Here we have something quite rare and unique. The Death Notice and Map of where he died and was buried created by the Wehrmacht and sent to the family. Interestingly, his Award Document for the Panzer Assault Badge was sold here: https://www.lakesidetrader.com/item.php?ID=20437 He is not listed on the German Website for War Dead. Translation – Death Notice  Russia, 9 March 1942 Dear Mrs. Heyl, When you receive this letter, I ask you to hold yourself very firm and stay strong. Your son, my Lieutenant Heyl (Walter), was severely wounded on 28 February 1942, around 16:00 hours, by a headshot during the heroic defense of the village of Medwenke, while serving as platoon leader of Company S.R.73. According to the medical company 2/19, he was treated at the main dressing station in Miljatino and passed away on 2 March 1942 at 4:45 without regaining consciousness. The circumstances of his heroic death are as follows: Since 23 February, my battalion has been in the focal point of Russian attacks on the Roslavl–Juchnow railway and had to defend several villages, including Medwenke. Since 26 February, the Russians attacked Medwenke incessantly with infantry and heavy tanks and sought to unite all their forces there. Your son immediately took over command of the 7th Company upon his arrival at the battalion and led it from then on, defending the village of Medwenke. Under his dutiful and reliable leadership, all attacks broke down, and the number of dead Russians grew ever greater in front of our defensive line. The Russians then dug themselves in and began concentrated infantry fire. A shell struck him. He was immediately unconscious; under no circumstances could he have suffered pain. Shortly after he was wounded, I myself went to Medwenke, as the situation was critical (another company commander had just fallen), to check on matters. I found him lying unconscious, protected by a snow wall. He did not recognize me. I immediately ordered his evacuation. The attached document gives further details about his death. Dear Mrs. Heyl! I know it is pointless to try to comfort you. I only wish to say this: that your deep pain is bound together with pride for your son, who fell as a hero. The Iron Cross Second Class, which he had earned, will undoubtedly be awarded to him posthumously — may it be for you a token of his bravery and self-sacrifice. My officer corps and I valued him highly for his modest, kind, and trustworthy character. I too have lost much. Please accept, as his mother, my deepest sympathy. With most respectful regards, Your very devoted [signed] Bruns Commander II/S.R.73 Translation – HV1440  Red Cross Letter sent from Soviet Gulag by Walther Brother to his mother. 22 January 1948, Nr. 32 Mother! Dear ones at home! Since confirming my card 23, I have had no message from you! Now Christmas is approaching — it will be the saddest of my life. My 51st birthday again marked by separation for the 10th time! Bitter facts for us all. We can only cling to anxious hope in our thoughts, but only actual events can convince us. On 16 January, I had a strong inflammation on my right thumb operated on; it went well. The medical care is excellent and must be especially praised. How are the parents? Today, many motherly admonitions from my youth come back as true words of remembrance. Birthday greetings have arrived. Hopefully, fate will grant me the time to be with you again. Letters may still be permitted for you. If so, I will write more extensively to you. Quiet and lonely it is here around me. In my thoughts, I am gratefully with our cheerful family days again; father is no longer there. The harshness of fate struck us mercilessly — there is no solution. Learn to hate war! This realization must be a reminder for our political thinking and actions. Stay healthy and study diligently. Warm greetings to Gretchen, parents, Anna, and you, dear Mother. Yours, Kurt      

Soldbuch to Feldwebel Paul Specht It seems his Soldbuch was issued as a replacement with: Panzer Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung 10  in September of 1944. Specht spent time in Litzmanstadt (Lodz) in 1944, with: Panzer Grenadier Ersatz Batl 413, and it seems they went into action there January 1945 and were almost wiped out. https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/InfErsBat/InfErsBat413-R.htm Specht was finally mobilised and sent via Marschbataillon Pz.Tr./307 to the 24. Panzer-Division, (Strength 300 Mann 4.1.1945 Wehrkreis X) Specht was assigned to his frontline unit of the 24 Pz Div – Panzer Grenadier Regiment 26 – 1 Schwadron  Commanded by: Major Höhne (RK,DKIG) Killed in Action – February 19th, 1945 (Zinten, Heiligenbeil/Eastprussia, Germany) His Profile: https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/6832/H%C3%B6hne-Georg.htm The division was then transported by rail, leaving behind its heavy weapons and armored vehicles, to Marienburg/Elbing (East Prussia). In the Elbing area, it was provisionally re-equipped with weapons and vehicles. The division was then deployed for defense and counterattacks in Southeast Prussia. From February 21 to March 27, 1945, defensive fighting followed in Ermland and the division withdrew to the bridgehead near Heiligenbeil. At the end of March 1945, the division was transported across the Baltic Sea to the Vistula Spit near Pillau. In mid-April, the remnants of the division (approximately 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers) were evacuated to Schleswig-Holstein, where it surrendered. Interesting Equipment: Peaked Visor Cap, Camo Kit Medals/Awards: Shooting Lanyard, 1st Class – 22.7.1941, Sports Badge in Bronze – 31.7.1941, War Merit Cross with Swords 20.4.1943. Fate: I have checked online resources and was not able to find what happened to Specht, although it could be that he made it back to Germany and surrendered, although there is no POW markings on the Soldbuch, a mystery that may later be solved…    

