Hello guys,
This is one of the new additions in my document collection.
Walter Michel (°1925) from Kleinschwabhausen, a very small village in Thuringen, was an agricultural worker; in August ’43 he started his military service, first with some basic training in the first company of Reserve Grenadier Btl (mot) 15, a unit based in Kassel.
After completing his training as a Panzer Grenadier he was assigned to PanzerGrenadier Rgt 2 of the famous 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Panzer Division, first to the HQ company, then to the second company.
In January’44 the 2 Pz Div was pulled back from the eastern front, what was left from the division was sent to France to be rebuild, it was in this period that the division was based in Amiens that Walter Michel joined them; on April 14 ’44 he gets a P38 pistol and a MG cleaning kit, so he is one of the MG gunners in his company, a company that is equipped with Hanomag Sdkfz 251 halftrack vehicles.
On D+6, June 12 ’44 they reach the front in Normandy, immediately the Panzer Grenadiers are thrown in to battle, they have to counterthe allied advance towards Villers Bocage in and around Caumont the fighting is fierce, the allies lose the battle and the Germans even manage to recuperate some lost ground.
Less then three weeks after he first saw the elephant, Walter Michel is promoted to Gefreiter and awarded the EKII by his divisional commander.
They continue to fight in Normandy, eventually they are also caught in the Falaise pocket, Walter Michel is one of the men that manages to escape but his division has to leave behind all there equipment and armored vehicles.
In the fall of ’44 they are based in Bitburg, in this period they 2 Pz Div is once again rebuild, now the 19 year old Walter isn’t a new recruit anymore but one of the divisions experienced combat veterans, in October ’44 he is awarded the Panzerkampfabzeichen in Bronze.
As a part of the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Panzer Army they will participate in operation Wach amRhein, better known as the battle of the bulge.
- It is the2 Pz Div that will get the furthest of all German units, on December 24 ’44 they reach Foy Notre Dame only a few miles short of the Meuse in Dinant.
Walter Michel who survived the Normandy campaign without an injury isn’t so lucky inthe bulge, in the first days of the offensive he gets hit by phosphor, I don’t exactly know where or when he got hit but he is already in a hospital in Germany on December 20 ’44, more exactly in the divisional hospital of the 353ID in Trier.
The wound gets a code 25, skin problems, the skin of both his lower legs has been burned off, the burn wounds are rather serious and the doctors also fear that some of his organs such has hart and lungs have been damaged.
On December31 ’44 he is transferred to a hospital deeper inside Germany; on January 22 ’45 he is released from hospital, he has developed new but fragile skin on his lower legs and is fit enough to leave the hospital and can further recuperate in an Ersatz unit, he will not return to active service anymore but first he gets two weeks of leave to visit his family.
Cheers,
Peter
This is one of the new additions in my document collection.
Walter Michel (°1925) from Kleinschwabhausen, a very small village in Thuringen, was an agricultural worker; in August ’43 he started his military service, first with some basic training in the first company of Reserve Grenadier Btl (mot) 15, a unit based in Kassel.
After completing his training as a Panzer Grenadier he was assigned to PanzerGrenadier Rgt 2 of the famous 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Panzer Division, first to the HQ company, then to the second company.
In January’44 the 2 Pz Div was pulled back from the eastern front, what was left from the division was sent to France to be rebuild, it was in this period that the division was based in Amiens that Walter Michel joined them; on April 14 ’44 he gets a P38 pistol and a MG cleaning kit, so he is one of the MG gunners in his company, a company that is equipped with Hanomag Sdkfz 251 halftrack vehicles.
On D+6, June 12 ’44 they reach the front in Normandy, immediately the Panzer Grenadiers are thrown in to battle, they have to counterthe allied advance towards Villers Bocage in and around Caumont the fighting is fierce, the allies lose the battle and the Germans even manage to recuperate some lost ground.
Less then three weeks after he first saw the elephant, Walter Michel is promoted to Gefreiter and awarded the EKII by his divisional commander.
They continue to fight in Normandy, eventually they are also caught in the Falaise pocket, Walter Michel is one of the men that manages to escape but his division has to leave behind all there equipment and armored vehicles.
In the fall of ’44 they are based in Bitburg, in this period they 2 Pz Div is once again rebuild, now the 19 year old Walter isn’t a new recruit anymore but one of the divisions experienced combat veterans, in October ’44 he is awarded the Panzerkampfabzeichen in Bronze.
As a part of the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Panzer Army they will participate in operation Wach amRhein, better known as the battle of the bulge.
- It is the2 Pz Div that will get the furthest of all German units, on December 24 ’44 they reach Foy Notre Dame only a few miles short of the Meuse in Dinant.
Walter Michel who survived the Normandy campaign without an injury isn’t so lucky inthe bulge, in the first days of the offensive he gets hit by phosphor, I don’t exactly know where or when he got hit but he is already in a hospital in Germany on December 20 ’44, more exactly in the divisional hospital of the 353ID in Trier.
The wound gets a code 25, skin problems, the skin of both his lower legs has been burned off, the burn wounds are rather serious and the doctors also fear that some of his organs such has hart and lungs have been damaged.
On December31 ’44 he is transferred to a hospital deeper inside Germany; on January 22 ’45 he is released from hospital, he has developed new but fragile skin on his lower legs and is fit enough to leave the hospital and can further recuperate in an Ersatz unit, he will not return to active service anymore but first he gets two weeks of leave to visit his family.
Cheers,
Peter
