A very sad Soldbuch, this young German Soldier went through a series of unit on the backline before being thrown into the front against the US Army advance in the Montabour sector.  Born in 1925, he was killed at 20 in 1945.  It seems he was enlisted into a ad hoc unit sent from the WK Kommando VI towards the front with:  Marschbatl z.b.v Inf 105  According to the German Records he is buried in Montabour Germany and has his own grave.  Extremely rare item nowadays to find, especially with the tag.   

Here we have a really interesting German Helmet, a small splinter or what could have been a bullet fragment moved from the side of the helmet through the liner band and leather. We can only hope the soldier survived this terrible injury. But goes to show the smallest shrapnel damage can be lethal. His initials are in the liner also This helmet was found in an attic in Eastern Estonia. The buyer will be given the town name.  M40 Helmet has had the decal period removed, as per the decal order for removal. Helmet was never in a collection.  Maker is Eisenhüttenwerke, Thale. Size – Shellsize 64, headsize 56 cm Batch number on the shell  – 938 Please remember this price included tracked shipping. 

Soldbuch Issued to Paul Quiatkowski in August 1939.  He served with many units, including some early Reiter (Horse) Schwadron 26, then 320 and subsequently Aufklarungs Abt 371 (371 Inf Div) interestingly his unit was given over to the 353. Infanterie-Division Fighting in Russia and the Balkans. In Russia he had a code 34 injury pertaining to an “Accident or self mutilation” and in 1944, he arrived that the hospital in Abbeville (Normandy) in April of 1944 with a muscle complaint.  Battle of Normandy, It seems that during the first days of the battle he was transferred at some period to the Grenadier Regiment 1053 (85 ID)  The 85. Infanteriedivision arrived on the Normandy scene later in the campaign, not materializing until August, just in time to relieve the 12. SS-Panzerdivision (Hitlerjugend) on the Caen-Falaise highway on 11 August. The 12. SS had been battered by constant Allied air, artillery and tank attacks and was badly in need of a few days’ rest and refitting. However, the 85. ID was untested and under-strength. They were in no condition to hold a line of defence that was so contested. They got three days of relative peace. 14 August saw the 85. ID under heavy pressure from Allied bomber strikes, as well as the advance of the 1st Polish Armoured division. The fighting was intense and bitter. The tanks of the Poles won the day, literally rolling over the German lines. By 17 August, after their escape from Falaise, the 85. ID was reduced to one and a half infantry battalions, two field artillery pieces, and miscellaneous support troops, this reduced from a total strength of 6 infantry battalions and two field artillery battalions a month earlier. The 85. Infanterie division later saw action in Operation Market Garden and suffered heavy losses at Aachen.  Comments: Mega rare unit to find, Normandy is also highly sought after. Sadly he pulled his awards page before being captured, this was likely due to him having fear of reprisal. Worth checking the archives/unit histories to see if he is mentioned for some awards as he had something to hide.