Original WWII German Soldbuch Grouping – Uffz Haarhaus – Heeres-Baupionier-Brigade 686 – Son Killed 1945 Kampfgruppe Becker – Sad last letters

Description

Soldbuch Grouping to Family Haarhaus

Soldbuch Issued on December 1939 – to Adolf Haarhaus from Wuppertal.

Served in the following units on the frontline:

Stellungsbau-Pionier-Bataillon 722

The Stellungsbau-Pionier-Bataillon 722 was established on 8 September 1943 at the Truppenübungsplatz Hammerstein, in Wehrkreis II. The battalion was raised as a Heerestruppe with 4 companies. After its formation, the battalion was transferred to the East. There, the battalion was deployed in southern Russia.

On 30 May 1944, the battalion was renamed Baupionier-Bataillon 722. In the summer of 1944, the battalion served with Heeresgruppe A in northern Ukraine. In November 1944, the battalion, under Heeresgruppe A, formed the II. Bataillon of Heeres-Baupionier-Brigade 686.

Heeres-Baupionier-Brigade 686

The Heeres-Baupionier-Brigade 686 was formed in July 1944. The brigade was established with Heeresgruppe A as a Heerestruppe. The staff of the brigade was formed from Pionier-Regimentsstab z.b.V. 686.

In November 1944, the Bau-Pionier-Bataillone 402, 722, and 726 became the I. through III. Bataillon of the brigade. After its formation, the brigade was deployed in Galicia with Heeresgruppe A. Later, at the end of 1944, the brigade was employed in Poland. By the end of the war, the brigade was in action in Silesia. 

In January of 1945 he was sent to the hospital in Bad Tölz for a code 34 (Accident) likely to his foot given the hospital was specialised in Orthopaedic treatment.

In 1945 he was with his replacement unit, Baupionier-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 4 according to Tessin they were sent into action as, Bau-Pionier-Bataillon 4.

Awarded the following medals: Eastern Front Medal in August 1942, Krim Shield 11.1943 under order of Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein.

According to the documents along with the Soldbuch, it would seem he kept a diary of where he was in a leather pouch. Along with some letters, and his release papers from a POW camp in Berlin 1945. He was released and given the documents to return home. Although, it would seem his son was Missing in Action after the war ended for some time until declared as Killed in Action. See below for the letters and translations.

Son – Panzer Grenadier Adolf Günther Haarhaus – Kampfgruppe Becker 

Letter to mother dated 8 March 1945

Raesfeld, 8.2.45

My dear Mother!

I received your letter today; it was from 26.1.45. I was very happy to finally get mail from you again, since I have already been here in Raesfeld for five weeks. First of all, dear Mother, I want to give you my heartfelt thanks for your letter. I was especially pleased to hear that you and Father are still in good health. As for me, dear Mother, I am doing quite well, apart from a little homesickness, which is understandable. Otherwise, I am fine. Then, dear Mother, you wrote in your letter about whether I had received the Christmas parcel from Pfiff. Unfortunately, dear Mother, I have not received it yet, but maybe it will still arrive. Many thanks to Pfiff for sending it. I am just sorry that I cannot thank him directly. Your letter especially pleased me. Hopefully, I will soon receive another letter from you. Dear Mother, you asked whether I had already been in action. Yes, I already have. We were deployed once near Bochum in heavy combat and had to endure air raids there. I was also on a mission in the Ruhr area, where I experienced heavy bombing. But otherwise, everything is still bearable. The English and Americans are attacking us more and more, but our troops are still holding out bravely. How things will continue, we will see. Dear Mother, have you already received my soldier’s book? If so, please keep it carefully. Should I fall in service, it will be useful for the pension rights. Otherwise, dear Mother, I don’t know much more to write. Please don’t worry too much about me. I am always under God’s protection.

Your loving son,
Adolf Günter

…

Letter from Father requesting his sons death certificate. 

