Heer Soldbuch – Feldwebel Grabenberg – Volksgrenadier Regiment 351 (183VGD) Battle of Aachen 1944/45 (On Hold)

Heer Soldbuch to Feldwebel Grabenberg.

Soldbuch was issued on August 1939 with:

Infanterie Regiment 130 (45 Infanterie Division) 

The division took part in the invasion of the Sudetenland in 1938, followed by the invasion of Moravia in 1939. In August 1939 the division was mobilized and relocated to northern Slovakia. From the Friedeck area she crossed the Polish border on September 1, 1939 and marched over the Olsa to Bielitz. The division then moved south past Krakow and then on via Tarnow, Jaroslau and Oleszycze. Eventually the division reached Dobrosin north of Lemberg. After the end of the Polish campaign, the division was briefly deployed as an occupation force and then relocated to the home garrisons. In December 1939 the OKH Reserve Division was relocated to the Treysa area. Parts of the division (II./135) were handed over to the 297th Infantry Division on January 28, 1940. At the beginning of the western campaign, the division was Army Reserve and was followed by the fighting troops. In mid-May 1940, the division was pushed into the front and turned on the Aisne, which it reached on May 24 at Berry au Bac. At the beginning of the second phase of the campaign, the “Battle of France”, the division crossed the Aisne near Neufchateau on June 9, 1940, and then marched south-east. It passed Reims east and headed south on the east bank of the Marne. At Bar sur Seine she crossed the Seine and then marched to the Loire southeast of Nevers. After the end of the French campaign, the division was relocated to Belgium as an occupying force. On December 10, 1940, a third of the division was transferred to the 100th light division. At the end of May 1941, the division was relocated to eastern Poland, west of Brest-Litovsk. From June 22, 1941, the division took part in the Russian campaign. The division’s first objective was to take the Brest-Litovsk fortress. It took a week, however, before the fortress finally fell. The division suffered 482 dead and 1,000 wounded in these battles alone. After the end of the fighting for Brest-Litovsk, the division began the advance through the Pripjet marshland and then via Pinsk, Davidgrodek, the Pitsch to the Mosyr-Schlobin railway line. From here the division pushed past Chernigov to the east and then took part in the Kessel Battle in Kiev. The division advanced across the Dessna to Jagotin. During the attack on Moscow, the division pushed from the area south-east of Malo-Arkhangelsk, south of Livny, to Jelez. After the start of the Russian winter offensive, the division had to retreat through the Sossna and the Trudy section to the Kursk area with heavy losses. The division was split up into individual combat groups and fought at Foshnaya and Butyrki as well as in the Voronezh bridgehead. The withdrawal fighting in February 1943 brought the division to the Voronowo area, southeast of Orel. There the division was involved in heavy defensive and positional battles until August 1943. After the various battalions were disbanded, the IR 130 staff was also disbanded on June 17, 1943, and the division only had two infantry regiments. The IR 130 was only set up again in May 1944 from the field training regiment 637. During the withdrawal movements in August 1943, the division crossed the Dessna and the Snow and reached the bridgehead south of Gomel. Then there were heavy defensive battles on the Ssosh, so that the division reached the Jampol area and south of Retschitza after further withdrawals. Here the division defended the section of the front between Paritschi and Plessowitschi.

Volksgrenadier Regiment 351 (183 Volksgrenadier Division) 

On October 4, 1944, the division lost 729 men. In the subsequent fighting for Geilenkirchen, the division suffered further heavy losses. In mid-November there was heavy fighting south of Immendorf. Immendorf and Loverich were lost, but the planned American breakthrough on Linnich and Gereonsweiler could be prevented by the weakened division. As a result, the 9th Panzer Division and the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division from the Prummers and Gereonsweiler areas were deployed, but with moderate success. The remnants of the 183rd Volksgrenadier Division that were still able to fight were placed under the two divisions. On November 19, the US troops succeeded in enclosing and occupying Geilenkirchen. The German counterattack that was then set up remained in the Niederheid area. After this fighting, the division was withdrawn from the front to freshen up. The refreshment had to be speeded up considerably, as the division again had to use its own resources to take the section northwest of the Wurm. The new HKL had to be completely rebuilt due to its relocation and was located at the end of November 1944 east on the Süggerath and Prummer line. From mid-December 1944, the division was to take part in the Ardennes offensive. For this purpose, she was subordinate to the Felber corps and was commissioned to advance into the area between the Meuse and Wurm with the aim of regaining the Aachen area occupied by the Americans. In the end, however, the division’s deployment for the Battle of the Bulge was canceled. However, the division had to provide personnel to replace the German divisions fighting in the Ardennes. So the division remained in its positions. On December 31, 1944, she took part in a diversionary attack on Tripsrath, but it failed. So the division remained on the right bank of the Rur in a constant defensive battle. On February 3, 1945 the combat strength of the division was 3,705 men. On February 23, 1945, the Allies launched a major attack over the Rur. The attack was primarily directed against the weak 59th Infantry Division. There American troops succeeded in building a bridgehead past Linnich on the east bank of the Rur. At the same time, the US units pushed north towards Baal, where they met resistance from the 183rd People’s Grenadier Division. The aim here was to prevent any further advance in the direction of Erkelenz. On February 26th, Hückelhoven was taken in the section of the 183rd Volksgrenadier Division, in the evening Erkelenz had to be surrendered. The forces of the 183rd People’s Grenadier Division were at an end. The division still had a strength of 500 men, so that the XII. SS Army Corps only spoke of a “regimental group 183rd VGD”. On March 2, 1945, the division was considered completely destroyed. Task of the XII. SS Army Corps should nevertheless be to build a new front on the Rhine on both sides of Düsseldorf with the 183rd VGD, the 338 ID and the 176 ID. On March 3, regimental group 183rd VGD was returned to the eastern bank of the Rhine for this purpose. After the formation of the Ruhr basin, the remnants of the division were pulled out of the Rhine front on April 6 and relocated to the area west of Siegen for new use. on the same day, US units attacked northwards via the victory. The remnants of the 183rd Volksgrenadier Division were then pushed into a provisional defensive front on both sides of Waldbröl. The last remnants of the division were smashed here.

Battle of Aachen

Equipment:

Issued a MP44, and a compass in October 1944!

Awards:

1. Annexation Medal
2. Infantry Assault Badge in Silver
3. Eastern Front Medal
4. Wounds Badge in Black
5. War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Sword

Although the Soldbuch was denazified by its former owner, likely due to using this ID when he was captured. This is an exceptional West front Soldbuch directly linked to the Battle of Aachen!