Original Magazine Illustrierte Rundschau Feb 1948

An incredible set of Feldpost here to the “Communist Willy Siegmeyer” Sent from Soldat Willy Seigmeyer Schutzen-Regiment 962 – Penal unit destroyed in Tunis with the German Africa Corps Regiment 962 and 961 were formed at the end of 1942 in Belgium as Disciplinary 999 Brigade and were based in the Antwerp Region. A so called “Bewahrungseinheit” or “Strafbattalion” were German soldiers who had done some kind of failure ( Theft’s, almost Deserter’s, or so called “Cowards in the front of the Enemy”, and so on. Being in this unit was the only chance of Rehabilitation, it’s debated as to whether this unit was a penal unit, dispite this assumption the ordinary ranks were not permitted to wear the National Eagle, collar patches or cockade on their uniforms, nor were they allowed to wear the traditional army belt with the National Eagle displayed on them. In March 1943 the unit had reached up to Division size and became 999 Division, at the same time 961 and 962 rifle Regiments ( MOT ) were sent to North Afrika and were redesignated as the 999th Leichte Afrika Division. Actual units in N.Afrika were. Willy Siegmeyer is mentioned here: Naumburger in opposition and resistance against National Socialism “Geboren am 25. März 1911, Kellner, Schreberstraße 15, 9 Monate 1933/1934 inhaftiert, 1942 Strafbataillon 999, verstorben am 21. November 1977.” “Born on March 25, 1911, Kellner, Schreberstrasse 15, imprisoned for 9 months in 1933/1934, 1942 Penal Battalion 999, died on November 21, 1977.” https://www.naumburg-geschichte.de/geschichte/uebersichtwiderstand.htm ( Collected before – Collection of Walter Grunert, Naumburg ) The grouping consists of: Letter sent from 48398 E – Schutzen-Regiment 962 – 25.2.1943 – Sent from Africa to Hertel from Soldat W. Seigmeyer POW Letter Sent – 2nd of May 1944 -7.PM New York City, USA –  US Airmail Stamp – to Hertel Batreau –  Censored By US Censor 11589  – Arrived in Germany – Censored by German High Command – Inside – Water/Ink Censor – Sent from POW Camp Carson USA. Collectors Remarks – Short synopsis in German language – Post from the communist Willy Siegmeyer,  after years in prison he was  sent to the Front with Penal Unit 999. In Africa, he made it to US lines as a POW. Letter from his time as a POW on 2nd of May 1944. More on Camp Carson Fort Carson was established in 1942 as Camp Carson in the months after the US entry into World War II. It was named after a frontiersman, trapper, Indian fighter, and general, “Kit” Carson. During WWII, Fort Carson was a training center for about 125 units, most famously the 10th Mountain Division. Carson also trained all sorts of other personnel, including cooks, nurses, tank battalions, and Greek infantry and Italian ordnance units. Fort Carson, just south of Colorado Springs, made an ideal location for training mountain units for deployment to the European Alps or other mountainous areas. The demands of such terrain required Fort Carson to maintain the last mule trains in the US Army. From Fort opening to 1956, mule teams packed gear for Army mountain units; the senior mule, Hambone, served as mount for First Sergeants for thirteen years, survived until 1971, and was buried with full military honors. On the first day of 1943, Camp Carson opened a POW camp for about 9,000 German, Italian prisoners. The POWs worked to relieve a manpower shortage in Colorado, farming and canning and generally providing labor, for a low but real wage. Camp Carson became a fort in 1954, expanded its base land considerably in the 1950s and 1960s, and became home to armor units; today Fort Carson is home to the 10th Special Forces Group, 4th Infantry Division, and a large and varied collection of other and tenant units. https://www.fortcarsonhousing.com/history Final Comments:  There are not many stories like this and makes for a prime research project first source material.    

  1) Patches including two 81st Divisional Shoulder Sleeve Patches, Corporal Chevrons, Infantry Specialty Patch, Gold Overseas Strip and finally a Red Discharge Stripe. 2) Studio portrait of Kenneth D. Eastman 3) Buttons cut from his uniform as well as his cap device 4) Collar Disk including two Crossed Rifles Infantry Disk, USNA and US Collar Disks and 321 Infantry G Disk. 5) Dog Tags Named to Kenneth D. Eastman 6) Medals including Victory medal with two bars Meuse-Argonne and Defensive Sector. Oregon State Victory Medal, Brotherhood of Fireman & Enginemen Medal for Service in the World War, Expert Rifleman Badge and lastly his Discharge lapel Button. The 81st Division was organized as a division of the United States Army in August 1917 during World War I at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. The division was originally organized with a small cadre of Regular Army, in addition to Officers Reserve Corps and National Army officers, while the soldiers were predominantly Selective Service men drawn from the southeastern states of Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. During October 1918, most of the enlisted men were transferred to other units, but additional drafts from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee replenished the strength of the division. After finishing training, the 81st Division, commanded by Major General Charles Justin Bailey, deployed to Europe, arriving on the Western Front in August 1918. Elements of the 81st Division first saw limited action by defending the St. Dié sector in September and early October. After relief of mission, the 81st Division was attached to the American First Army in preparation for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In the last days of World War I, the 81st Division attacked a portion of the German Army’s defensive line on 9 November 1918, and remained engaged in combat operations until the Armistice with Germany at 1100 hours on 11 November 1918. The division sustained 461 casualties on the last day, 66 of them killed. After the cessation of hostilities, the 81st Division remained in France until May 1919; after which the division was shipped back to the United States and inactivated on 11 June 1919.

I have not really found many of these of the years but this one with the Red Flash for the 1st Canadian and early 1944 production and clearly worn, all insignia was on it when found. Nicely Maker marked. The Battle History of the Unit: After this the division was rested and many months of static warfare ensued, the division then went on to break out of the Eighth Army’s bridgehead with the second wave in the spring offensive, Operation Diadem, the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino. The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, the reconnaissance (or ‘recce’) regiment serving with the 1st Canadian Division, was the first of the Eighth Army’s units to cross the Hitler Line in May 1944, below Pontecorvo in its armoured cars. After heavy fighting in front of the Gothic Line throughout the summer, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division spent the next several months fighting, as it had the previous fall, for a succession of heavily defended river crossings surrounded by high ground. By the time the division reached the Senio, as the icy rain began giving way to snow in the Canadian sector, a decision had been reached to transfer the entire I Canadian Corps, 1st Infantry Division included, to the Netherlands. By the end of March 1945 all Canadian Army units serving with Allied Forces Mediterranean (formerly the Allied Armies in Italy) had been transferred to the Western Front and Operation Goldflake, the reunion of the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armoured Brigade and First Canadian Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, was accomplished. The division, now under Major General Harry Foster, went on to take part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, the liberation of a majority of the Netherlands including the liberation of Arnhem, and the war in Europe came to an end soon after, on 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day. The headquarters of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was officially disbanded on 15 September 1945.