Meet Johann Meyer

[TWS]

Johann Meyer was born on 2 December, 1914 in the Linden neighborhood of Hannover. By 1936 he had joined the Heer with Artillerie-Regiment 22 in Verden. This Soldbuch was not issued until 18 August, 1939, but the earlier studio portrait of him as a young Kannonier is dated 1936 and he is clearly already a member of that regiment. Johann must have been a good soldier because by mid-1940 he was a Wachtmeister (Artillerie rank for Feldwebel) and assigned to Artillerie-Regiment 785 z.b.V. This was a "special use" motorized corps level unit and fought mainly around Leningrad and later Kurland. Johann was promoted to Oberwachtmeister and was made a Hauptwachtmeister on 1 September 1941. It appears he got that title because he served as the Spieß of the Regimental Stabsbatterie. As we can see he updated his Waffenrock to keep pace with his promotions. An interesting entry in his Soldbuch is the permission to carry a privately owned FN pistol. He was awarded the EK II, KVK II with swords, the black wound badge and the Ostmedal. The address given for his wife Gerda is in the Döhren section of Hannover and I'm assuming that was their marital home. I took a peek via Google Maps and there is still a house at that very address.

Everything in the photos was his with the exception of the belt I added for display purposes.

[Anderson]

What a great display Todd. This is really the pinnacle of militaria collecting where uniforms and badges linked by documents become almost a memorial to an actual person, and the collector is the custodian of that memory. Well done.

[real steel]

Great job of obtaining this. Turns an ordinary tunic into a highly collectible item that displays nicely
D.

[HoundsTooth]

love the red piping! Can you (should you?) add a black wound badge to this?
Nick

[TWS]

What a great display Todd. This is really the pinnacle of militaria collecting where uniforms and badges linked by documents become almost a memorial to an actual person, and the collector is the custodian of that memory. Well done.

Thank-you Anderson. I completely agree with your sentiment. Sadly groupings like this are coming out of the woodwork now because all family members who actually knew the soldier are passing away. The younger descendants do not care to hang onto their grandfather's or great grandfather's or great uncle's estate and are getting rid of his Nachlass (~estate).

I like the history behind items as much as the items themselves and while I strongly condemn nearly all policies of the NS regime, I am intensely interested in the stories of the common soldiers. Since their families no longer care, I as a military historian feel compelled to be that "custodian of their memory" as you so rightly put it. I have a number of groupings that constitute memorials to some Heer and Luftwaffe soldiers and always keep my eye out for more.

[TWS]

love the red piping! Can you (should you?) add a black wound badge to this?
Nick

Sadly I did not get any of his actual awards in the grouping, just the one ribbon bar for wear on a service tunic. It appears he kept his Waffenrock updated until 1941 and then stopped - which makes sense because that was around the time the order came out to stop wearing them until after the "final victory". He was awarded the EK II early, so that made it onto the Rock, but his other awards came later and he was wounded very late in the war.

[HoundsTooth]

Thanks Todd, this is the answer I wanted. Wasn't sure what the protocol was but now I do.