My Grandpa with the German Fallschirmjägers during WW2

Bitte gerne ! Yes, its good to have done it.

 

A few links:
Luftgaustab z.b.V.

Lexikon der Wehrmacht - Luftgaue

Axis History Factbook: Sanitätsbereitschaft d.Lw.

http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/939GXLH.PDF

I hope these are new information. I will dig deeper to see if there are related links from these. Very excellent units exhibiting great training, discipline and perseverance. I have always had a great interest in your Grandfather's unit.

I remember we found some photos of the paras at Monte Cassino directing the artillery fire. I have been to that battlefield and the Polish Cemetery and it was tough going trying to get up those donkey tracks and work around behind and to the left of the Abbey.

Rick san.

 

Thank you much my friend for the extra information! Especially the last link contains some info on the time table and some more info on the officers!

I really appreciate your help and interest. And i hope that somedays i can visit Monte Cassino too It must be a special feeling to be at a place where a relative of you has fought in such a battle!

 

Maybe one day we'll all take that trip together.

I have some historians in the area that are good friends. The moderator of the 36th Association has made this trip many times and has been begging me to go for years. She's an expert in this area and has so many contacts there. It would be a trip of a lifetime honoring our relatives !

 

Thats a great idea! I like the thought to make it!

 

Thanks for sharing your grandfather's experience. My grandfathers seemingly did not want to talk to me about theirs I believe because of my youth. One did say that the Germans were good people. The other briefly spoke of the destruction he witnessed. I believe he struggled with it his entire life based on what I have been told.

 

Well done! It was great for me to be able to read more details of your grandfathers war. You have explained much to me before about his service.

Krystal

 

You´re welcome, Krystal!

 

I would have to say that a WW2 German vet who believed he had fought an honorable war would have a lot of problems over and above the "normal" ones suffered by all those who were at the tip of the spear.

 

It would indeed be interesting to see the levels of ptsd in German ww2 vets if there are any such records...Present day. Nothing to do with crimes or any such thing but rather the dismay added to being on a losing side in a devestated land...Off topic and for elswhere, but it must have been damned hard.

 

I´m sure that there won´t be such a statistic! Most did the same mistake than in WW1. Only thing i can say is that my Grandpa hadn´t any PTSD. Later as he got the Alzheimer, he lived through many situations again which was sometimes dangerous, because he knew how to use a knife!

 

Regardless of which side of the war one was on, they were all honorable and served their country well.
Some had to deal with the results much different than others.

 

Very well said, Steve!

And thanks for your Like.

 

Ulrich san,

WWII History magazine armcar:March_2012 issue) has an interesting article on Fallschirmjager Para Divison 3 at Hill 192 outside St. Lo, JULY_1944. A nice map and good picture of the Panzerschreck(s). Recounts the Winstead Raid, E Co. 38th Infantry and more.

Cloville, La Croix Rouge, St. Georges d' Elle, Ford Woods, St. Andre de-l'Epine - very hotly contested ground.

WWII History Magazine

 

That would be a great read! Can you send me the Link to it, your link shows only a forcast for the May edition.

Thank you very much Rick-san!

 

Mein freund,

The battle that followed was one of the most carefully planned, the most thoroughly coordinated, and the most excellently planned in the war. It will be used in the future as a model of infantry-tank-artillery coordination, and for years henceforth, officers will study the actions as we performed them on that memorable day. For this reason, the author has attempted to give you as detailed and comprehensive a report of the operations as he could.

The Normandy Invasion – My Fathers Untold Story: Battle for Hill 192 | Veterans Today

The Bloody Hill before St. Lo TEAMWORK PERFECTED
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THE battle for Hill 192, vital strongpoint on the way to St. Lo, was next. One rifle company succeeded in reaching the crest June 16 only to be driven back in the face of a withering counter-attack. The division's 2nd Engr. Combat Bn. hurriedly was rushed up to fight as infantrymen.

From then until July 11, when the Indian Head boys roared to success on the heels of a tremendous artillery and aerial bombardment, the division got ready for more of the same.

Thickly covered with heavy foliage, the hill commanded a six-mile area. When "Second to None" wrested the precious territory from the Germans, the breakthrough at St. Lo, vital communications center just six miles away, was set to follow two weeks later.

The enemy had been fortifying Hill 192 for months. It was studded with foxholes, machine gun nests and expertly camouflaged observation points. Hedgerows sprouted along its gradual slope. Behind these, Germans huddled in dugouts.

Every crossing and road in the vicinity had been zeroed in by enemy artillery emplaced on the rear slope. German camouflage suits blended softly with the foliage so well that one German sniper remained in a tree only 150-yards from American lines an entire day before he was located and killed.

Here, T/Sgt. Frank Kviatek gained fame for his skill at picking off snipers. A veteran of 27 years in the army, Kviatek used a bolt action Springfield with telescopic sight to account for 21 Germans, mostly snipers. His goal was 25 for each of two brothers killed in Italy. Later wounded, he returned to combat to boost his total to 36.

Opposing forces were so close together at this stage of the struggle that infantrymen propelled hand grenades With slingshots made from abandoned innertubes.

In one raid preparatory to the drive over the hill, 1st Lt. Ralph Winstead, 38th Inf., led a combat patrol that blasted its way through enemy hedgerow positions and killed or seriously wounded at least 11 Nazis. With clock-like precision, the patrol poured through three holes cut out of the hedgerow by engineers before returning to their men and together they drove five more from dugouts.

By late afternoon, "The Hill" belonged to the men of the 2nd. The division, its immediate mission accomplished, faced south to await the great breakthrough.

Lone Sentry: From D-Day plus 1 to 105: The Story of the 2nd Infantry Division -- WWII G.I. Stories Booklet

I'll scan the photos in the coming days and post them here.

 

Thank you for that Rick! I really appreciate it and it would be great if you could find the time to post some pics here! Thank you in advance, mein Freund.

 

I´ve got this NARA-ocument which described the last days of my Grandpa´s 2. FJ-Division under the command of General Lackner.

Dang, i can´t upload it for its size. But if anyone is interested i found it at here too!

http://downloads.sturmpanzer.net/FMS/NARA_FMS_B572.pdf

 

This is a good overview for what happened to the German FJ´s at France in 1944. This report is from General Eugen Meindl, the CO of the 3rd FJ-Division.

http://downloads.sturmpanzer.net/FMS/NARA_FMS_A923.pdf

http://downloads.sturmpanzer.net/FMS/NARA_FMS_A969.pdf