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Soldbuch with MP44 entry

Peter U

Moderator
Staff member
Hello fellows,

This soldbuch joined the Peter U collection recently.
This is a Soldbuch that tells a typical September ’44 story.
Anton Ceska was a clerk from Vienna, so he was in fact an Austrian, late Augustus 1939 he is mobilized and he joins the 7th company of IR178 as a “Jäger”, in 1939 this regiment was part of the 76th infantry division, a unit based in Saarpfalz on Germany’s western border.
End January 1940 II/IR178 is used to form IR511 of the 293ID.
At the time of the Westfeldzug Anton is with the 10th company of IR511, the 293ID is a reserve unit of the 2nd army and will only come in to action at the second phase of the offensive, operation red, in the area of Rheims.
It is here that Anton Ceska, who is recently promoted to Gefreiter, gets WIA in June 1940; he is hit by shrapnel in the left hand, he stays in hospital until September 4 1940.
Because of his wound he most likely isn’t 100% fit anymore to serve in a frontline unit and in May 1941 he is transferred to the newly created IR723 of the 719ID.
The 719ID is a typical occupation unit, it consist initially only of two regiments with three battalions, the average age of the soldiers is 30 years or older.
From May 1941 till early September 1944 this division is based in Holland, in the area around Dordrecht.
Anton Ceska is one of the younger soldiers in his regiment, in August 1942 he is promoted to “Unteroffizier” (sergeant), his equipment as “Zugführer” (platoon commander) is rather modern, he is armed with a machine pistol and a private purchased pistol, not the usual Luger but a Sauer & Sohn 7,65mm pistol, he also has a helmet camouflage net.
In the summer of 1944 Anton Ceska is with the 6th company of Grenadier Regiment 723, on September 1 1944 the 719ID is ordered to move to Brussels and join the frontline as a fighting division.
The 719ID had no transport vehicles of is own, so they have to seize everything possible: busses, trucks and bicycles.
The day that Brussels gets liberated, September 3 1944, the 719ID was still in Moerdijk! 120Km from where it was supposed to be, typical for the confusing days in the German army of that period.
On September 4 1944 general Kurt Chill of the 85ID takes matters in is own hands and organizes the German defensive line along the Albert canal in Belgium, he sends GR723 to the sector Beringen-Hasselt to defend the canal bridges in that sector.
General Chill doesn’t only get cooperation from German commanders that are willing to subordinate their troops to his newly created fighting force, “Kampfgruppe Chill”, but also from Montgomery himself, the British commanders halts the advance for two full days, this gives the troops of Kampfgruppe Chill the time to dig in along the Albert canal.
On September 6 1944 the British go in to the offensive again, they attack the canal bridge in Beringen, their attack is a success and a panic breaks out in the ranks of GR723.
The 719ID pulls back to the Turnhout canal near Merksplas, a position they will defend fiercely until the end of September 1944.
It is during the fighting of September 1944 that Anton Ceska gets wounded for the second time, he is admitted to a hospital in Dresden, the city where his sister lives, from September 29 1944 till December 14 1944.
After he is recovered from his wound he is sent back to his regiment, by this time they are based in Saarpfalz.
He gets new equipment and this time his personal weapon is a MP44.
His unit will be destroyed in Saarpfalz in 1945, exactly the place where the war started for him in 1939.
Notice the entry in the Soldbuch that he has his own wool blanket, a Soldbuch entry that I hand't seen before, I guess a wool blanket is as important as a private purchase pistol.


Cheers,
Peter
 

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extra pictures
 

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As usual, great stuff Peter, and interesting story and SB analysis. This is quite helpful to understanding what was going on, issued, weapons, etc. Thanks for posting, pic stickied.
 
Thanks guys!!!
The positive comments on my threads are really apreciated.

Every ID booklet tells a story but because of the detailed information that can be found in a German WW2 Soldbuch it makes them super pieces for the amateur historian.

Cheers,
Peter
 
Peter thanks for sharing a cool SB, thanks even more for the break down on the info contained for those of us who cant read German. Very enjoyable as always!
 

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