IR 51 at Szczercow - Sep 1939

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tigre
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IR 51 at Szczercow - Sep 1939

Post by tigre »

Hello to all, Please could anyone shed some light with regards to the actions in which the IR 51 was involved at Szczercow, Poland on the 5th of September 1939. There was KIA Prinz Oskar Cunno von Preussen while serving as Lieutenant in that unit.
Last edited by tigre on Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Njorl »

Hello tigre

I looked up Szczerców in my books and found only very brief description of events that took place on September the 5th in its vicinity.

One Polish source attributes bulk of fighting there to German 19th ID - opposed by Polish 30th ID. 18th ID is mentioned only once - its recon units were fended off by Polish 72nd IR of 28th ID on September the 4th.
The other source plainly says:
In the sector of 28th ID Germans operated only with artillery fire. General Cehak's 30th ID withstood several attacks near Szczerców and repulsed them inflicting losses upon enemy.
To my confusion 51st IR was part of 18th ID.

Maybe the Polish authors are wrong writing that it was 19th ID that fought near Szczerców on September the 5th? Or maybe 'at Szczerców' should be narrowed down? :? Any thoughts?

Regards
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Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno Prinz von Preußen

Post by tigre »

Hello Njorl, thanks for answering. I've found this info also.....




Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno Prinz von Preußen1 (M)
b. 12 July 1915, d. 5 September 1939, #103896
Pedigree

Father Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf Prinz von Preußen1 b. 27 July 1888, d. 27 January 1958
Mother Ina-Marie Helene Adele Elise von Bassewitz-Levetzow, Countess von Bassewitz-Levetzow1 b. 27 January 1888, d. 17 September 1973

Last Edited 18 Nov 2005


Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno Prinz von Preußen was born on 12 July 1915 in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.1 He was the son of Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf Prinz von Preußen and Ina-Marie Helene Adele Elise von Bassewitz-Levetzow, Countess von Bassewitz-Levetzow.1 He was also reported to have been born on 15 July 1915 in Potsdam, Brandenburg. He died on 5 September 1939 at age 24 in Wadowka, Poland, from wounds received in action.1
Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno Prinz von Preußen was a member of the House of Hohenzollern. He gained the title of Prinz von Preußen (styled as HRH Prince of Prussia).1 He gained the title of Count von Ruppin.2 He fought in the Second World War.

Citations [S3] Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 156. Hereinafter cited as Queen Victoria's Descendants.
[S12] C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 61. Hereinafter cited as The Book of Kings.

Source: thePeerage.com
A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe. Person Page 10390


May be Wadowka (on the Widawka river) was the right place for that engagement. Could you check in your books please?. Also could you tell me more about the IR 51 actions between the border line and the widawka river. TIA. Tigre.
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Post by Njorl »

Hello,

Unfortunately I can't provide you any data on 51st IR combat trail between 1st and 5th September '39. Information and quotation posted before come from works that focus on Polish Army's effort in September Campaign. This time the opponent (ie. Wehrmacht's 18th and 19th IDs) was identified but on many occasion is unknown.

There is a book Armia "Łódź" 1939 by J. Wróblewski which may contain detailed information about fighting near Szczerców from Polish point of view, but currently it's out of my reach (I now of only one guy who wants to sell it for 50 Euro :( ). I'll let you know if I get it.

I looked for 'Wadówka' on road maps available online but couldn't find it. Internet search wasn't succesful either - I found a village called Wadówka but it's way SE of Szczerców. There is a river Widawka (as you already know), towns: Widawa (ca 15 km NW of Szczerców) and Wadlew (ca 25 km NE of Szczerców). Maybe 'Wadówka' was a landowner's estate or some small hamlet?
tigre wrote:He died on 5 September 1939 at age 24 in Wadowka, Poland, from wounds received in action.
Maybe he died in field hospital of wounds receivd, say a day before?

Regards

M
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51st IR combat trail

Post by tigre »

Hello Njorl, thank you for looking on that subject; so the doubt remained, as you told my be the town was really widawa and was miss spelt by the german speakers. who knows?. Nevertheless if someone here can help me to trace the IR 51's fights between 01 sep and 05/06 sep it would be really appreciated. TIA. Cheers. Tigre.
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Post by cpa95 »