Original WWII German Wehrmacht Soldbuch Obergefreiter Ferdinand Schmidt Grenadier Regiment 861 – 341 Infanterie Division  The Soldbuch is incomplete! Seems he was assigned from January 1945 with the above unit: On December 2, 1944, the division’s command post was located in Püttlingen. On December 4, 1944, the division still had a combat strength of 2,600 men, including 800 infantry. A report from Army Group G dated December 6 stated: “Composed mainly of untrained Luftwaffe soldiers and stragglers; due to poor weaponry, low combat value, unsuitable for large-scale combat. During the night of December 8, 1944, the division withdrew to the Fenne-Klarenthal-Petite Rossel line on the Saar. It remained quiet there for the following days. From 11 p.m. on December 31, the division participated in Operation “Nordwind,” the German offensive in Alsace and Lorraine. By morning, the division had captured Schaffhausen, the forest east of Werbeln, and the settlement 1 km east of Ludweiler. On January 2, the heights southwest of Wehrden were taken. The division then remained in the positions it had reached as flank protection for the 1st Army. From February 1945, there was increased fighting and heavy casualties in the division’s area south of Saarbrücken on the Spichern Heights. Artillery bombardment. In the battle for the West Wall positions in this area, the division suffered heavy losses in the following weeks. On March 2, 1945, the division was relieved by the 559th Volksgrenadier Division and relocated behind the front line. During the night of March 13, 1945, the 347th Infantry Division relieved the 559th Volksgrenadier Division in its sector of the front. The division initially relocated its command post to Fischbach. Here, it was within the firing range of long-range American artillery. On the afternoon of March 13, the command post then relocated to Wahlscheid. The enemy remained quiet in the entire division sector for the next few days. During the night of March 18, 1945, the division withdrew to the Püttlingen-Völklingen line. The Americans only hesitantly followed the retreat of the division and the entire LXXXV. The division was then reunited near Homburg. the Saar and northeast of the city. During the night of March 20, 1945, the division received orders to withdraw to Homburg and secure the Vogelbach-Homburg line against any American forces attacking from the north. Following on the right, the 719th Infantry Division was to assume security on both sides of Landstuhl. The division’s command post was located in Bildstock. On March 20, 1945, the LXXXV Army Corps received orders to secure the northern flank of the XIII SS Army Corps, which was deployed in the west of the Palatinate Forest, with the weak remnants of the 347th Infantry Division, the 719th Infantry Division, and the 19th Volksgrenadier Division. The three divisions engaged in hard and heavy fighting against vastly superior American forces between March 20 and 22, 1945. The 347th Infantry Division defended a section southeast of Homburg. The division was gradually pushed back and finally received orders to fight its way through the Palatinate Forest. The bulk of the 861st Grenadier Regiment and parts of the 347th Artillery Regiment were unable to retreat to the Vogelbach-Homburg area and were taken prisoner. The 860th Grenadier Regiment and the remnants of the 36th Reserve Grenadier Regiment / 880th Grenadier Regiment under its command were able to break away from the enemy and establish a new security line in the Homburg area by March 20. The divisional command post had been relocated to Knopp, about 12 km east of Homburg. On the evening of March 20, the 347th Infantry Division received orders to withdraw to the western edge of the Palatinate Forest during the night of March 21 and to secure the entrance to this forest area on both sides of Steinalben. secure. The command post was to be relocated to Johanniskreuz. Upon arrival at the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest the following day, the division came under the command of the XIII SS Army Corps. Because the retreat roads were blocked by units of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, numerous elements of the division were taken prisoner by the Americans. The division’s command post was initially set up in Eschbach and relocated to Bornheim, east of Landau, on the afternoon of March 21. The division received new orders to assemble its remnants east of Landau. However, as early as March 22, 1945, the division received orders to secure the Westheim-Oberhochstadt line, about 11 km northeast of Landau, with its remaining remnants. There was no longer any connection to the left or right. The division’s command post was in Zeiskam that day and relocated to Mühle, about 3 km south of Nieder-Lustadt, that evening. On March 23, the command post was in Nieder-Lustadt. At nightfall on April 23, the division moved to the area west of Germersheim. Retreated and secured the Rhine crossing there. The command post relocated to the barracks in Germersheim. All of the division’s remaining vehicles were transferred to the east bank of the Rhine. To support the Germersheim bridgehead, the 4th Engineer Bridge Training and Replacement Battalion and the 308th Panzer Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion were placed under the division’s command. On March 24, heavy fighting broke out around Germersheim, during which the division headquarters was almost completely eliminated by artillery fire. The division commander acted as commander of the Germersheim bridgehead that day. That evening, the division crossed the Rhine over the bridge near Germersheim. Rear troops remained in the bridgehead on the west bank until the following morning. However, the division was thus destroyed. The remaining Grenadier Regiment 860 was subordinated to the 2nd Mountain Division, and the divisional headquarters and Signals Detachment 347 were deployed to the 7th Army. The Grenadier Regiment 860, along with all remaining elements of the division, was finally incorporated into the 47th Volksgrenadier Division on March 27, 1945. By April 12, 1945, the headquarters of the 347th Infantry Division had been re-established. It assumed command of the southern sector of…