Recently I added this Soldbuch set to my collection, it is one from a member of the "Führer Begleit Brigade", one of the smaller units that participated in the battle of the bulge.
Initially this brigade was in the OKW Reserve but soon after the start of the offensive it was committed, first in the battle for Sankt Vith and then in Bastogne.
Ferdinand Heiselmeier (°1919) a miners son from Duisburg initially served with the twelfth MG company of IR7 until December '41 part of the 28ID, afterwards of the 252ID.
With this infantry unit he saw intensive action in Russia in '41/'42 and for this he was awarded an ISA, EKII and winter war medal.
Somewhere in '43 he is transferred to the third grenadier company of the "Verstärkte Grenadier Regiment "Großdeutschland", a company that belongs to the "Führer Grenadier Batallion", a unit responsible for guarding Hitler's HQ the Wolf's lair.
In the summer of '44 this battalion is reorganized in to a combat brigade, the backbone of this brigade consists of troops from the Großdeutschland units, all of them have seen action on the eastern front.
Ferdinand Heiselmeier is transferred to the "Schnelle Kompanie", the fast company of the brigade equipped with Schwimmwagens and Steyr recon cars; in this period he hands in his bayonet and is issued a P38 pistol, typical for vehicle crewmembers.
Part of the brigade sees action on the eastern front in Wilna but at the end of November '44 they are retreated back to the west for the upcoming new winter offensive: Wacht am Rhein.
Now also the brigade is under the command of a hardcore nazi Otto Remer, known for putting down the uprising on July 20 1944 in Berlin.
I'll not explain the entire combat history of the FBB in this thread but instead I'll concentrate a bit on the action in which his company played an important part, the battle of Hinderhausen.
On the morning of December 21 '44 the LXVI AK issues the order for an all out attack on what remains of the US defenders of Sankt Vith; the tanks of the FBB aren't in position yet, already this early in the offensive they are struggling to find the necessary fuel.
Despite this set back Otto Remer orders his "Schnelle Kompanie" in the woods west of Rodt to reconnoitre for a route for his tanks to breakthrough.
This patrol is a success and they even reach the main road between Sankt Vith and Vielsalm and they capture several US Army vehicles and troops driving on this road; they kept on moving southwest until they ran in to an US artillery unit in Hinderhausen; by now the US tanks of the 7th Armoured Division were alerted and they counter attacked , forcing the men of the FBB to leave behind their captured vehicles and POW's.
In the Soldbuch of Ferdinand Heiselmeier we can find close combat days for St Vith, Hinderhausen, Chenogne, Tillet & Longvilly.
After they are retreated from the Ardennes, once again they are reorganized now his unit becomes the seventh company of Pz Gr Rgt 100 of the Führer Begleit Division.
In February '45 they are transferred back to the eastern front, now on German soil in Arnswalde; here he accumulates another six close combat days until he is WIA by shrapnel on March 4 '45.
On March 24 '45 he returns to his company, a few weeks later the FBD is destroyed in the pocket of Spremberg.
The Soldbuch contains several nice details, on his picture you can see that he is wearing "GD" chippers on his shoulder boards, the continues use of Großdeutschland units entries aa part of their tradition, the pistol entry at the time they were equipped with Schwimmwagens and Steyrs and of course his detailed close combat days list.
Initially this brigade was in the OKW Reserve but soon after the start of the offensive it was committed, first in the battle for Sankt Vith and then in Bastogne.
Ferdinand Heiselmeier (°1919) a miners son from Duisburg initially served with the twelfth MG company of IR7 until December '41 part of the 28ID, afterwards of the 252ID.
With this infantry unit he saw intensive action in Russia in '41/'42 and for this he was awarded an ISA, EKII and winter war medal.
Somewhere in '43 he is transferred to the third grenadier company of the "Verstärkte Grenadier Regiment "Großdeutschland", a company that belongs to the "Führer Grenadier Batallion", a unit responsible for guarding Hitler's HQ the Wolf's lair.
In the summer of '44 this battalion is reorganized in to a combat brigade, the backbone of this brigade consists of troops from the Großdeutschland units, all of them have seen action on the eastern front.
Ferdinand Heiselmeier is transferred to the "Schnelle Kompanie", the fast company of the brigade equipped with Schwimmwagens and Steyr recon cars; in this period he hands in his bayonet and is issued a P38 pistol, typical for vehicle crewmembers.
Part of the brigade sees action on the eastern front in Wilna but at the end of November '44 they are retreated back to the west for the upcoming new winter offensive: Wacht am Rhein.
Now also the brigade is under the command of a hardcore nazi Otto Remer, known for putting down the uprising on July 20 1944 in Berlin.
I'll not explain the entire combat history of the FBB in this thread but instead I'll concentrate a bit on the action in which his company played an important part, the battle of Hinderhausen.
On the morning of December 21 '44 the LXVI AK issues the order for an all out attack on what remains of the US defenders of Sankt Vith; the tanks of the FBB aren't in position yet, already this early in the offensive they are struggling to find the necessary fuel.
Despite this set back Otto Remer orders his "Schnelle Kompanie" in the woods west of Rodt to reconnoitre for a route for his tanks to breakthrough.
This patrol is a success and they even reach the main road between Sankt Vith and Vielsalm and they capture several US Army vehicles and troops driving on this road; they kept on moving southwest until they ran in to an US artillery unit in Hinderhausen; by now the US tanks of the 7th Armoured Division were alerted and they counter attacked , forcing the men of the FBB to leave behind their captured vehicles and POW's.
In the Soldbuch of Ferdinand Heiselmeier we can find close combat days for St Vith, Hinderhausen, Chenogne, Tillet & Longvilly.
After they are retreated from the Ardennes, once again they are reorganized now his unit becomes the seventh company of Pz Gr Rgt 100 of the Führer Begleit Division.
In February '45 they are transferred back to the eastern front, now on German soil in Arnswalde; here he accumulates another six close combat days until he is WIA by shrapnel on March 4 '45.
On March 24 '45 he returns to his company, a few weeks later the FBD is destroyed in the pocket of Spremberg.
The Soldbuch contains several nice details, on his picture you can see that he is wearing "GD" chippers on his shoulder boards, the continues use of Großdeutschland units entries aa part of their tradition, the pistol entry at the time they were equipped with Schwimmwagens and Steyrs and of course his detailed close combat days list.
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