This Soldbuch is in my collection for a while now but for some reason I forgot to post it here.
Thanks Gdo for reminding me.
This is the first issue Soldbuch of Helmet Weber, an old sweat of the Fallschirmjäger, he joined the paratroopers when they were first being organized, difficult to say when exactly but at least as early as 1938.
He served his entire career in a “Nachrichtenzug” which makes researching where he exactly operated extremely difficult, the “NZ” were subordinated to the Regimental staff but its members not only operated as signals operators for the staff officers but also as runners between the various units of a Fj Rgt.
His Soldbuch is opened in August 1939 and at that time he was with the NZ of FJR1.
In April 1940 elements of FJR1 land in Norway, I have no clue if he was one of them, but what is a certainty is that he was promoted to Feldwebel and became a “Gruppenführer” just prior to operation Yellow and landed in Holland on May 10 1940, more exactly in Tweede Tol.
This online list even mentions his nickname “Pipl”:
https://www.mei1940.nl/Bevelstructuur/7-Fliegerdivision.htm
For the airborne operations in 1940 he is awarded both EKII & I.
The next airborne operation in which he participates is the landing on Crete almost exactly a year later, the staff of FJR1 lands in Heraklion, also this airborne operation is a German victory but one at an extremely high cost and as a result all future large airborne operations are canceled.
The elite paratrooper regiment 1 is rebuild but also demoted to an ordinary light infantry unit, at the end of September 1941 they are sent to the Newa front, already by December 1941 it has lost so many personal that it has to be taken off the front line.
Helmut has now been promoted to Hauptfeldwebel.
The Regiment has suffered such that it takes until October 1942 to be deemed combat ready and once again they are sent East to plug holes in the frontline.
In February Helmut is transferred to the NZ of the Regiments third battalion, they are engaged in heavy fighting in Orel and at the end of March 1943 they are redrawn from the front line and are transported to Normandy to rest and once again to be rebuild.
In this period he is entered in to an officers training program but for some unknown reason doesn’t finish it.
In July 1943 they are moved South, first to Southern France, then to Italy, an airborne operation on Sicily is planed but is canceled, they will remain on mainland Italy to halt the expected allied landing and when it comes in Salerno, they are moved to that part of the front and fight the allies in Southern Italy.
Just before Christmas 1943 Helmut is transferred to the staff of the first battalion of FJR3, they hold
the front line near Ortona, more exactly in Villa Grande, part of the famous Gustave line defense.
He will also take part in the famous battle for Monte Casino, his unit will fight in the monastery and here he is WIA for the firsttime, he receives a grenade splinter in his left foot in early May 1944 and is hospitalized until June 20 1944.
After a short time in his replacement unit he is transferred at the end of July 1944 to the by now famous FJR6 which is fighting the allies in Normandy.
A month later FJR6 is pulled out of the front line and is rebuild in Germany, when the allied advance through Belgium in early September 1944 reaches the stage were it becomes so dangerous that the risk is there that entire Western front might collapse, FJR6 is sent back to the front in a hurry, successfully plugging gaps in the front line everywhere, even cutting off “hell's highway” during operation Market-Garden.
By October 1944 FJR6 is holding up the allied advance in the battle for Woensdrecht and it is here that he will receive his second and final wound at the end of October 1944.
He is hospitalized until the end of the war, he received a wounded badge in silver which indicates that he has lost a limb.
His Soldbuch is loaded with all kinds of entries refering to longtime Fj service.
Thanks Gdo for reminding me.
This is the first issue Soldbuch of Helmet Weber, an old sweat of the Fallschirmjäger, he joined the paratroopers when they were first being organized, difficult to say when exactly but at least as early as 1938.
He served his entire career in a “Nachrichtenzug” which makes researching where he exactly operated extremely difficult, the “NZ” were subordinated to the Regimental staff but its members not only operated as signals operators for the staff officers but also as runners between the various units of a Fj Rgt.
His Soldbuch is opened in August 1939 and at that time he was with the NZ of FJR1.
In April 1940 elements of FJR1 land in Norway, I have no clue if he was one of them, but what is a certainty is that he was promoted to Feldwebel and became a “Gruppenführer” just prior to operation Yellow and landed in Holland on May 10 1940, more exactly in Tweede Tol.
This online list even mentions his nickname “Pipl”:
https://www.mei1940.nl/Bevelstructuur/7-Fliegerdivision.htm
For the airborne operations in 1940 he is awarded both EKII & I.
The next airborne operation in which he participates is the landing on Crete almost exactly a year later, the staff of FJR1 lands in Heraklion, also this airborne operation is a German victory but one at an extremely high cost and as a result all future large airborne operations are canceled.
The elite paratrooper regiment 1 is rebuild but also demoted to an ordinary light infantry unit, at the end of September 1941 they are sent to the Newa front, already by December 1941 it has lost so many personal that it has to be taken off the front line.
Helmut has now been promoted to Hauptfeldwebel.
The Regiment has suffered such that it takes until October 1942 to be deemed combat ready and once again they are sent East to plug holes in the frontline.
In February Helmut is transferred to the NZ of the Regiments third battalion, they are engaged in heavy fighting in Orel and at the end of March 1943 they are redrawn from the front line and are transported to Normandy to rest and once again to be rebuild.
In this period he is entered in to an officers training program but for some unknown reason doesn’t finish it.
In July 1943 they are moved South, first to Southern France, then to Italy, an airborne operation on Sicily is planed but is canceled, they will remain on mainland Italy to halt the expected allied landing and when it comes in Salerno, they are moved to that part of the front and fight the allies in Southern Italy.
Just before Christmas 1943 Helmut is transferred to the staff of the first battalion of FJR3, they hold
the front line near Ortona, more exactly in Villa Grande, part of the famous Gustave line defense.
He will also take part in the famous battle for Monte Casino, his unit will fight in the monastery and here he is WIA for the firsttime, he receives a grenade splinter in his left foot in early May 1944 and is hospitalized until June 20 1944.
After a short time in his replacement unit he is transferred at the end of July 1944 to the by now famous FJR6 which is fighting the allies in Normandy.
A month later FJR6 is pulled out of the front line and is rebuild in Germany, when the allied advance through Belgium in early September 1944 reaches the stage were it becomes so dangerous that the risk is there that entire Western front might collapse, FJR6 is sent back to the front in a hurry, successfully plugging gaps in the front line everywhere, even cutting off “hell's highway” during operation Market-Garden.
By October 1944 FJR6 is holding up the allied advance in the battle for Woensdrecht and it is here that he will receive his second and final wound at the end of October 1944.
He is hospitalized until the end of the war, he received a wounded badge in silver which indicates that he has lost a limb.
His Soldbuch is loaded with all kinds of entries refering to longtime Fj service.
