Soldbuch 36. Volksgrenadier Division MIA South East of Metz 1944

Soldbuch with papers to Kanonier Alfred Walter.

The Soldbuch opens at 30-3-1944 with Stamm Batterie Leichte Artillerie ersatz Abteilung 211.

Units

- Artillerie ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung 1066

- Reserve Artillerie Abteilung 1066

- 8./Artillerie Regiment 268

The Artillerie Regiment 268 was Parton the 36. Volksgrenadier Division wich fought in late 1944 on the Westfront.

The 36. VGD was reformed from the remnants of the 268. Infanteriedivision in August 1944 as 36. Grenadierdivision and renamed 36. Volksgrenadierdivision in October 1944.

The new division was sent westwards to defend France, Luxembourg and the Saarland from Allied advances and entered combat on 10 September on the Moselle River north of Metz.
The Germans pulled back to the Franco-German border and by November the division had worn itself out in the two months of hard fighting.

The Battle For Faulquemont

While Wood’s combat commands fought the Germans along the roadways, the infantry had the unpleasant task of clearing them acre by acre from vast tracts of forest.

On the Dieuze plateau, Paul’s 328th Infantry Regiment had to pry elements of Philippi’s 361. Volksgrenadier Division from the heavily wooded Koecking Ridge north of the town of Dieuze; the forested tract stretched for five miles across the Dieuze plateau. The heavy rains of the preceding weeks had not spared the forest floor, which like the nearby valleys, was saturated and contained pools of mud that slowed the advance.

Shivering in the dark, dank woods, the GIs were halted frequently by fire from German pillboxes and machine-gun nests. Worse still, they were shelled around the clock by enemy artillery stationed at Dieuze. The fighting in the woods lasted for nearly 10 days, and the deciding factor was the intervention of Abrams’s tanks and armored infantry late in the battle that helped push the enemy from the sprawling forest.

Feuchtinger’s 21. Panzer Division and Wellm’s 36. Volksgrenadier Division reached the battlefield on November 13 and immediately counterattacked American forces on the east side of the Nied-Française. The 21st Panzer went into action first on the 13th against Grow’s CCB at Bazancourt west of Faulquemont, but was repulsed by the Americans.

The main battle for Faulquemont unfolded over November 14-16 between Grow’s CCA and Wellm’s infantry in the countryside south of the town. American field artillery beat back repeated assaults by German infantry, and on the last day of the battle Faulquemont was taken by an American tank attack.

On 25 November 1944 he went MIA in the area of Faulgemont / Falkenberg south east of Metz.

It comes with

1. Soldbuch, complete with all pages.

2. Arbeitsbuch, entries untill 1958

3. 2x Feldpostletter

4. 2x POW papers

5. Bundesarchiv letter from 1969 wich stated he was MIA on 25-11-1944

6. 2x small bescheinigungs paper

Good used condition

code: C25355