Soldbuch of Kanonier Josef Mutter  Mutter was born in Croatia on the 20.2.1922 into a Catholic family in the town of Ernestinovo in the district of Osiyek. In his civilian life he was a Saddler. During the war Mutter got married with his love Irna, receiving leave for one day to attend his own wedding in July 1944. The Soldbuch was opened on he 16th of October 1942 with the Stabs Batterie of the the Artillerie Regiment (Kroat) 369.  Mutter was extremely lucky, he was not stuck with the main units of the 369 a few months before, they would fight to the end in Stalingrad. Mutter’s service would span from October 1942 till the wars end fighting mainly partisans in Operations Weiss & Weiss II & Operation Schwartz.  He was awarded:  1943 – Croatian Ante Pavelic Bravery Medal in Silver  1944 – Croatian War Badge with State shield  1945 – War Merit Cross with Swords  The Soldbuch also contains a Croatian extra page added, of which I have not managed to find another! He was issued with a Rifle several times as well as some interesting equipment such as Tropical Clothing. Interestingly the complete Soldbuch states that Mutter is serving with the Stabs Batterie although on further inspection it becomes clear the majority of the signatures inside the are from the 3rd Batterie, I Abteilung Commander: Oberleutnant Guske. The 3rd Batterie was armed with the WWI Field Cannon Mod 16 (10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16).  The Soldbuch is in good overall untouched condition. Unit History  The Artillery Regiment 369 (Croatian) was set up in September, 1942 in Military District XVII. The regiment was set up with German support personnel and Croatian soldiers. The regiment consisted of two medium and one heavy artillery sections. After the formation, the regiment was subordinated to the 369th Infantry Division. After Christmas the regiment was shipped to Croatia. On December 29, 1942, the regiment was unloaded and deployed in Sunja, southeast of Sisak. The second division came from the regiment to the places Sas and Zivaja, where they set up for all-round defense. Towards the end of January 1943, the regiment was shifted slightly to the south-west in order to carry out its first major anti partisan mission. Operation “Weiss” led the regiment to fight in the Karlovac – Bihac – Livno area. On March 3, 1943, the regiment reached Livno. Then it was turned in the direction of Mostar and forced towards the Narenta and Ramatal. Eventually the regiment reached the western banks of the Narenta. From April 13th to the 20th, 1943, Operation “Weiss 2” began. The I. / G.R. 370 from Zavidivici from northeast forward, the III. / Grenadier Regiment 370, coming from Sprecatal, had to comb through the Ozren planina from an easterly direction and the II. / A.R. 369 to advance towards Doboj. After the end of the operation, the Division marched to Maglaj linking up with the other Abteilung. In mid-May 1943 the Operation”Schwarz” was carried out. The area of ​​operation was now northern Montenegro. Soon after the start of the operation, the German troops and the participating Italians encountered strong enemy resistance, namely at Podgorica and Kolasin, on the Tara and south of Foca, and especially on the Sutjeska in the north-west. The resistance could only be broken after heavy fighting, but the main partisan forces managed to escape. After the end of Operation “Schwarz”, the fight against the partisans continued in the form of a non-stop, grueling guerrilla war. It grew more and more in size. At the end of June 1943, the partisans captured the cities of Vlasenica and Srebrenica from Croatian Ustaša forces. Against this threat, the Germans have inter alia the Nachrichten Abteilung 369 from Sarajevo, the I. / Grenadier Regiment 369 and the II. / Grenadier Regiment 370 as well as the Panzerjäger Abteilung 369 were assigned to Tuzla.  In Tuzla there was heavy fighting with the partisans. On July 9th 1943, a regiment of the division attacked the enemy standing in front of Tuzla and threw them back to the south. Then they turned to Zvornik, which had been captured by the partisans a few days earlier. At the end of July 1943, the I.  Abteilung was in Doboj, the II. Abteilung together with the III. / Grenadier Regiment 370 in Janja and the III. Department in Zvornik. At the beginning of August, parts of the area previously held by an SS division were occupied by the 369th Infantry Division, which moved the regiment to Kiseljak, the 1st division (without 1st battery) to Kiseljak, the 1st battery to Bijeljina and the II. Abteilung after Petrovici and Capardi. The guerrilla war against the partisans continued in the new positions. On September 9 and 10, 1943, the regiment took part in the disarming of the Italian troops. From 16.-20. September 1943, the 4th and 5th batteries took part in an operation against the occupied city of Trnovo. Behind Vojkovici, Captain von Schröder, Commander of the II Abteilung, was fatally wounded by shrapnel. Six soldiers died with him and four were wounded. On September 30, 1943, partisans attacked the city of Tuzla, where the regimental headquarters and the 6th battery were located. The 6th battery was wiped out during the fighting, and the battery chief, Captain Paul Schlueter, has been missing since then. The remains of the battery managed to break out of the city to Prozor with the staff. The 6th battery was rebuilt with mountain guns, the new battery chief was Lieutenant Jansen, who died in October 1944 near Dunta Doli. The III. Department moved from Maglaj to Sarajevo at the end of October 1943. In December 1944, parts of the regiment took part in Operation “Kugelblitz”, which was directed against partisan formations in the area of ​​the Korun and Javor Planina. In mid-March 1944, Division I with its 10 cm Skoda guns was relocated to Nevesinje, Gacko and Fojnica.  On June 16, 1944, the 5th battery was moved to the coast at…

