404th volksGrenadier Regiment, November 1944

[Theron]

I am cross posting this request.

I am looking for details of the 404th's combat against the US 30th Infantry Division in and around Mariagrube Coal Mine and Mariadorf, Germany during the US November 1944 Offensive. I am looking for maps, photographs and narrative addressing this action.

I am also interested in knowing what other specific German units were in this immediate area...and any details as well. All I have is the larger units noted in the US Army WWII History "The Seigfried Line Campaign."

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Theron

Theron P. Snell, Ph.D
[email protected]

[John W. Howard]

Hello Theron:
If you have the higher unit designations such as Armee and so on, this site might be of use to help you find other units in the area: http://www.diedeutschewehrmacht.de/ Just click Kriegsgliederung/OOB and look for the higher unit of your choice. Make sure you click the numeral, not Armee or you will get an error message. Jan has done great work on his site, and if you are lucky he has done a thorough job on your Armee of choice; it should give you a breakdown of units assigned to that Armee at various times. Another good site to consult is www.lexikonderwehrmacht.de I hope this helps. Best wishes.

[Theron]

Thanks, John. I do have some of that information in the US Army's "Siegfried Line Campaign." I will check out the sites.

Do you have any idea of where to look for narrative etc covering the November 1944 action?

theron

[Theron]

Checking my sources, I also note that the 404th Volks Grenadier Regiement contained survivors of Mobile Regiment Von Fritzschen...all part of the 246th Volks Grenadier Division. The bulk of the division was a bit farther north, only the 404th was in/around Mariadorf.

theron

[John W. Howard]

Hello Theron:
The US National Archives will have after-action reports for the US 30th ID as well as operations records, intelligence records,etc. The intelligence records should have reports on POWs and the german units they came from. If you know the regiment, battalion, company involved in the area you are interested in, you can narrow down what you need. You can also go upward into corps or even army records for an even wider view. The US 30th ID may have a web-site; you might check on it. Some of these sites are outstanding; some not so good, but you should look. The US 30th ID will also have a divisional history in print somewhere. Turner Publishing of Paducah KY here in the States still sells some of the divisional histories provided they are in stock. You might also find regimental histories for the US 30th ID.
The US Military History Institute may have documents related to the US 30th ID. It also may have records related to the German units you are interested in. It has been awhile since I last used its search fuction, but it used to work well. Basically you do a unit search; just punch in the unit of interest and it lets you know if they have anything of interest to you. There may be Foreign Military Studies related to the German units you seek; they are usually in English and can vary in quality, but can be very useful. Best wishes and good luck,
John

[John W. Howard]

Hello Again Theron:
Here is a link to a US 30th ID website and message board: http://www.30thinfantry.org/index2.shtml Here is a link to Turner Publishing: http://www.turnerpublishing.com/default.aspx Here is a link to the US Military History Institute: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/AHEC/USAMHI/default.cfm