Feldpost from D-Day???

[Danmark]

Ok mates, I picked up this Feldpost letter today.







It is interesting as it has been taken from a monthly magazine issued to troops on leave.



Soldatenblatter fur Feier und Freizeit [Soldiers' Journals for Celebration and Leisure] was distributed throughout the war and in this case a blank letter - the journal contained several such - was used for the soldier to write home.

Still shaky on my German but it seems to have been written from Paris on D-Day!! It has been Feldpost stamped on the 7th June and posted to a Frau in Hermannsberg.

Again, no big ticket item but a great snippet from history - if the letter could talk... "invasion??? ... WHAT invasion!!!!"

[Woolgar]

A little gem! I would love that in my Feldpost collection

Congrats on a cool pick up

Nick

[Danmark]

Couldn't do a bloke a favour and translate it for me Nick?

[Woolgar]

Couldn't do a bloke a favour and translate it for me Nick?

I zoomed in and can’t make out the lettering at all!
I really hope someone can as I would love to know what is being said

Nick

[Danmark]

These are the sellers photos Nick, when it gets into my grubby hands I'll do a high res scan....

[Willmore]

Hi Danmark.

I am struggling with this one, but have got a few bits so far. Hopefully the high res scans will help.

It looks like it was sent by Feldw (Feldwebel) Hackl L03719 from Lg.Pa.Paris = Luftgau Postamt Paris (Air district Post Office Paris) to Frau Lotti Hackl of Hörmannsberg bei (near) Augsburg.
The first line of the letter looks like it says Meine leibete lotti u (und) kinder! (My dear/loved Lotti and children!).

The feldpost number (L03719) corresponds to -

03719
(Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) Reserve-Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie 1/I,
(15.9.1940-31.1.1941) 1. Reserve-Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie Luftgau- 1,
(25.1.1943-31.7.1943) 7. Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie z.b.V.,
dann 4. Transport-Flieger-Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie (Qu.),
(1.8.1943-23.3.1944) 6.1.1944 137. Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie (Qu.),
(7.11.1944-Kriegsende) 16.3.1945 6. Flugzeug-Wartungs-Kompanie.

Feldpost numbers: 03000-03999

These type of units relate to airfields. Flughafen-Betriebs-Kompanie = Airport Operations Company and Flugzeug Wartungskompanie = Aircraft Maintenance Company.

Hörmannsberg
Hormannsberg Karte - Schwaben, Deutschland - Mapcarta

Augsburg
Augsburg - Wikipedia

Kind regards,

Will.

[Danmark]

Thanks Will!!
BOY, way more than I could read so a BIG thankyou!

I love finding these little gems that at first glance seem so inconsequential but were / are windows into the life of a soldier at the time.

It gets me thinking - was his Paris leave cancelled after he posted this and Feldwebel Hackl sent to the front? Did he live or did he die?
Was this his last letter sent to his wife and family and kept all these years??? ..... THAT'S why I find these things so intriguing!!

Believe me, I have tried learning German but the grasp of another language is a trick this old dog just cant seem to pick up!!

Regards, Dan

[Danmark]

Oh, thanks for the map too Will, because I had trouble finding "Hörmannsberg Near Augsburg" ......

but that's because the hamlet ( previously independent but since 1972 incorporated into the district of Ried ) only has about 300 residents NOW ( less I'm sure in 1944 ) so Frau Hackl would have been known by the postie who managed to deliver it!!

[Willmore]

Hi Dan.

No worries and sorry for the late reply.

I totally agree with you there that things like this are little gems and I always think of them as a piece of irreplaceable social history. They can often give us tantalising clues, but no definitive answers unfortunately.

The script is very tricky for sure and from what I have read, a lot of modern Germans struggle with it.

I had a search and there are 13 soldiers from Hörmannsberg listed as having died (1 in WW1 and 12 in WW2) and out of those, there are two soldiers with the surname Hackl listed on the Volksbund (German war graves website). One of them died in the 1943, so we can say for sure that it is not him. That leaves one possible candidate. Although the surname, place of birth and
rank match, there is no way to tell if this is the man who wrote the letter unfortunately.

Here are the details -

Name: Franz Xaver Hackl
Date of birth: 06.09.1914
Place of birth: Hörmannsberg
Death/missing date: 01.04.1945
Death/missing place: not listed
Service rank: Feldwebel
Franz Xaver Hackl is buried in the military cemetery in Gemünden.

Gemünden is located in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria
Gemunden am Main - Wikipedia

Kind regards,

Will.

[Danmark]

Hi Will,
THANKS again!! Hopefully when the letter arrives and I can scan it, it may? reveal some snippets that will further illuminate things ...

From what I read online, on April 1st 1945, the big battle was for Kassel 140km to the north east of Frankfurt, but according to this map, there was a south east push as well, the US 7th was overrunning the Gemünden area.



Maybe Feldwebel Franz Xaver Hackl of a Luftwaffe maintenance unit fell in this battle? ......Who knows, but speculation exercises the mind
Cheers, Dan