The pay book belonged to customs inspector Richard Gehrke, who was born in 1904, and was issued on January 26, 1943 by the Grenadier Replacement Battalion 110. Interestingly, it bears the number 1. At this time Gehrke was a first lieutenant in the reserve. The Gren.Ers.Btl. represented the replacement for the 79th Infantry Division, which was on the Eastern Front at the time, so that Gehrke’s presumably first deployment to the front took him to the 886 Grenadier Regiment of this very division. During his deployment on the Eastern Front, he contracted typhoid fever in September 1943, which kept him busy for a good two months, led him to various hospitals and finally to the Truscawiecz army convalescent home (presumably located in Poland). However, the infection seems to have healed without any consequences and Gehrke returned to his troops, because on February 4, 1944 he was awarded the EK2 by the 79th ID. He also changed units within the division at an unspecified point in time and was deployed to Grenadier Regiment 212 for a while (coming from Grenadier Replacement Battalion 212). At the end of April 1944, Gehrke was admitted to a hospital with an injury that he must have sustained in an accident (code 34). On July 1, 1944, Gehrke was promoted to captain in the reserve, and here an inconsistency occurs: The promotion was carried out by the unit with the field post number 23353 (if I deciphered the number correctly), which is assigned to the field replacement battalion 246. However, this unit does not appear on page 4 as a replacement unit, especially since the 246th ID no longer existed at that point. However, I can’t imagine that this could be a coincidence or wrong. Perhaps he was briefly intended for the division’s re-formation as the 246th VGD? Be that as it may, his stay with the 149th Staff and Grenadier Regiment of the 49th Infantry Division is assured. This division was a ground-based, non-mobile unit in the Boulogne area and did NOT take part in the fighting there after the landing in Normandy. Instead, it withdrew to the area west of Paris and had initial enemy contact in the defense of the Seine crossings. The bulk of the division was captured in the Mons pocket. Gehrke was not one of them; he appears to have been one of only around 1,500 men to escape the cauldron. With regular enemy contact, the division withdrew further towards Reich territory via Belgium and Holland and crossed the border at Aachen. At the end of September, on the eve of the 2nd Battle of Aachen, the division was reorganized and fresh troops were added to it. On October 1st it had a combat strength of around 5,100 men (9,400 total) and was fighting on the northern edge of Aachen (Alsdorf, Merkstein, Palenberg, Kohlscheid for those who know their way around) against the American 29th US Infantry -Division. Gehrkte probably experienced these fights first hand. At Aachen the division was again almost completely wiped out. It lost so much of its fighting strength that it virtually ceased to exist and on October 23rd the pitiful remnants were incorporated into the 246th VGD, which had also been badly beaten near Aachen, on the arbitrary orders of Field Marshal Models. Gehrke’s unit, the Grenadier Regiment 149, was probably incorporated into the Grenadier Regiment 689. Once again, as in Mons, Gehrke must have been one of the few in his unit who survived the Aachen disaster and were not taken prisoner, because on November 19th the 246th VGD awarded him the EK1. At this point the 246th VGD was standing. in the defensive battle east of Aachen an der Rur. The EK1 is the last official entry, but the prisoner of war number written in bold on page 1 proves that Gehrke also survived the later fighting and was taken prisoner either in the North or Schnee Eifel (the division was for a short time in the Monschau area next to the 272nd VGD was deployed, but was later relocated to the area west of Stadtkyll to strengthen the former Ardennes Front).   Removed from Consignment

Obergefr Willi Strohbusch from Berlin, who later fought in Berlin in the final days of the war and lived in Berlin after the war! Was given twice the Führergeschenk twice, and had his own Dryse Pistol! Soldbuch Issued in late 1940 Service with :  9.1940 – 6.1941 – Luftgaunachrichten Regiment 2 1943 – Luftgaunachrichten Regiment 2 1943 – Luftnachricthen Ers Komp – Oberkommando der Luftwaffe Kladow  1943 – late 1944 Luftnachricthen Stelle E 209 / III – Saloniki-Sedes (Greece) 1944/45 – Oberkommando der Luftwaffe Kladow Berlin  Medals/Awards 10.1943 – Black Wounds Badge – Wounded in Greece, likely has something to do with his unit clashing with Partisans. It seems in November of 1944 – he was given a day for Kampftage gegen Banden – Fighting Day against Partisans! With a Feldpost number in Greece at the time.  Interesting entry also about sexually transmitted diseases that he was told about this in the occupied territories. Entry Berlin April 1945 – Was warned about the forgering of paperwork in Berlin Kladow 9.April 1945! Also an entry on 10.4.1945 in Berlin Kladow was issued a first aid kit.  Berlin 1945 – Final Days and Key Events Last Operational Airfield: As the Red Army encircled Berlin, most other airfields fell, leaving Gatow as the only one capable of handling larger aircraft. Fierce Resistance: The airfield was fiercely contested from April 25-27. German defenders, largely composed of poorly equipped Volkssturm (home guard) units and young Luftwaffe students, put up a prolonged but ultimately unsuccessful resistance against the Soviet 47th Army’s 75th Rifle Corps. Last Flights: The airfield facilitated some of the very last flights out of the collapsing city. Noteworthy flights included that of Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim and his companion Hanna Reitsch, who flew in via Fieseler Storch from Gatow to the city center’s improvised landing strip on the East-West Axis after Gatow itself came under heavy fire. Glider Resupply Missions: After Gatow fell on April 27, the Luftwaffe attempted desperate, one-way glider resupply missions using DFS 230 gliders into the city center’s improvised landing areas, navigating by the light of the widespread fires. These missions, launched on the nights of April 28-29 and 29-30, delivered critically needed ammunition but resulted in heavy casualties for the pilots involved. Soviet Capture: The Red Army captured the airfield on April 27, 1945. The events at Kladow in April 1945 represent the final, desperate actions of a shattered Luftwaffe, which, crippled by fuel shortages and a lack of resources, was making a last stand in defense of the Nazi capital. After the war, the airfield fell into the British sector of Berlin and became the important RAF Gatow during the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift.  Comes with some of his Postwar IDs.