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WWII German Photo – Generalleutnant Henze – Dzukste -Kurland 1944 – 21. Feld-Division (L)
Original price was: £193.00.£117.00Current price is: £117.00.Henze, Albert (Generalleutnant) Date of birth: August 7th, 1894 (Kirchhain/Hesse, Germany) Date of death: March 31st, 1979 (Ingolstadt/Bavaria, Germany) Nationality: German (1933-1945, Third Reich) Biography Promotions: January 27th, 1915: Gefreiter; April 21st, 1915: Unteroffizier; August 2nd, 1915: Vizefeldwebel; March 20th, 1916: Leutnant der Reserve; May 20th, 1920: Leutnant (Polizei); October 21st, 1934: Hauptmann (Reichsheer); January 1st, 1939: Major; December 1st, 1941: Oberstleutnant; April 1st, 1942: Oberst; November 9th, 1944: Generalmajor; May 1st, 1945: Generalleutnant. Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub Period: Second World War (1939-1945) Rank: Generalmajor (Brigadier) Unit: Kommandeur, Gruppe Henze, 21. Feld-Division (L), Luftwaffe Awarded on: January 21st, 1945 At the beginning of the battle of Courland, on the 23.12.1944, the Soviets managed to penetrate deeply into the combat area of the 21. Feld-Division (L) south of Dzukste following heavy artillery preparation. On the next day the Soviets continued their attack against the centre of the Division’s front with 6 rifle divisions and the bulk of a tank corps. Recognizing the danger of a breakthrough, Generalmajor Henze ordered a counterattack into the flank of the Soviet assault formation. This counterthrust managed to succeed with the support of Sturmgeschütze, and a new defensive line was formed. Soviet losses amounted to 90 tanks, 3 assault guns and 5 artillery pieces. Henze would receive the Oakleaves for this action. 709th Award.
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WWII German Photograph – General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg – Normandy 1944 – Wearing British Dust Glasses – Super Rare Photo
£200.00An amazing photograph, displaying him with dust glasses taken from the British Army. Geyr von Schweppenburg (2 March 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a German general during World War II who is noted for his pioneering stance and expertise in the field of armoured warfare.[2][3] He commanded the 5th Panzer Army (formalised as Panzer Group West) during the Invasion of Normandy, and later served as Inspector General of Armoured Troops. After the war, he was involved in the development of the newly-built German Army (Bundeswehr). Freiherr von Geyr was born in 1886 in Potsdam into the Prussian military aristocracy and descended from a family that had produced two Prussian field marshalls.[4] He joined the German Army in 1904. In World War I, he fought on several fronts and rose to the rank of captain. After the war, he remained in the army, becoming an Oberst in 1932 and a Generalmajor in 1935. From 1933 to 1937, he was a military attaché to the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands and resided in London. Promoted to Generalleutnant upon his return from London, he took command of the 3rd Panzer (armoured) Division in 1937.[5] World War II From 1 September to 7 October 1939, Geyr commanded the 3rd Panzer Division during the invasion of Poland, where it was the most numerically powerful Panzer Division, with 391 tanks.[6] For a victory at Kulm, he was praised on the battlefield by Hitler, who had visited the division in recognition for its achievements in Poland.[7] He was promoted to General der Kavallerie of the XXIV Panzer Corps on 15 February 1940. In 1940, he commanded the XXIV Panzer Corps in the Invasion of France. In 1941, in the invasion of the Soviet Union, Geyr’s XXIV Panzer Corps was part of General Heinz Guderian’s Second Panzer Army, and consisted of all of Guderian’s major tank units.[8] On 9 July 1941, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross as General der Panzertruppe.[9] By early November 1941, Geyr’s Panzer Corps commanded the 3rd, 4th, and 17th Panzer Divisions, the panzer regiment from the 18th Panzer Division, as well as the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland, and spearheaded the advance of Army Group Centre during the Battle of Moscow.[8] From 21 July 1942, taking over from the court-martialed Georg Stumme,[10] to 30 September 1942, he was commanding General of the XXXX Panzer Corps, taking part in the fighting in the Caucasus. Geyr was relieved in a command cadre shakeup at the end of September 1942.[10] In the spring of 1943, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt ordered Geyr to prepare a force of 10 Panzer and motorised infantry divisions. On 19 November 1943, Geyr’s command was formalised as Panzer Group West, which had responsibility for the training and formation of all armoured units in the west. The group of armoured divisions near Paris constituted the Germans’ main force of tanks in France. In the event of an Allied landing on the northern French coast, Panzer Group West was expected to counterattack northward and to halt the invasion force.[11] The Allied invasion of Normandy took place on 6 June 1944. By 8 June, Geyr had moved three panzer divisions northward against British and Canadian forces advancing on the town of Caen. On, Royal Air Force aircraft attacked his newly-established headquarters at La Caine in Normandy. Geyr was wounded and many of his staff officers were killed, which forced the cancellation of the counterattack.[12] Geyr’s reinforced tank units managed to prevent the British advance for another month, but he was nevertheless relieved of his command on 2 July after seconding Rundstedt’s request for Hitler to authorize a strategic withdrawal from Caen.[13][14][15] He was succeeded by Heinrich Eberbach on 4 July and served as Inspector General of Armoured Troops until the closing phase of the war
