WWII German Army Soldbuch – Feldwebel Hösch – Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99 –
Description
Soldbuch belonging to Feldwebel, (First Sergeant), Georg Hösch, born on February 6, 1920 in the small German town of Weinstadt. Soldbuch discharged on January 31, 1944, but it’s a duplicate, “Zweitschrift”, because on page 9, on vaccines, and on page 19, there’re records from 1941/42.
Unfortunately, it’s unknown in what units he served during that time, if he was
injured or suffered any illness.
On January 31, 1944 he was assigned to Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99, mountain hunter regiment, attached to the 1 Gebirgs-Division, which at that time, was in Bosnia and Croatia, fighting against partisan troops of the Marshal Tito. During these fighting, the 1- Gerbirgs Division was accused of war crimes, of burning several villages, and killing civilians.
In March 1944, the regiment was sent to Hungary as reinforcement to the German troops that were there, to prevent the Hungarian government from capitulating or negotiating peace with the Soviets. When Hungary fell to Russian troops, the GJR-99 was sent to Greece as an anti-
partisan force. In July of that year, again, these soldiers committed the same excesses they had committed in Bosnia, burning villages, killing civilians and stealing cattle, in the policy of “burned land”. After the fall of Greece, the regiment was sent to Montenegro, to face again the forces of Tito.
On September 13, 1944, this Feldwebel was assigned to Grenadier Regiment 893, attached to the 264 Inf Div, which at that time was fighting in
Belgrade and northern Serbia, next to the 118 Jäger Division, fighting, first against the Yugoslav partisans and then against the Soviet troops. In October the 2 divisions defended the Zara – Benkovac – Biograd line, but little by little they retreated through Drnis, Knin, Biha and Agram, suffering terrible casualties due to heavy artillery and Soviet bombers.
On November 15, the 264-ID, together with the 373 Infanterie Division, (Croatian), fought in the defense of the Podkonje-Ocestovo line. But the Croatian division gradually decomposed, between casualties and desertions, exposing the right flank of the 264-ID.
Finally, the German division, to avoid being surrounded, had to retreat north from Belgrade. In December 1944, the division suffered significant casualties, including the destruction of IBataillon / Grenadier Regiment 893, after having been surrounded near the town of Ruma. In the middle of the month, part of the division, which included units of the 891 and 892 regiments, almost the entire artillery regiment, communications, intendancy and supplies units, and the remains of the 373 Croatian division, were surrounded on the eastern shore of the Danube river, where they were destroyed by soviet heavy artillery and tanks. Both divisions suffered 4800 casualties, among dead, wounded, missing and captured; only about 500 soldiers managed to cross the river and contact the rest of the division.
In early January 1945, the remains of the 264-ID forming a kampfgruppe, established a weak defensive position on the Bihac-Medak line, where they were supported by the also decimated 392 Infanterie Division, (Croatian). At the end of January, the division was removed from the front to be reorganized, and to receive replacements of just 17 years, without combative
capacity. In March 1945, (in the soldbuch the exact date is not specified), this sergeant was assigned to the Jäger Regiment 21 der Luftwaffe, attached to the 11. Feld-Division (L), field division of the Luftwaffe, which by that then fought in Croatia and Serbia, along with some units of the Ustacha, the Croatian fascist militia. At the end of the month, the Luftwaffe division, attached to the LXXXXI Armeekorps, was very decimated, without receiving replacements, and with a few pieces of artillery, defended a broad front of almost 75 km. Between the Cepin-Bizovac- Valpovo-Marijanci line.
In early April, a combined attack by Tito partisans and Soviet troops, supported by heavy artillery and tanks T-34 and KV-Il, broke the entire front.
The sector of the 11. Feld-Division (L), at first remained calm, but the disarray of the 5th Croatian Division, exposed the right flank of the division, and initiated the withdrawal towards Nasice, Bukovica and Cancinci. In May,
finally, the division surrendered to the Soviet troops, refusing to surrender to the partisan troops of Tito.
Soldbuch with numerous records: material delivery, (among them, an MP40 automatic submachine gun and a Walther P38 pistol, vaccines, etc. Pages 21/24 are missing, for which the number of awards and / or permits it’s unknown. In the photograph of the cover, in the left pocket of the jacket, there is a pin of three medals, which seem to correspond to:
1) Iron Cross 2nd class,
“Eiserne Kreuz 2 Klasse
2) Russian Campaing Medal 1941/42 , “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, Ostmedaille”
3) Wehrmacht Long Service Medal 4th Class , “Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung , 4 “
