Casualty card script.

[BlackCat1982]

Dear forum friends,
I'm a bit stuck with the handwriting on this casualty card. The cause of death seems straight forward, but can anyone advise what the line above it reads please, next to the date of his loss.


Thank you in anticipation.
BC.

[GlennAgain]

It appears that he passed away Northwest outside of Gummiberg -which is in Austria/Unterfranken-
I speculate that he died on the hospital-train on his way to/from the Lazarett there...
-Glenn-

[GlennAgain]

Nordwest auslaufend Gummiberg - Northwest departing Gummiberg...
-Glenn-

[Willmore]

Hi BlackCat.

I looked into this because of the Gefallen entry, if he had died of wounds the entry should have been different, eg Verstorben.

Just to double check, is his name Gerhard Lautschner of 1./Kompanie Gebirgsäger Regiment 141.
6th Gebirgsjager Division - Feldgrau

I had a look and found a casualty card for this man, then checked the Volksbund. Gerhard Lautschner is buried in the military cemetery in Petschenga, which would put him on the Artic coast. There were also four casualty cards to others from the same regiment who fall in action in the same place and on the same day.
Gerhard Lautschner | Grabersuche-Online

Gumminerg could be a ‘nickname’ for a feature, such as this example on Post #4 -
Help in reading Death Cards

Petschenga -
Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast - Wikipedia

I hope this helps,

Will.

[BlackCat1982]

Thank you guys. Yes Wilmore, but I think the VDK have his name wrong.

The reason is because I think I’ve got an item in my collection that may be his.



The owner: Gerhard Gerhard "Geri" Lantschner (born November 26, 1912 in Innsbruck, † September 3, 1943 in Karelia) was an Austro-German ski racer.


Like his siblings Inge, Hadwig, Gustav and Otto, Gerhard Lantschner comes from the famous Lantschner ski family, but never achieved the same level of success as the four older ones. He belonged to the Innsbruck skiers' association and studied at the University of Innsbruck. He achieved the first good results at the Academic World Championships in St. Moritz in 1933 with third place in slalom and fourth in combination. In the same year he was also fourth in the Garmisch slalom and sixth in the combination there.



What do you think?

[Willmore]

Hi BlackCat.

I think you are right about the VDK having his surname wrong - Lautschner instead of Lantschner.

All the information fits, name, date of birth and place of birth, so I would say that did belong to him. Very interesting piece.

[BlackCat1982]

Do you think it’s worth my contacting the VDK about the mistake? It seems to me that Gerhard Lantschner was a personality of some merit and his loss has been misted over time by this error, (though I doubt this is an isolated instance). The similarities in the name, birth and Innsbruck seem too much not to be the same man. A skier, a man who must have loved the mountains through his love of skiing, who later fell in battle as a member of the Gebirgsjäger. I’m pleased to be the current guardian.

[Willmore]

I think it would be worth contacting them, maybe they would amend the mistake, because as you say he is a personality of merit.

I agree totally, a man who feels at home up in the high and snowy mountains would be the perfect Gebirgsjäger trooper.

It is a really interesting piece and quite poignant in a way, thank you for sharing it with us.