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WWII German Knights Cross Holder – Karl-Conrad Mecke – Raid on St Nazaire – 22 Marine Flak Regiment
Original price was: £170.00.£125.00Current price is: £125.00.An extremely desirable and rare postcard size photograph of Mecke with his Knights Cross, which he won during the British raid on St Nazaire, also known as the Greatest Raid of All. Knights Cross action: Awarded for his role in combating the British raid on St. Nazaire, Operation Chariot, on 28.03.1942. Due to the unusual behaviour of the British bombers it was Mecke who recognized the potential of a landing and put his troops on alert. His guns later opened fire on the British convoy despite their disguise as German vessels and also participated in the fight against the British landing forces.
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WWII German Postcard Size Photograph – RK/EL – Generallt Hellmuth Reymann – Berlin 1945 – Mega Rare Photo
£170.00Hellmuth Reymann (24 November 1892 – 8 December 1988) was an officer in the German Army (Heer) during World War II. He was one of the last commanders of the Berlin Defence Area during the final assault by Soviet forces on Berlin. World War II From 1 October 1942 to 1 October 1943, Reymann commanded the 212th Infantry Division as part of Army Group North. From 1 October 1943 to 1 April 1944, he commanded the 13th Air Force Field Division. Reymann’s division suffered heavy losses in the retreat from Leningrad and was disbanded in April 1944. From 1 April 1944 to 18 November 1944, Reymann commanded the 11th Infantry Division. In October 1944, Reymann’s division was encircled in the Courland Pocket and he was replaced by General Gerhard Feyerabend. Berlin, 1945 In March 1945, Reymann was appointed commander of the Berlin Defence Area and replaced General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild. When he entered Berlin, Reymann found that he had inherited almost nothing from von Hauenschild. Reymann realised that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels had ruled that any defeatist talk would lead to immediate execution. No plans were drawn up to evacuate the civilian population, which remained in the city.[1] By 21 April, Goebbels, as Reich Commissioner for Berlin, ordered that “no man capable of bearing arms may leave Berlin”. Only Reymann, as commander of the Berlin Defence Area, could issue an exemption. Senior Nazi Party officials, who readily condemned members of the army for retreating, rushed to Reymann’s headquarters for the necessary authorisations to leave. Reymann was happy to sign over 2,000 passes to get rid of the “armchair warriors”. Reymann’s chief-of-staff, Hans Refior, commented, “The rats are leaving the sinking ship”.[2] Both Wilhelm Burgdorf and Goebbels convinced Hitler that Reymann should be relieved of command. When Reymann chose not to locate his office next to Goebbels’s office in the Zoo Tower, Goebbels held that act against him.[3] On 22 April, Hitler relieved Reymann of his command for his defeatism and replaced him with the newly-promoted Generalleutnant Ernst Kaether, who was the former Chief-of-Staff to the chief political commissar of the German Army (Heer). However, Kaether never took command and his orders were cancelled the next day. The result was that when the first Soviet Army units entered the suburbs of Berlin, there was no German commander to coordinate the city’s defences.[3] One day later, Hitler changed his mind again and made Artillery General (General der Artillerie) Helmuth Weidling the new commander of the Berlin Defence Area.[4] Weidling remained in command of Berlin’s defenses to the end and ultimately surrendered the city on 2 May to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.[5] Army Group Spree After his dismissal as the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, Reymann was given a weak division near Potsdam. The division received a dubious designation “Army Group Spree”.[3] Reymann’s unit could not then link up with General Walther Wenck’s unit, just south of Potsdam, because of the strong Soviet Red Army forces.[6] On 28/29 April, Wenck’s 12th Army held the area around Beelitz long enough for about 20,000 of Reymann’s men to escape through the narrow route to the Elbe. Comments This is an extremely rare photo and will be featured in a book on Berlin 1945. Please note that this photograph shows Reymann likely in 1945, and could even have been taken just before or during the battle of Berlin.
