Feldgrau.net

I am looking for information on the role of Sturmgeschutz Brigade 912 in the fighting around Dunaburg (Daugavpils) Latvia in late July 1944. Is there a unit history in print? I do read German.

Thanks for any help!
Charlie645

Röll's book contains a great deal of detail with regard to Strachwitz's life in general. He clearly had the full cooperation of the family and the book contains, for example, many Strachwitz family photos never published before.The book is also very detailed with regard to the Count's early life and...

The 2011 publication in German of Han-Joachim Röll's new Strachwitz biography "Generalleutnant der Reserve Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz: Vom kavallerieoffizier zum Führer gepanzerte Verbände" by Flechsig Verlag may have delayed or shelved Manchu's project. The bi...

I am looking for more detailed information on sPzAbt 505 during those terrible early days of trying to stem the Soviet Bagration offensive east of Minsk. I have Schneider's Tigers in Combat I and Kroenke's Tiger Project Book. Is there a unit history os sPzAbt 505 available? I read German. I would al...

Battlefront.com has released the second generation of its superb "Combat Mission" game with "Combat Mission: Battle of Normandy", plus an add-on module that includes Allied Commonwealth forces. This is a cutting-edge top of the line tactical game with superb graphics and a powerf...

In his book "Kursk: The German View", Steven H. Newton cites Grossdeutschland's poor performance in that operation as evidence that its first commander, Walter Hoernlein, was a poor tactician. Newton writes on p. 389: "Hoernlein was a beloved figure within the division, but his tactic...

Hi Oliver, The unit you are interested in was definitely the Fuhrer-Begleit-Battalion. See Volume 2 of Helmuth Spaeter's "History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland", Chapter 4, pages 283-286. During this Narva Operation the unit was also known as Kampfgruppe Boehrend and included some ad...

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Charlie645

I have just finished reading "Eastern Inferno: Journals of a German Panzerjaeger on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943", edited by the grandchildren of Hans Roth, who served in the PZJG abteilung of the 299th Infantry Division on the Ostfront from Barbarossa to Bagration. This is the most grippi...

Hi Blechtrommel, Yes, Panzerverband Strachwitz was part of the same large German counteroffensive that included the 7th Panzer Division in August 1944. But the 7th Panzer aimed at Shaulyai in the middle of the Soviet salient that had cut off German Army Group North, while Strachwitz struck at the ve...

Thanks to Die Blechtrommel and hucks216 for your interesting information. If the Prinz Eugen was already operating with the training squadron in the Baltic behind that anti-submarine net, then it was an obvious decision to have it engage in a shore bombardment to support Strachwitz's effort to break...

The Dupuy Institute Forum thread is indeed interesting, if inconclusive. Perhaps Lauchert's letters reveal more about the Decker/Strachwitz controversy. Have the translations been published anywhere?

Charlie

The plotting map is also fascinating, depicting the exact back-and-forth course of the Prinz Eugen over time as it bombarded Tukkums.

Charlie

Concerning the Decker-Strachwitz confrontation at Kursk, another useful source can be found on pages 130-131 of Hans-Joachim Jung's book, "Panzer Soldiers for 'God, Honor, Fatherland':The History of Panzerregiment 'Grossdeutschland'". Jung claims to have spoken personally with Strachwitz o...

Hi Manchu19, I have the SS file on Strachwitz that you mention, and so does the author I have helped. Perhaps because Strachwitz never served in an SS unit during World War 2, that file is very limited and contains serious gaps in information. I believe the Graf's daughter from his first marriage di...