Soldbuch Grouping to Schirrunteroffizier (K) Johann Niedermeier. Niedermeier’s career in the Wehrmacht began early, serving with Infanterie Regiment 61 (Munich) from 1935 till 1937. His personal photo album details these early years in depth with an impressive array of photos covering: Pak 36 (Anti-tank gun) shooting in Grafenwöhr Trip to the Schwarzkopf Hütte in South Tyrol.  Gas Room training On Exercise Photo of General Halder Very detailed photos of the Pak 36 and Vehicles Photos of the Base in Munich – Raising of the flag etc. Photo of R75 BMW jumping! Very nice photo of a Panzer 1 & Panzer 1’s in attack manoeuvre. Command Car with Pennant (Einheits-PKW) Circa 70 photos – nearly all Military related! It is clear from the range of photos that from an early stage of the war Niedermeier was a driver, which also happened to be his civilian career too! Niedermeier’s Soldbuch  Opened on the 15.10.1940, Niedermeier’s first rank was that of an Unteroffizier (NCO) it is unknown if he was serving from 1937 till 1940, although it is highly likely given the fact his Soldbuch was opened as a NCO. Niedermeier was born in Munich in 1914 into a roman catholic family. He would serve in the Stab/132 Infanterie Division as a driver. As driver in the headquarters company of the division he was likely driving around the highest officers of the division on the frontline. The 132 ID fought through the former Yugoslavia they took part in anti-partisan actions and security operations, advancing to Marburg/Drau-Cilli-Agram-Banja Luka to the area of Sarajevo. It was later relieved and an prepared for the Eastern Front operations. Entering the Soviet Union the 132 ID advanced Lemberg,Ostrog/Rowno, Shitomir and other areas until it arrived in the area of Kiev. It took part in the fighting at Jusefowka, Berejaslaw and Jerkowzy, and later paused near the region of Cherson-Perekopat the start of the Crimea operations. After taking part in the advance into the Crimea in November of 1941.  It was here the 132 ID would have its baptism of fire, they were ear marked for the for the siege of the fortress Sevastapol. The siege of the city cost the division nearly 500 KIA, and three times that wounded, they did not stop at the siege but took part in the entry of the city and the destruction of the fortress. They were so badly destroyed after an amphibious landing and the fighting after that the division was pulled out in September 1942. The actions of the 132 ID during the siege is covered in depth in the book: ‘Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44, By Robert Forczyk’ [av_video src=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDclGM-pgOY’ mobile_image=” attachment=” attachment_size=” format=’16-9′ width=’16’ height=’9′ conditional_play=” id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-1wylf0′] For taking part in the actions at Sevastapol: Niedermeier was awared the Iron Cross Second Class, on the 8th of July 1942 (Four days after the fortress fell!) his award document was hand signed by General of the Infantry Keitel in the Headquarters of the German High Command! Niedermeier would also receive the Krimschild (Crimea Arm Shield) in December 1942, the award document has a facsimile signature of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. Niedermeier also received the Eastern Front Medal in September of 1942, his award document is signed by a Hauptmann who was the commander of the divisional headquarters unit. After seeing action in the Crimea region, in September of 1942, the 132.Infanterie-Division was shifted to the Leningrad Front where it became a part of the 18.Armee which was attempting to break through the lines around the city. It fought in the positions, at Gaitolowoand Tschernaja. Supporting in the positions against the Pogostje Pocket, and fought at Smerdynia as well. Unlike Sevestapol, Leningrad held and in 1944 the 132.Infanterie-Division was eventually forced into a series of withdrawals and retreats, finally ending the War in the Kurland Pocket, trapped by the rapidly advancing Soviets until its surrender in May of 1945. Interestingly, Niedermeier did not go down in Kurland with the rest of the division, in September 1944 when the division was in Latvia Niedermeier was sent back to the homefront for further training. Obtaining the specialist rank of Schirrunteroffizier (K) meaning Specialist Driver with the rank of a NCO. He would serve at the school until March 1945, then posted to the Gebirgs-Fla-Ersatz und Ausbildungs Bataillon 700 (Mountain Troop Replacement/Anti-Aircraft/Motorised) this unit would see action directly at the end of the war defending the Pass at Innsbruck.  The Fla-Company commanded by Lieutenant Quintern took over the protection of the bridge in Reit near Seefeld. For three days Attack aircraft attacked this important railway bridge on the Brenner line. Under Lieutenant Stobba, a company was deployed on the Fernpass at the end of April 1945. Niedermeier took part in these last actions, as his Soldbuch displays a full range of equipment including the issuing of a P38 Walther Pistol in April 1945. Niedermeier was captured in 1945, and spent many years in a Soviet Gulag, (returning home with his Soldbuch!) he passed away with his family at his side. This is an exceptional lot with a war story spanning from prewar through to Siege of Sevastapol and Leningrad, the last days of the war in Austria, then survival of Soviet Gulag.  

