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Hi Cyril, Knights Cross (Ritterkreuz) and EKII (Eiserner Kreuz 2. Klasse) are very different decorations... the first one is rather rare, the second one is common. Your grandfather's Soldbuch sounds very interesting though, would you be ok to share it here or to send it in private message? It's inte...

Great pictures, it is sometimes amazing what one can find on Ebay! Any idea of the unit? Date?
Thx

Hi all, More pictures from the Afrika Schützen Regiment 963 were being sold on Ebay-Germany. This time I manage to get a couple of them! Here the links to the pictures on Ebay, I'll post copies of the originals without copyright scribbles once I receive them: Foto Soldat Afrika-Schtz.-Rgt. 963 Beute...

Hi Dave, Yes, so to re-cap: the III Bataillon ASR 963 as other 999 punishment units initially destined to Africa were then send to Greece instead, where the first elements arrived in June or July 1943. The file and rank soldiers of these units where either so-called common criminals (at least in the...

Hi Dave, Yes, that's because the 963 ASR was put together in Heuberg beginning of 1943 to be sent to Afrika/Tunisia with the 961 and 962 ASR as part of the 999. Afrika Division, but weren't ready to be set there on time before the German defeat in Tunisia. So they were sent to Greece instead... Nico...

The Thread title was meant to be:
Afrika Schützen Regiment 963 (Afr. Schtz. Reg. 963) and V. Festungs Infanterie Bataillon 999
but I guess that was too long!

I would be interested to know if anyway knows more about those "communist unrests" of July 1943 in Athens?

Cheers
Nicolas

Hi all, I have been making some advances in my research about my grandfather Lt. Ludwig Preller and would like to make accessible here the information I have gathered on Afr. Schtz. 963 later to become Festungs Infanterie Bataillon 999, as well as linking to the related information that is available...

I also discovered this absolutely amazing series of photos of Milos and Paros in 1944, including colour shots (!!!) taken by a Grenadier with an obvious talent and expertise for photography:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/865394/tags/Milos

Hi all, Actually the V. /Festung Infanterie Bataillon 999, in which my grandfather was, was stationed on the island of Lemnos until the August 1944. On Paros it.was.the 1010 Festungs Infanterie Bataillon occupying the island with elements of the 1011 FIB from the 4. Kompanie who were stationed in ne...

An interesting parallel from a personal case in Greece: Jan Bobrowski, from Gdansk and who was in the same unit as my grandfather, was forced into the Wehrmacht and posted on the islands of Scarpanto and Lemnos. See my post here: http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=25387&p=241...

An exiting development! I found someone whose great-grandfather was in exactly the same unit as my grandfathter after posting this partial list from the Staff or III. Bataillon of Afrika Schutzen Regiment 963! Doing a google search of WWII pictures of the island of Lemnos I found the following photo...

Thanks Alan for the clarification on the translation of Schutzen, you are right.

Hi all, Here is more information and questions I have about my grandfather's time in the III./Afrika Schützen Regiment 963 and subsequent time in Greece in the V./Festungs Infanterie Bataillon 999, including the names of some other soldiers in these units. My grandfather Ludwig Preller was in the st...

This is the info I got from WAaST on the units my grandfather was assigned to during his period in Greece, mainly on Paros as far as I know:
27.07.1943 20. Kompanie/Festungs-Infanterie-Bataillon 999
lt. Meldung v. 02.10.1944 Stab V./ Festungs-Infanterie-Bataillon 999

Hi all,

I have started to put together some of the info found on my grandfather on this blog:
http://enanosin.wordpress.com/2013/06/2 ... g-preller/
any additional infos on the units and locations mentioned is more than welcome!
Thank you
Nicolas