnachrichtenschule in Halle/Saale in Saxonia. In 1941 he had seen service at the Luftgaustab z.b.V.10 in Northern Russia (Leningrad). Than there is no record for the time between the end of 1941 til beginning of 1944. In 1944 he was for a few months at the Fallscirmjäger Kraftfahr-Ausbildungs Abteilung ( Paratroopers Driving School?) and in November 1944 he had service with the 6th Battery/II./FJ.-Art. Rgt.2 in Brest. At this point the official records are ending again. His rank was Stabsfeldwebel which is similar to
the Master Sergeant.
From him i know that he was in Russia, Latvia, Greece, Northern Africa Sicilly, Italy, France, Netherlands and at the last days in 1945 at the Rhein. He was 3 times a POW, the first time in September 1943 in Italy with the US Army, the second time somewhere near on the French side of the Rhein by the Free French Forces and the last time in May 1945 at the Rhein and again with the US Army.

Now i have the problem that all German Records of the Luftwaffe for an Time space between 1941 and 1944 are lost. I dont know anything of the work of the Lufgaustab z.b.V.10 only that it was at Leningrad and at Sicilly and there is too nothing to find of his last unit the Artillery unit.

Any advice where to find a bit more history of the units is welcome.

Regards

Ulrich

 

Biak,

thanks, you´re so right! It cost me years to get this informations and the sad point is that it seems that there are no records of this units. But i dont give up!

Regards

Ulrich

 

Ulrich, I am very interested in the Brest campaign, as my father's unit participated in it. My father's battalion of the 13th Infantry captured Hermann B. Ramcke on September 19, 1944. Have you read Der Weg Der 2. Fallschirmjagerdivision by Willi Kammann (1974/1998 Schild Verlag, Munich)? My German language is weak, and I struggle with it. The 2 FJD was reformed at Koln-Wahn after being battered in Russia. Many Luftwaffe personnel were culled for this reorganization of 2. FJD. It seems that I/FJ Art 2 arrived with the division at Brest but II and III/FJ Art 2 was still at the artillery school at Luneville, France. II/FJ Art 2 did fight at Brest I believe. Do you suppose contacting Das Bundesarchiv Militararchiv Bundesarchiv - Über uns would be a start to locate the missing Luftwaffe documents? Did your grandfather ever talk about his experiences at Brest? Best of luck to you.

Greg C.

 

Hi Greg,

i am interested in it too! No, i have to admit that i never read that book, but i´ll look for it at amazon. I tried to get information from the WaSt and the Bundesarchiv at Freiburg, but there is no answer to my question. Thats an interesting new point that i didn´t know! Is it in Kammann´s book that they were at Luneville? I know that he was at the Heeres-Artillerieschule at Braunsberg East Prussia. Can you tell me something of your fathers experiences on Brest?

Thank you!

Best Regards

Ulrich

 

Ulrich,

If he served Brest in November, could it be possible that it was Brest in Belarus? From what I know, the Brest battle ended in September 1944.

PS: Nothing but respect for the German Paras, from the accounts i've read, they were the fiercest fighting, but most professional soldiers in the Wehrmacht.

 

Amazon may not have the book. Try here: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=kammann&sts=t&tn=der+weg&x=44&y=7

My mistake Ulrich, it seems the FJ ART 6 was at Luneville. Here is my rough translation from Kammann:
Only the 1st battalion from FJ ART 2 with 3 Batteries is with 2 FJD in Brest. The battalion is formed in December 1943 in Russia, dissolved from the II battalion 2 FJD and renamed in August 1944 as III/FJ ART 6. While the two battalions were still in use at the Eastern Front, Colonel Fritz Winkler had, in May 1944 already received the Order, a complete Regimental staff and the three battalions set up in order to supply them the 2 FJD the root for the new units, the Air Force Artillery Training Battalion from the Waffenschule at La Courtine. Commander of III battalion (FJ ART 6) is Captain Hans Blöthner, who had placed the battalions zone is Luneville, about 30km southeast of Nancy.

In early August 1944 is completed the list, but this time it is no longer possible to get through to 2FJD in Brittany. (Kammann, pp. 100-101)

The juggling of units is confusing. To paraphrase Ramcke's memoir, The tail of his division's movement to Brest was long, and several support units, mainly 2 FJD artillery did not depart with the division. The division had to travel to the south of France, and cross the Loire River into Brittany. Ramcke was anxious that his division artillery would be ordered to join other units along the way, and never released again.

An interesting note about artillery at Brest: The anti-aircraft defense of German cities fell under the control of the Luftwaffe flak-batteries. The anti-aircraft defense of German occupied ports in France, however, fell under the control of the Kriegsmarine. Ramcke had no faith in Navy artillery as they were not trained in ground combat, and there was no time to train them. Also, they were under the command of the Navy. Ramcke pushed his superiors to make him over-all commander of Fortress Brest, so he could coordinate all units. Ramcke ordered all naval guns that were capable of 360 degree to turn their aim landward, including the huge 280mm guns at Locrist Battery. He placed FJ ART observers and key personnel with navy guns where possible.

