Third Party Press

Soldbuch set of a 40+ year soldier

Peter U

Moderator
Staff member
Hello,


It has been a long while since I posted something from my collection so here we go again, this time not a Soldbuch of the battle of the bulge example but one from another of my favourite subject matters: old enlisted men with combat awards.


Bertram Müller (°1899) from Birkenfeld served in WW1, from June 1917 till January 1919 he was with "Eisenbahn Regiment 3", a railroad construction unit that served in the Baltic states and on the western front.
At the eve of WW2 he was mobilized again and attached to Br Kol b 1/406, a bridge building unit, with which he participated in the Polish campaign.
In February 1940 he is transferred to Stab Pi Rgt (mot) 541, also a bridge building unit.
This unit builds bridges for the armoured forces that push through the Ardennes.
In July 1940 he is awarded the EKII, he then is a 41 year old corporal!
Then in April '41 he participates in the Balkan campaign but then it seems that he had seen enough of war, on June 9 1941, during the build up for the invasion of the USSR, he is admitted to a hospital with a code 36, suspected of faking an illness, they suspect him to be faking shell shock symptoms.
At the end of August '41 he is discharged from hospital and sent to a recuperation unit, in October '41 he is transferred to "Festungspionier kommando I" , a fortification construction unit with which he serves with distinction, he is promoted to NCO rank and awarded a KvKII in April 1944 .
According to his Wehrpaß he was with the famous 6th Army in the battle for Stalingrad from September 5 till October 15 1942, so he was lucky to escape the encirclement.
He now is transferred to a quiet sector, the Mediterranean Sea coast in Southern France, after allied landings in France they retreat to the Vosges mountains and eventually he will surrender in the so called Alpenfestung in May 1945.
On June 19 1946 he is released from a POW camp and returns home.

Enjoy viewing the images.
Peter
 

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More images of his Soldbuch and his Wehrpaß.
 

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Very cool set, and now that I am in my 40s I can appreciate an old guy ;) If he was trying to dodge being on the Eastern Front, it shows why old guys aren't as easy to hogwash as soldiers as 19 year olds ;) Thanks for posting Peter, as always, great set.
 
That's the face of a man who has seen too many bad things. I'm sure that by 1945 he was pretty happy to be in a POW camp.
 
Interesting - and thank you for translating, i find that writing truly difficult to decipher.

To have gone from shell-shock to then again serving with distinction.

I am in my early 40's and I cannot imagine having to be an corporal all over - that alone would be enough to break me down.
 
Thanks for the compliments!



"If he was trying to dodge being on the Eastern Front, it shows why old guys aren't as easy to hogwash as soldiers as 19 year olds"
- I find it an interesting fact that he went as far a faking shell shock to avoid participating in operation Barbarossa, it was a time must Germans thought that they would be in Moskau before the winter and the Soviets would be defeated before the year was over.


P
 
"If he was trying to dodge being on the Eastern Front, it shows why old guys aren't as easy to hogwash as soldiers as 19 year olds"
- I find it an interesting fact that he went as far a faking shell shock to avoid participating in operation Barbarossa, it was a time must Germans thought that they would be in Moskau before the winter and the Soviets would be defeated before the year was over.
P

That experienced alte hasen knew better ;)
 

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