Soldbuch to Feldwebel Winter Soldbuch was issued in August 1939, by the MG Company of Infantry Regiment 91, later Infantry Regiment 522 (297 Infantry Division). He was wounded with a bullet in June 1942 between Charkow and the Don river just before the division would enter Stalingrad. He would earn the Iron Cross, Second Class as well the Infantry Assault Badge, Eastern Front Medal and the Black Wounds Badge as well as the German West Wall Medal (1941). After a stint in hospital his next frontline unit was Grenadier Regiment 755, arriving from Neapal by ship to Africa to join the 5th Panzer Army.  12.1942 issued a Machine Pistol likely a MP40 and arrived in Africa. Something happened that is not recorded in the Soldbuch to this Feldwebel in Africa, the unit was destroyed in Tunis, Tunisia by February 1943 by the British Army.  Although he made it back to Germany and the last entries are with Luftmunitionsanstalt Koenigstaedt, a Luftwaffe base for munition storage. Where they confirmed in 20.4.1943 he was entitled to be awarded the following medals: Iron Cross First Class (334ID), Italian German Medal for Africa and the Afrika cuff-title. The Battle of Tunis 1943  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJnQZ1b7zSk

Soldbuch of Gefreiter Anton Hackl    Hackl was enlisted into the Wehrmacht on the 20th of Jan 1943. He would serve in a few frontline units during the war, including a short service in 1944 with Jäger Regiment 40 and Jäger Regiment 25 (42 Jäger Division) first in Croatia where Hackl contracted a contagious disease (Soldbuch Code 12) and was sent to a field hospital for two months. He would later rejoin his unit in Italy in the area of La Spezia in September 1944.   After a period of rest at home on leave Hackl was sent to Hungary where a new unit was being formed. November 1944, Hackl was posted a new unit, to the Stabs Company of Grenadier Regiment 991, (277 Volksgrenadier Division) he was issued warm clothing including extra pullovers and a Camo net. All in preparation for the Ardennes Offensive about to begin.  At the beginning of the Ardennes Offensive on December 16, 1944, the Regiment had the task of penetrating the enemy front line between Hollerath and Udenbreth, taking the villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt and advancing to Vervier via Elsenborn. By December 20th, the two villages could be taken with heavy losses. A further advance was no longer possible. The stall at Elsenborn would go down in infamy as a hard fought battle, from video games to numerous mentions in books Grenadier Regiment 991 was at the heart of the battles fighting alongside the Waffen SS and other elite formations against tough US resistance.  At the beginning of January 1945, the regiment received replacements from Navy and Air Force soldiers with little training. In the fighting for the villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt, the regiment suffered heavy losses again. By the end of January 1945 it had been pushed back to its original position. Here the regiment was disbanded after the death of the regiment commander eastwards Krinkelt. It was somewhere here in the cold weather that Hackl was so sick from frostbite (Soldbuch wound code 33) that he was withdrawn from the frontline and arrived in a Wehrmacht hospital on the 4.2.1945 in Ibbenbüren, behind the frontlines. On the 16th of March 1945, Hackl now recovered after a short stint in hospital as well as 8 days with his family on leave he would arrive at his new unit, Alarm Bataillon 462 stationed in the town of Znaim (CZ) he was issued a K98 rifle on the 2nd of May 1945 likely to form some  sort of last stand resistance. Hackl must have survived the war, he is not listed on the lists of those killed.