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WWII German Photograph – Hitler Youth Bahn 277 – 1945 Danzig – “larger ready for transport to the front” – Issued Rifles
Original price was: £125.00.£102.00Current price is: £102.00.An extremely rare annotated photograph, depicting Hitler Youth 277 Bahn Ost Ostland. On the rear of the photograph, “Larger fertig zur Abfahrt an der Front” Meaning they are ready for transport to the front. It is unknown what became of these HJ Boys, they were likely thrown in at the end of the war which was not uncommon. Note, they have been issued helmets and Rifles, to the far left a HJ Leader can be seen in Helmet and the far right a HJ wearing a Wehrmacht Visor.
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Arbeitsbuch Für Ausländer – Ukrainian Eva Melnyk – From District Galizien
£95.00An interesting Work book with period applied photograph, Melnyk was from Galizien district in Ukraine and arrived in 1942 for work a farm in Germany (Badersleben) where she worked till the wars end.
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Tümmerfrau- Emma Gustke – Berlin 1945 – Rubble cleaner – Rare grouping
£178.00Tümmerfrau – Berlin in Ruins The Work Control Card and photos of a Trümmerfrau For more information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%BCmmerfrau Emma Gustke, from Treptow was employed from the 18th of June 1945 to clean the streets of Berlin. Men from 15 to the age of 65 and woman from the ages of 15 to 50 years old were required to work. Her photos show the extent of the damage, brick by brick the areas were cleared. In Berlin alone around 60,000 woman were employed to clean the streets from the debris the war inflicted on the city. The pictures tucked inside the work card, a few memories she tucked away…
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Truppenausweis – Oberst Max Röhrs – Judge in Berlin Reichskriegsgericht – Sent “WinzenGruppe German Resistance -” leader to death
£343.00Truppenausweiss for Oberst Max Röhrs, born on the 26.01.1893 in Brake, Germany. Röhrs served as a Judge in the Reichskriegsgericht (German War Court). Super rare to find anything for the Reichskriegsgericht in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Röhrs was a Judge that sent Paul Winzer to death, the leader of the Winzengruppe. As well as that, Röhrs was a judge in other high profile cases such as the case against Werner Engel another German Resistance member. This Identification paper was used right up to 1944. He is wearing the WW1 Marine Wounds Badge as well as the Iron Cross First Class with WW2 Clasp. Paul Winzen * November 24, 1911 in Dortmund Paul was born as the youngest child of the Winzen family. It is no longer possible to determine when he left his parents’ house. In the Dortmund address book from 1941 he is still listed under this address, his profession is given as a stationer. Paul Winzen was a member and leading figure of a resistance group that had emerged from free-thinking/free-religious organizations. People met to go to the theater, visited exhibitions and discussed a wide variety of topics. Politically, they rejected both Soviet communism and social democracy. They advocated a humanistic social order. After 1933, the Dortmund group, which was also called the Winzen Group after its founder Paul Winzen, met in various places and organized the resistance: leaflets against the Nazi regime were printed and foreign radio stations were listened to. When an informer finally crept into the group in 1940 and betrayed the members, they were arrested as members of the Winzen group. The trial of Paul Winzen took place in February 1942 in Berlin before the People’s Court. He and another head of the group, Josef Kasel (see Stolperstein Gneisenaustr. 89) were sentenced to death for “undermining the military force” and “preparing for high treason”. Winzen was also convicted of “broadcasting crimes”. The judgment was carried out on June 12, 1942 in Berlin-Plötzensee.
