This Soldbuch was opened in 1939 to Johannes Hofmann. He served in the following units: Panzerjäger Abt 319 Schnelle Abt 319 Grenadier Regiment 915 (352ID) The 352nd began its coastal duty by improving the beach obstacles, emplacing mined stakes and timber structures. This involved not only cutting and hauling timber from miles inland, but also driving stakes and piles deep into the sand. The first band of obstacles – about 250 yards (750 ft) out from the waterline at high tide – consisted of ‘Belgian Gates’ – reinforced iron frames with supports that were built atop rollers. Next came a band of mined stakes and log ramps, meant to tear the bottoms out of landing craft or tip them over. Finally, there was a row of metal obstacles, including ‘hedgehogs’, made of steel rails. Although the Germans had attached mines to many of the obstacles, few of them were waterproofed, and corrosion had long since taken its toll of many of the explosive devices. By June 1944, many of the coastal strongpoints in their sector were still being manned by personnel from the 726th Infantry Regiment, of the neighboring 716th Division. As a tradeoff, one infantry battalion from the 352nd Division was placed under the command of the 716th Division to help shore up their defenses. In the ‘Bayeux zone’, 914th regiment was stationed in the west, 916th regiment was stationed in the east, while 915th regiment was in reserve to the south. The soldiers of the 916th and 726th Regiments occupied slit trenches, eight concrete bunkers, 35 pillboxes, six mortar pits, sites for 35 Nebelwerfer, (multi-barrel rocket launchers) and 85 machine-gun nests. The defenses were clustered in strongpoints. In the early hours of 6 June the first reports of Allied activity in the 352nd zone came from the Cotentin Peninsula and elements of the 915th Grenadier Regiment were dispatched to investigate, those units manning the defences on the coast also reported large numbers of vessels out to sea, and just before sunrise at 06:00 the allied naval bombardment began, ending 35 minutes later as US tanks and the first wave of infantry landed on the beach to a hail of fire from the heavily fortified strongpoints. Throughout the morning the Americans received heavy casualties on the beach but by 13:00 groups of US soldiers were in possession of key fortifications, had reached some heights overlooking the beach, and opened several beach exits. Just after 15:00 the 916th Grenadier Regiment counterattacked from the Colleville-sur-Mer area but was forced to fall back once again, at around 17:00 the village of St. Laurent-sur-Mer fell to the Americans. The 916th Grenadier Regiment and a mix of other units either already in place or brought forward throughout the day defended Omaha beach against the landings of the US 1st and 29th Divisions at Omaha Beach, holding the bluffs above the beach for several hours, inflicting heavy casualties, before being overwhelmed. The survivors of the 916 Grenadier battalion along with other units retreated in the morning hours of 7 June after the commander, Colonel Ernst Goth, could no longer hold the positions retaken in the night of 6/7 June. Hoffmann was what seems to be hit by a 31a, a bullet after fighting three days close combat with Allied soldiers. There is a signed off paper showing three close combat and assault days. 1. Assault Day – 9.6.1944 in Bazenville – Fighting British Soldiers 2. Close Combat Day – 14.6.1944 – Bois de Bretel 3. Close Combat Day – 17.6.1944 – La Luzerne Research on the Towns and the Battles: 1. Bazenville In the spring of 1944, the commune of Bazenville was occupied by the command post of the 6th company of the Grenadier-Regiment 726 (716. Infanterie-Division) commanded by Hauptmann Adolf Kukenhoner. On June 6, 1944, the first unit allied to cross the village of Bazenvile was the 502nd RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) Company, which was responsible for recognizing the practicability of the axes for the benefit of the infantrymen of the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Regiment (151st Infantry Brigade) that follows shortly after. The infantry, supported by a squadron of tanks belonging to the 4th / 7th Dragoons Guard (8th Armored Brigade), then progressed towards Bayeux. The 69th Infantry Brigade in turn reached the outskirts of Bazenville as it progressed towards the national road 13 which it was to reach in the evening. But around 4 pm, the Germans counter-attack in the area: they belong to the Grenadier-Regiment 915 (352. Infantry-Division) commanded by the Oberstleutnant Karl Meyer. After a brief but violent engagement, during which Brigadier Ronald H. Senior commanding the 151st Infantry Brigade and wounded and taken prisoner (he managed to escape that same day), the Germans retreated. The British advance to the south without worrying about Bazenville, abandoned by the adversary who fell further south. The next day, June 7, Grenadier-Regiment 915 again counterattacked towards point 64, a field movement located on the