Regiment 252 Chuduilicha 1942

[ingineu]

I'm trying to find some information about my uncle Robert. I was given the following info:

Gefreiter Robert Neumann
4 Mg K.R 252
Geboren: 14 .Jan. 1922
Gefallen: 4. Dec. 1942
in Chuduilicha in der nähe von Rschew, Russland (headshot)

My father had requested more info back in the 90's and was given the following details:

Vierte (4) kompanie infanterie ersatz - battailon 16
truppenteil vierte Kompanie infanterie regiment 252
in chudulicha gefallen und in pschennoe bezirk olinin
russland in einen kameraden grab bestattet worden ist.

I've tried searching for Chuduilicha, in various forms, and have not found anything. Where could I find details on the 4th Kompanie (is that division?) regiment 252 and their whereabouts in December 1942. We have a number of letters from him where he describes building a bunker on one side of the Volga River. That was in October of 1942. After that, the letters stopped.

Help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jerry]

I.R. 252 was part of the 110 Inf.Division which at that time was in 9th Army and occupying positions in what was known as the Rzhev salient. I believe "Chuduilicha" possibly refers to a village named Katelka, which is located about halfway between Belyi and Vyazma (also about halfway between Smolensk and Rzhev).

Hope that helps.

Jerry

[ingineu]

Thanks for your quick response. I found a reference to Chuduilicha as follows:

DIE WINTERSCHLACHT
UM DEN BLOCK DER 9. ARMEE

2. Dezember 1942
Südlich der Lutschessa stießen starke Feindkräfte, ebenfalls mit Panzern, um 9.00 Uhr gegen das I. Bataillon 252 vor, um den Durchbruch nach Osten zu erzwingen. In erbitterten Nahkämpfen drückte der Gegner das Bataillon äuf Chudulicha zurück. Schon schlugen Granaten auf die nur noch 2 km entfernte Rollbahn Belyj-Olenin ein, die für die Versorgung der südlich stehenden Kräfte dringend gebraucht wurde.

From the above description, it appears that Chuduilicha must have been close to the Belyj-Olenin train tracks just south of the Lutschessa river. Where can I find information on the divisions daily whereabouts? Is that possible? Is the above paragraph talking about his regiment?
Thanks.

[Linkar]

Hello Ingineu,

The village Chuduilicha (Khudulikha or Худулиха in Cyrillic) does not exist anymore, but I found its cooridnates in this article in the Russian Wikipedia: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0% ... 1%82%D0%B8

It is a list of villages that ceased to exist in Olenino area (olenino bezirk in one of your quotes). Худулиха is closer to the bottom of the list, and its coordinates are listed as 56.0532 33.3504. If you enter the coordinates in Bing Maps it will give you the location of the village: http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH9#Jn ... czNzMwNDY5

Note the nearby river Luchesa (Lutchessa in your quote). Also, the village Pshennoe (Pschennoe in your quote or Пшенное in Cyrillic) is in the same list of vanished villages. Its coordinates are 56.0454 33.4244 and here is the location on Bing Maps: http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH9#Jn ... UxMjY5Njk=
From your quotes in German it appears that your uncle was killed in or near Khudulikha village and buried in Pshennoe village north of Gusevo and the river Luchesa. Both of the villages are not in existence anymore. The Bird's Eye option in the drop-down menu under Road option allows to see the terrain.

[Linkar]

Also, here is a Russian translation of a book on Rzhew battles by Horst Grossman, General, with a chapter describing in detail the battles on the river Luchesa from November 25, 1942 till December 31, 1942. It mentions the village Chuidulicha (Khudilikha, Худулиха). If you click on the blue number 11 under the heading, it will take you to the battle area map which shows Chudulicha.
http://1942.rzev.ru/grossman/g12.html

Unfortunately, I couldn't locate an English translation of the book on Amazon or Worldcat.org. Maybe you could find someone to translate the chapter from Russian to English? The chapter mentions the 110 Inf. Div. and 252 Inf. Reg.. I suppose they could be mentioned in other parts of the book, as well. The website has other articles on the Rzhew battles, as well.

[ingineu]

Awesome! Thanks so much for your investigation. I'll try to find someone that can translate the chapter.
Thanks again.

[ingineu]

The clip I found online and posted here, was actually written by Horst Grossman, as I just found out. This must be the chapter you identified in Russian.
I have a picture of his initial grave. What's interesting is that his marker is a cross, 2 over from him is a marker in the shape of an iron cross, same regiment, Gren. Rich Krus_ (rest is chopped off). Are there lists around that have the names for the regiment? I suppose there are just too many.

[Linkar]

Glad to help, Ingineu!

The book by Horst Grossmann, Rzhew: The Cornerstone of the Eastern Front, is available in German on Amazon.de http://www.amazon.de/Rshew-Horst-Grossm ... 972&sr=1-7

I think there are archives in Germany that might have regimental lists - WASt perhaps? There might be other archives. I have no experience in this area, but some forum members here have worked with them. You might be able to find some helpful resources by looking through threads on tracing members of Wehrmacht.