WW2 Death Card of Kriegsmarine member Johann Wolfsöldner.

[Heartfeltzero]

Johann was born on July 5th 1922. He served in the Kriegsmarine and was the rank of Obergefreiter. He was killed in action on May 15th 1944 in Trondheim, Norway. I’m unsure how he was killed.

[Willmore]

Hello.

I found a casualty card and some additional information on the find a grave website.

Name: Johann Wolfsöldner
Date of birth: 05.07.1922
Place of birth: Asten, Linz-Land Bezirk, Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), Austria
Death/missing date: 15.05.1944
Death/missing place: Norway, at See
Service rank: Matrosenobergefreiter
Military unit: 57. Vorpostenflottille

His cause of death is noted as Gefallen (Killed in action).


Find a grave website (photo) -
Johann Wolfsoldner (1922-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial.


57. Vorpostenflottille -
57. Vorpostenflottille
Lexikon der Wehrmacht

Kind regards,

Will.

[Willmore]

57 Vorpostenflotille was formed in November 1940. It was disbanded in June 1945. A number of vessels were re-designated within the unit.

V 5701 Thüringen
V 5702 Eupen (V 5706)
V 5702 Grane
V 5703 Elsass (V 5705)
V 5703 Lothringen (V 5704)
V 5704 Warthegau ( V 5705)
V 5705 Elsaß †
V 5706 Ostmark †
V 5707 Südwind
V 5711 Steiermark
V 5712 Kärnten
V 5713 Sudetenland
V 5714 Tirol
V 5715 Skaggerak
V 5716 Flandern
V 5717 Fritz Homann
V 5718 Coburg †
V 5719 Markomanne
V 5720 Normanne
V 5721 Turinge
V 5722 Hornack †
V 5723 Möwe
†Losses:- V 5705 Elsaß struck a mine and sank in the Norwegian Sea off Bodø, Nordland, Norway on 27 September 1943. V 5706 Ostmark ran aground and sank on 16 March 1941. V 5718 Coburg on 18 November 1943. V 5722 Hornack was sunk at Rørvik, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway by Allied aircraft on 26 October 1944.

List of Vorpostenboote in World War II - Wikipedia

So it looks like he didn't die in a sinking, but gefallen points to enemy action.


Page 17 has a brief bit of information about the Vorpostenboote -
http://prussia.online/Data/Book/kr/k...l%20Forces.pdf

[Heartfeltzero]

Very interesting! Thanks! So I’m guessing he was killed in like an air raid on land or something along those lines rather than killed on a vessel? The card states he was a gun commander. I wonder why type of gun. Also it says “at see”. Does that mean he was on a vessel? And perhaps was strafed or something.

[hucks216]

Maybe it is linked to these carrier strikes although the locations are a few hundred miles further up the coast from Trondheim:

Die am 15.5. gestarteten 27 Barracuda, 28 Corsair und je 4 Seafire und Wildcat müssen wegen der Wetterlage (tiefe Wolkendecke) vor der Küste umkehren. Eine 2. Kampfgruppe mit den Geleitträgern Emperor und Striker, den Kreuzern Sheffield und Royalist und den Zerstörern Onslow, Obedient, Ursa, Wakeful, Piorun und Blyskawica stößt am 14. und 15.5. zweimal auf Rörvik und Stadlandet vor und erzielt mit Trägerflugzeugen zahlreiche Nahtreffer auf vor Anker liegenden dt. Schiffen, jedoch keinen Versenkungserfolg.

[Willmore]

Yes he was killed at sea, so that would point to him being on a vessel. I think the information hucks provided may point to the action that caused Johann's death.

[Heartfeltzero]

Thank for this info! The dates do add up. It is odd that it happened a few hundred miles away, but maybe they put his death location as trondheim since that’s where he’s buried rather than where he was actually killed. Thanks!

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Thanks!