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Wehrmacht Soldbuch – Unteroffizier Haberkorn – Grenadier Regiment 1120 – 553 Volksgrenadier Division Ardennes 1944 – Wounded fighting US Troops 1945 (Reserved)
£260.00Wehrmacht Soldbuch for NCO Kurt Haberkorn. Soldbuch opened in December of 1939 with Infanterie Regiment 174. In 1941 – Etra Südost / Wehrmachttransportleitung Südost On 01.11.1940 – set up in Vienna, the use of which is to be considered in connection with the dispatch of the German army mission to Romania, which began in October, and the increasing involvement of the Balkans in German military plans. It was initially responsible for the transport command in Ostmark, Bohemia and Moravia, the transport officer in Pressburg and the German border command in Regensburg. Location always Vienna Late 1944 / 1945 – Grenadier Regiment 1120 (553 Volksgrenadier Division) – Fought against: US ARMY – 79 US Infantry Division & 10 US Armoured Division near Oehringen/Schwaebish Hall 1945 553. Volksgrenadier division was created on 9 October 1944 by the renaming of the 553. Grenadier division in Lorraine. The 553. Grenadier division was originally formed as a Sperr division (blocking division) in Münsingen. The unit was composed of men from Württemberg. In September 1944, the 553rd was rushed to the Lorraine region of the western front and thrown into battle against the Allied troops advancing on the city of Nancy. During September 1120. Grenadier regiment of the division defended Forêt de Champenoux to cover the withdrawal of the rest of the division. The regiment had entrenched thoroughly, building a line of log-covered dugouts and foxholes ten or fifteen yards inside the forest. Within the shelter of the woods a few assault guns backed up the infantry and covered still more entrenchments. When the Americans attacked with tanks and infantry on 20 September, they were repulsed. Repeated attempts were made to push the 1120th Regiment out of their positions during the day, and the following day, but all were driven back. The Americans tried a prolonged artillery barrage to demolished the entrenchments, but even this was unable to dislodge the defenders. On 22 September, the Americans tried a combined attack with the 80th and 35th Infantry Divisions, supported by one combat command of the 6th Armoured Division and the Volksgrenadiers were finally pushed out of the forest. With the Americans now threatening both his flanks, the 553. GD’s commander, Oberst Erich Loehr pulled his division back. The division was pulled out of the line in October. The whole 553. Grenadier division had been worn down after a month’s hard fighting and had to be reinforced. The reinforcements it integrated were number of fortress and independent battalions in the area of Army Group D. Even with the addition of these groups, one regiment (the 1121st) was dissolved along with the 2nd Battalion of 1120. Grenadier regiment. While the US Third Army was advancing from Metz, the US Seventh Army was preparing to clear the Saverne Gap. In mid-November, the American 44th Infantry and the French 2nd Armoured Divisions started an advance aimed at taking Saarbourg. Among the defending units was the newly renamed 553. Volksgrenadier division. Another hard defensive battle began for the Volksgrenadiers. The Allied assaults ground down the German units until they were only shadows of their normal organisations. After Saarbourg fell to the US 44th Infantry Division on 21 November, the remnants of 553. VGD were pulled out and transferred to southern Alsace. During Operation Nordwind the division the division attacked alongside 10. SS-Panzerdivision from Gambsheim towards Haguenau. At the end of January, the High Command decided to pull the 553. VGD out of the line entirely and rebuild it once again. The division was re-established on 31 January 1945 in Pforzheim. The division was deployed in the 19. Armee sector on 20 March. The division surrendered to the Americans shortly thereafter in Württemberg. Awards: Wounds badge in Black , he was wounded twice and received no Silver badge due to the war ending. Soldbuch comments. Very nice piece of paper added to the front page, detailing that he is if the captured only allowed to say his name, rank and home address, anything else is dishonourable and guilty of treason against Germany. A rare late war unit, fighting in desirable and sought after battles. 10th Armoured – US Army Documentary about the fighting in Germany, also where Haberkorn was wounded. An interesting documentary covering the creating on the Volks Grenadier Divisions
