Original WWII German Wehrmacht Soldbuch – Obergefreiter Ferdinand Schmidt – Grenadier Regiment 861
Description
Original WWII German Wehrmacht Soldbuch
Obergefreiter Ferdinand Schmidt
Grenadier Regiment 861 – 341 Infanterie DivisionÂ
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 the LXXXV Army Corps on the Saals River. It commanded units of the Volkssturm, the Hitler Youth, and a small number of engineers. On April 13, these forces were forced back across the Reichenbach-Unterwellenborn line to the Orla Position in heavy fighting. Elements of the units withdrew south of the Saalfeld-Triptis road to the line east of Pößneck and the western edge of the Schnorla Forest. The retreat continued on April 14. On April 15, the division, now designated “Kampfgruppe,” and its subordinate units reached the heights south of Wallengrün. On April 16, the Kampfgruppe was forced to withdraw across the Elster River, suffering heavy losses. On April 17, the Kampfgruppe was forced to withdraw to the Rodewisch-Falkenstein line, where it was intercepted by units of the Erzgebirge Commander. The Kampfgruppe remained there for the following days. On April 25, 1945, the Kampfgruppe was still in the Erzgebirge area.
