Heer Soldbuch – Gefreiter Schneider – Heeres Artillerie Brig 732 – Oder Front 1945 – ‘Last Army’ (Sold)
Heeres SoldbuchÂ
Opened in August 1943 in AltenburgÂ
Gefreiter Herbert SchneiderÂ
Frontline units:
Heeres Festungs Artillerie Abt 1050 (17th Armee) (Versetzt 10.1944)Â
From the end of July 1944, the newly established 17th Army was then deployed in Galicia between San and Wisloka. From the beginning of October 1944 to mid-January 1945, the army was used for trench warfare on the Wisloka between the Vistula and the Carpathians
Heeres Artillerie Brigade 777 (March 1945)Â
Armed with 17cm Artillery, pictured below. His unit was amalgamated into Heeres Artillerie Brigade 732 , (9 Armee)Â
The Red Army crossed Germany’s border on January 12, 1945, and forced the 9th Army to retreat all along the front until it was deployed westward to the river Oder. Three of the 9th Army’s formations were tasked with defending the Seelow Heights, which was the last defensible region before Berlin. To the north was the CI Army Corps, in the centre General Helmuth Weidling’s LVI Panzer Corps, and to south of the Heights was the XI SS Panzer Corps. In addition south of Frankfurt (which was defended by the Frankfurt Garrison) was the V SS Mountain Corps. In total the 9th Army was reduced to 100,000 men and 800 tanks and assault guns against which the Soviets had over 1,000,000 men and 10,000 tanks and assault guns.
The Battle of the Seelow Heights started on 16 April 1945 when Marshal Georgy Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder. The 9th Army held the line for about 3 days. After heavy fighting Weidling’s LVI Panzer Corps was driven back towards Berlin. Most of the CI Army Corps divisions, now north of the salient created by the 1st Belorussian Front were reassigned along with LVI Panzer Corps to Army Detachment Steiner which was tasked with counter-attacking and pinching off the salient in an unrealistic plan conceived by Hitler. In the end Weidling’s corps was driven back into Berlin and he was promoted to commander of the Berlin Defensive Area, reporting directly to Hitler. Theodor Busse and the rest of the 9th Army were driven into a pocket in the Spree Forest south of the Seelow Heights and west of Frankfurt an der Oder.
From inside the pocket west of Frankfurt Busse attempted a breakout to the west to join up with the 12th Army. The breakout, known as the Battle of Halbe, resulted in the destruction of the Ninth Army as a coherent force. Troops that were not captured or killed by the Soviets crossed the Elbe at Tangermünde and surrendered to the US Army.
A great documentary about the Last Army…Â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6N7t20RTOU
Items Issued:Â
28.7.1944 – Iron RationsÂ
K98 Rifle and Bayonet
In summary: It seems Schneider was in March still with his unit, he is not listed as KIA or MIA. But he was with the 9th Army during its final end, what happened to Schnieder we will never know for sure.Â