My father was reconnaissance sergeant of Company M, 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. This was a heavy weapons company of two .30 caliber heavy water cooled machine gun platoons, and one 81mm mortar platoon. He passed away when I was very young, so all I know about his military service comes from years of research. In an attack, he was the reconnaissance officer's (second in command of the company) assistant. Similar to artillery, he was responsible for identifying possible targets for machine guns and mortars that lay in front of the battalion attack, plotting these targets on a map, and creating map over-lays for distribution to all section leaders. Reconnaissance sergeants were also called "map sergeants" by their officers and men. I had the good fortune to talk with my father's platoon Lieutenant (who later went on to command the company) before he passed away. He praised my father as being very good at his job, and providing much help and support to other comrades who were having difficulty with maps and overlays. The 13th Infantry fought a hellish three-day battle for what was dubbed "Hill 88" or Roch Glas batterie north of Lambezellec, 25-28 August 1944. It was defended by elements of 7 FJR and included quad-barreled 20mm flak leveled at American infantry. A battalion of the 13th Infantry was cut off, and water, medical supplies and grenades were brought in by runners. At night, the fighting in the zig-zag trenches was hand-to-hand. Later, the 8th Division was moved to the Crozon Peninsula, and heavy corps artillery blasted the midievil wall that stretched across the Pointe de Espagnole, in which my father's battalion was to attack. Ramcke had escaped Brest and had his last hold-out in an old French underground weapons chamber. It was here that Company I from my father's battalion came upon Ramcke who desired to "negotiate" surrender. The lieutenant I mentioned above was there, and I have spoken to several veterans who were at the scene. I assume my father was either at the scene, or very close by, I have never heard anything about him being there as fact. I should also mention that, unlike me, my father was fluent in German language, and I always believed he could have been placed at higher headquarters as a translator for intelligence, had he desired to, but he remained with Company M, 13th Infantry to the end, surviving without a scratch, only to succumb to a heart attack at age 49. At war's end, he was placed in charge of a huge bakery at Hagenow, Germany and had dozens of German POWs under him. The bakery supplied bread for thousands of German POWs and displaced persons.

I will tell a funny story. I am sorry to ramble, but I am so very proud of my father. In 1961, my father was a bar tender in the small town where we lived. Across the street from the tavern, a German immigrant, Otto and his wife owned a gas station and ajoining house. Every Friday night, Otto and his wife would come to the tavern for beer and pizza. One Friday my father is washing glasses in the sink, and he hears Otto's wife say to Otto in German: "[looking at my father] Look at the shirt he is wearing, it looks like a pajama top!" My father calmly moves closer to Otto's wife, and replies to her in German: "It is not a pajama top, but a gift from my wife, so I have to wear it." The look on her face was priceless. But Otto kept looking at my father. Finally Otto asks my father if he was ever at Hagenow, Germany. Come to find out, Otto was a POW working in the bakery that my father was in charge of in the summer of 1945. Small world.

Greg C.

 

Hi Greg,

Many thanks for your post! And you really can be proud of your Dad! He must´ve a good and strong guy. Yes, sometimes the reports on the FJ units are weird, in one book they where at this place and in an other one they were at an completely different position. Thats sometimes a bad struggle i have to do with it. Thanks for the advice on the book dealer. I´ll take a look at him. Sorry for the short answers but i have to go, i am back later.

Regards

Ulrich

 

Hi Dustin,

thank you for the advice and the good words on the Para´s! But it was definately Brest in France or places around Brest where he was located.

Thank you and Regards

Ulrich

 

Greg,

i am member at an other forum too and there i asked for Luneville. A french member told me, that the German troops at there were the 15 Panzer Grenadier Division with Artillerie Regiment 33 and Flak Artillerie Abteilung 315 . The City of Luneville was liberated at the 16th of September 1944. Skipper thoguht that they were at St. Malo. A lot of research is to do til i find all things out!

Til Later

Ulrich

 

Greg, thats a great story! Truly a small world. Cheers for sharing it!

 

You are quite welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I remember Otto when I was a child. My mother and I gassed up at his station many times. He spoke with a thick German accent, and his hands were always black from working on cars. When I got a little older, I bought engine oil from him for the lawn mower I used to mow lawns for spending money. Otto's wife passed away, he remarried, sold the gas station, and moved to Florida. As a teen, I remember seeing his obit in our local paper. I often regret not having the research bug as a child, and not asking WWII vets I came into contact with questions. Nowhere is that regret more glaring than with Otto, since he could have told me many things about his service, and how he eventually crossed paths with my father. Thanks for the comment.

Greg C.