Herewith I request the service office to send me the death certificate of my son, the Panzer-Grenadier Adolf Günter Haarhaus, born on 14 May 1924 in Bremen. According to the notifications I have received, he fell as a result of a head injury. To provide confirmation of his death and of his burial in their records, the authorities are asking me to present the official death certificate. I therefore respectfully request that the Service Office issue and send me the death certificate of my son. As this matter is very urgent for me, I kindly ask for prompt handling and dispatch. I thank you in advance for your efforts and remain respectfully yours, hoping that I will soon be able to receive the requested certificate.

—–

Letter from Panzer-Grenadier Adolf Günter Haarhaus to his Mr Eck dated 21st Feb 1945 in Raesfeld. 

**Note this Letter was enclosed in the Feldpost, was later taken from his body and forwarded in 1948! ** See Below 

Dear Mr. Eck

You probably did not expect to hear from me again. As you may have heard from the Diecaster, I was drafted into a new group. I am now with the … [text partly crossed out] Kampfgruppe Becker. How are you doing? Are you still with the staff? How is your work going? How are Schopft and Vollmer doing, and where are they? Is Winter still in the RAD? Well, Mr. Ehl, I will close for today and hope you will write me a few lines in return. I would be very happy about that. Many warm greetings to you, also to all comrades.

…

Letter from Mayor of Lembeck to Mr Eck

Lembeck, 13 February 1946

To Mr. Fritz Eck
c/o Fa. Grmeier
Wuppertal-Barmen
Früher Strasse der Alten Garde 99–103

On 23 March 1945, Panzergrenadier Adolf Günter Haarhaus fell here a hero’s death. On the body were found only a breast pouch containing 20 Reichsmarks, the identity disc, and the enclosed card.

I must apologize that the card is only being forwarded to you today. The belongings of the fallen soldiers of the German Wehrmacht who died here were stored in a house, which, shortly thereafter, was requisitioned by the allied troops. During the occupation of the house, the belongings were thrown into disorder and later had to be sorted out again. That is why the card is only being sent to you now.

I assume that the relatives of Haarhaus have not yet received notification of his death. From the contents of the card, I gather that Haarhaus was either acquainted with you or had worked with you. I would therefore be grateful if you could provide me with the address of Haarhaus relatives so that I may forward them the death notice.

Respectfully,
[signed]
The Mayor

…

My dear Mother!

I received your dear letter of 23.7.44 today with great joy. Many heartfelt thanks. I read with much pleasure what you wrote. From us here I can only report the best.

You wrote that you had no air raid alarm on Saturday. I was very happy about that. How often it is, one jumps out of bed in the middle of the night at the alarm. Here we have very few alarms. There is usually only one a week, lasting 2 to 3 nights and days. I have also heard from Father, and that pleased me very much too. Hopefully he will stay where he is for a long time. That would make me very happy. Otherwise, there is nothing new to report from here.

Dear Mother, you ask whether we are getting enough to eat. Yes, we are doing fine. We always get enough. One always gets something extra, and so we are very satisfied. I hope the same is true for you.

I am very glad that you, dear Mother, are in such good health. Hopefully it stays that way. Otherwise, everything is going well here. For us soldiers, one day is much like another. We are already used to this life. The worst thing is the heat. Sometimes one would like to take off all the gear. The main thing is that we always stay healthy. That is the most important thing for us.

Dear Mother, you ask whether we have had any combat. Yes, we already have. But only light ones, with no losses on our side. Otherwise, everything is still in order here. Dear Mother, do not worry too much about me. I am doing well. I will always manage. God will protect me.

So, dear Mother, I will close for today and hope that you, dear Mother, will write to me again soon.

With loving greetings, your son,
Adolf Günter

Many greetings also to Lockhard and all others. Also greetings to the Flossmann family.

My dear Eberhard!

I would also like you to write me a few lines. How are you doing? How is school? Are you also diligent? Or not? How is your group doing? Are you still only a small corporal? Are you also diligent?

So now, my dear little brother, many loving greetings and kisses from your brother,
Adolf Günter

SKU: HV1481 / HV1472