western outskirts of Bazenville. Strong commitments took place and the Oberstleutnant Karl Meyer died when the British stormed his command post in the castle in the southwest of the village. His regiment was put out of action: of the 700 soldiers engaged, only forty were still valid at the end of the day. On the evening of June 7, Bazenville was definitely under British control. From June 7 to June 14, 1944, the engineers of the Royal Engineers 16th Airfield Construction Group reinforced by elements of the RAF 3207 and RAF 3209 Servicing Commandos built an airfield called ALG B-2 east of Bazenville. The castle, damaged by the fighting, serves as the headquarters of the 83rd Group Control Center of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. The aerodrome is operational until August 28, 1944. The British military cemetery at Bazenville contains 979 corpses: 630 British, 326 Germans, 21 Canadians, 1 Australian and 1 Polish. 2. Bois de Bretzel – 115th Infantry Regiment – 29th (US) ID At 0600 hours, 13 June 1944, 3rd Battalion recrossed the Elle…

Soldbuch opened in Jan 1940, to Willy Max Wiese, He served as a Machine Gunner in Infanterie Regiment 316 – 212 ID Sometime in 1942, he entered the Feldgendarmerie Trupp 212 – 212 ID later 212 VGD The reconstituted division transferred to the western front in December 1944. The division was assigned to the LXXX Corps of the 7th Army which formed the southern shoulder of the German armies attacking in the Ardennes. General der Panzertruppe Erich Brandenberger, the German Seventh Army commander, rated the 212th Volksgrenadier Division as his best division. Because of this it was assigned the mission of protecting the southern flank of the Seventh Army. Placed opposite of the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division, they would need to pin down as many American units as possible, in order to prevent the transfer of reserves against the main effort. Although the troops under Sensfuss had a numerical superiority, they were at a disadvantage in one regard: The Americans had tanks, while they did not. On December 16, after making a successful crossing of the Sauer river, the 212th Volksgrendier Division was able to infiltrate through American lines, push into the streets of Echternach, and overwhelm all major resistance. They were also able to surround but not defeat a fairly large U.S. battle group at Berdorf.Over the next two days, they were able to penetrate as far as Scheidgen before digging in to repulse numerous counter-attacks by the Americans. After several days of slow progress, however, the Ardennes offensive as a whole was looking increasingly non-viable. By December 28, Brandenberger ordered the 212th Volksgrenadier Division to withdraw back to its starting positions. Sometime during the Battles in the Ardennes he was posted to: Grenadier Regiment 316 again, then to: Grenadier Regiment 423 The 316 Grenadier Regiment still had a strength of around 200 men. On December 21, 1944, the regiment was engaged in heavy defensive battles north of Consdorf – Scheidgen – Michelshof – Herborn – Ostweiler and Dickweiler. From December 27th the regiment went back to the West Wall. After reaching the West Wall, the US troops temporarily stopped their attacks. This situation lasted until January 25, 1945. The units of the 212th Volks-Grenadier Division in Bollendorf were taken back over the Bollendorf war bridge. The division’s infantry fighting strength was still 550 men. The division received few trained replacements as replacements. The division was then deployed to defend the West Wall between Gentingen and Nittel. With a front width of 60 km, only base-like occupation of the front was possible. By February 3, 1945, the division’s daily strength increased to 10,971 men. The American attacks on the West Wall occurred during this period, which on February 8, 1945 led to a break-in in the division section in the Echternach area, where US units were able to cross the Sauer. The so-called Ferschweiler Plateau was held by Grenadier Regiment 316 until February 16th. The division’s northern front collapsed completely towards the end of February 1945. Helenberg was lost and with it the road connection Trier – Bitburg. At the beginning of March 1945, the division took part in the fighting around Trier. The division then went back to the Kyll position. On March 7th, the remnants of the division were in the Zemmer / Quint area north of the Esch. By March 14, 1945, the division’s personnel had fallen to around 500 men. On March 18th, parts of the division fought near Baumholder. In the Lauterecken area, the remnants of the division were destroyed or taken prisoner. Awards: Eastern Front Medal, Iron Cross Second Class, War Merit Cross with Swords Comments: This Soldbuch seen both the Eastern and Western Fronts. Interestingly, the so called Kettenhunde were hated among the German Army. In his Soldbuch photo you can see the edge of the Cuff title for the Feldgendarmerie, which I have never seen before in a Soldbuch photo.