One soldier's story in pictures

[Airborne125]

H,
What a great story thanks very much.

Steve

[Adrian]

This is a first time read for me too, many thanks for posting Andreas and telling your Grandfather's story.

He.... errr.... seemed to be a hit with the ladies from the photos!

[harryamb2]

a great thread many thanks HPL.

[mpw]

It's great when these older threads resurface. Thank you for posting such an interesting story. Did your grandfather keep a diary all through the war years?

Regards, Mark.

[LizardKing]

He was a great man, i'm sure! Not a Nazi, not a phanatic either! But bullets don't recognize that difference... Anyway, he was lucky that the tank only got a part of him and got out of the mess to have children and continue his name! Thanks for sharing your granfather's story with us!

[herrzark]

very interesting.thanks for sharing

[HPL2008]

It's great when these older threads resurface. Thank you for posting such an interesting story. Did your grandfather keep a diary all through the war years?

No; or at least not to my knowledge. I only have the 1944 notebook and even this one is mostly blank. Most of the notes are simple, scheduled "to-dos" and often several weeks have none at all. The entries end altogether with the day he was wounded.

He only noted a very few significant events. These entries, two weeks before he was wounded, are of interest:



They say:

6 July:
"Beginn der Absetzbewegungen"
["Start of the retreat movements"]

10 July:
"Beim Übersetzen über den Pripjet 11 Mann ertrunken. Ich bin noch gut davon gekommen."
["11 men drowned while crossing the Pripyat. I got away alright."]

This close brush with death - 15 days before he was wounded - is another story I remember him telling me:

For reasons unknown, the (probably overloaded) barge carrying the troops across the Pripyat River took water and started to go under. Standing in the bow, my grandfather - who was a strong swimmer at the time - realized what was happening and did not hesitate to jump into the water. He and others reached the river bank swimming, but the 11 casualties were pulled under by their gear and - at least in some cases - by their drowning comrades.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you, wonderful material and very compelling, indeed. One of my mentors and a powerful influence in my professional life was lucky enough only to have been maimed in Stalingrad and returned home.

[Frundsberg]

Very nice! You are a lucky man - at least he survived that terrible war.

[Badto666]

Thank you very much Andreas for sharing this wonderful story with us. I´m really glad your grandfather survived the war.