Description
Soldbuch opened in August 1939 with Artillery Regiment 168.
Issued to Paul Gersch from Berlin Rudow,
He served with Art Reg 168 till late 1943.
The division was already operational at the beginning of the Polish campaign, so that on September 1, 1939 the division became an army reserve of the 4th Army. From the area north of Kraków, the division advanced through Sandomierz to Janow. After the end of the Polish campaign, the division was used as an occupation force in Poland until November 1939 and then transferred to the 16th Army on the Moselle north of Trier. At the beginning of the western campaign, the division was the army reserve of AOK 16 and only took part in the second phase of the campaign, the “Battle of France”. They marched from south of Sedan to Epinal. Already in July 1940 the division was transferred to eastern Poland for border security. On October 15, 1940, the division sold a third of its inventory (Stab IR 196, I./169, I./118 I./196) to the 340th Infantry Division. The levies have been replaced. From June 22, 1941, the division took part in the Russian campaign. The division advanced across the San from the Yaroslav area. The division advanced past Lemberg via Vinnitsa to the Cherkassy area. Here the division formed the flank protection of the 6th and 17th armies. In October 1941 the division continued its advance through Poltava to Kharkov. Heavy winter fighting then broke out in the Izyum am Donets area. These were to last until May 1942. After that, the division took part in offensive battles on Izyum and Znamenka. In the summer of 1942 the division marched to Voronezh-on-Don. Here the division remained in trench warfare until February 1943, when the division had to join the German retreat after the defeat of Stalingrad. Defensive battles and positional battles followed on the Oskol, near Gorshetsnoye and in the Ssumy area west of Kursk. In July 1943, defensive and retreat battles followed on the Dnieper. The division then stood until November 1943. On November 1, 1943, the division was converted into an infantry division of a new type 44 and the third battalions of the three regiments were dissolved. In November 1943 the division moved to the Radomyshl area and was in December 1943 near Zhitomir. It was in this room that it was smashed in January 1944.
The remnants of the division were pulled from the front and collected and refreshed at the Demba military training area
He then was a trainer at the:
Schule für Fahnenjunker der Artillerie Lehrgang VIII
School for Officer Cadets of the Artillerie
In March of 1945, Gersch was wounded with an infantry bullet (I.G) and in May of 1945 he is back again in hospital in Hamburg due to a code 34: accident of self mutilation. So one thing is clear he certainly seen action after his training.
Issued a FN Pistol and later a Mod 27 Pistol.
Medals
- Eastern Front Medal
- Iron Cross Second Class
- Iron Cross First Class
Assault Days
- 28.01.1943 – Alarm Regiment 1 (Einheit Embacher)
- 29.01.1943 – Alarm Regiment 1
Included in the back of the Soldbuch are the 10 Rules for German Soldiers.
Final Comments:
A nice Soldbuch to a real combat Officer. Awarded both classes of the Iron Cross. Interestingly, after his deployment with his Officer rank it seems he once again seen combat, although I am unsure with who. Maybe the School or maybe back to his old unit? Missing one page 13/14