Hi tigre,

from the history of IR 51: Szczercow part I

18. Division Ia
Division HQu. Laski, to the 10/1/1939
Report on attacking of the fort II in the 9/26/1939
On 25.9 the division gave the order to take the fort II before the beginning of the main attack on Warsaw to create thus a better starting position. The possibility for taking the fort seemed given by a message of a rec.-troup of the IR 51 (Uffz. Kittner), which on the 25th had come up close to the water jump of the fort without getting fire and it had announced that the fort is only weakly filled with troups. This message corresponded with the statements of a caught Polish officer by the XI. A.K. that the fort would be filled only with a field guard.
At the same time with the attack on the fort IR 30 in its segment should take away the enemy occupied road fork 1 km east of Gac. The attack time should be set together by IR51 and IR30. The commander of IR 51 resolved to take the fort unexpectedly without artillery preparation, because the strength of the crew was also underestimated by a personal investigation of the commander of I./IR51 who had approached up to 200 m the fort. With the removal of the fort the I-st battalion was instructed. To this was subordinated moreover: 10-th company, 1 lIG. unit (Zug), 1 Pak unit (Zug) and 1 unit (Zug) pioneers of 2. / Pio.Btl. 48 with flamethrowers and explosive ammunition. The II./AR 18 received instruction to put disturbance fire on the fort during the night, but not to fire, however, before the attack, so that the surprise moment remained. The II. AR 18 had to send forward observers with the foremost parts of the I./IR51 to guard by polish counterattacks from the east.
Starting to the attack from the lines in the forest southwest of the fort was settled on 4.00 h. The commander of I. Btl. (Lieutenant-colonel Hemmann) started in front line:


Regards
Thomas


EDIT: Sorry i wasa a little bit confused. This belongs to the attack of fort II/Warschau.
I will take a look for the 5th (Szczercow)
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Post by Richard Hargreaves »

Is this the same person? This is an extract from my book on the invasion of Poland which is due out in 2008?

THE aristocratic Oskar Prinz von Preussen was an idealist, a dreamer. This campaign in Poland was a 20th-Century crusade. Von Preussen marched to the tune of cathedral music “carried from afar” in the cities of the Reich. The 24-year-old wrote home poetically:

Before us the endless, shapeless expanse of the steppe is spread out; it seems to glow threateningly in the east. There’s smoke in the sky. All there is to do is advance to the distant lines, behind which our fate pushes heavy and dull. We will not escape it.
We carry the blood of two millennia of shining, towering history with us, and only a quiet radiance remained from the wreaths and ribbons, which bound it.

It was von Preussen’s only letter home from the front. He was killed on September 5th on the Widawka Heights south of Lodz. [Bähr and Bähr, pp.13-14]
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Post by cpa95 »

Hi Halder,

my post is from the book "IR51/PGR 51" (Hermann, from 1964). It contains a report about the battle for the Widawka-line, p. 57-59 and the death of Prinz Oscar von Preußen.

Regards
Thomas
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Post by Richard Hargreaves »

Hi Thomas,

This is the only letter von Preussen wrote during the campaign.

Oskar Prinz von Preussen
geboren am 12. Juli 1915 in Potsdam
gefallen am 5. September 1959 bei den Widawkahöhen, Polen

Polen, Anfang September 1939

Hinter uns liegen die Täler der Heimat, liegen Kornfelder und Kiefernwälder, leuchten die roten Dörfer und die Städte mit den schweren Domen. Fern klingen ihre Lieder zu uns herüber und ihre Fahnen und ihre Adler sinken zurück
Wir sind durch ein Meer von Ruhm und Schwerem gegangen, in dem unsere Straße zu schwanken begann und zu bröckeln und blutige Fetzen sich vor das Blickfeld schoben. Jetzt sind wir am Ende. Vor uns dehnt sich die Steppe ohne Maß, ohne Halt und scheint im Osten drohend zu glühen. Rauch steht am Himmel. Es gibt nur noch ein Vorwärts, zu den fernen Linien, hinter denen sich unser Schicksal schwer und dumpf fertig schiebt. Wir werden ihm nicht entgehen
Mit uns tragen wir das Blut von zwei Jahrtausenden glanzvoll ragender Geschichte, und nur ein stilles Leuchten blieb von den Kränzen und den Bändern, die sie gewunden
Ein Helm und eine Waffe in der Faust, und ein graues Kleid so sind wir einst hineingezogen in die Tore der Menschheit und haben unsere Träume bis an die Sterne gehängt. Jetzt schreiten wir langsam aus den Toren wieder hinaus. Und nur ein wissender Zug um den schmal gewordenen Mund redet von den Mühen, die sich auf diesem Weg - ragend hoch schon - getürmt hatten, und von den Erkenntnissen, deren immer wieder verworfene Antworten um uns standen. Wir haben nur Helm und Waffe mitgenommen und anstatt der Fragen ein paar Antworten geborgen, deren Wert wir in des schon zweifelnd betrachten
Wir stehen vor den brennenden Toren Europas und ziehen hinein in unser Ragnarök, und nur ein Schauer des Glaubens verklärt unsere Züge, von dem, der da sagt, daß er bei uns sein wolle bis an der Welt Ende .

It is taken from Bähr, Walter and Bähr, Hans (eds) Kriegsbriefe Gefallener Studenten 1939-1945, Rainer Wunderlich Verlag, Tübingen, 1952
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IR 51 - Sep 1939

Post by tigre »

Hello Thomas, first of all, thank you very much for all your help. Would you kindly follow the story about the Fort II's conquest and also the engagements while crossing the border line? TIA. The best for you. Tigre.
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Post by Njorl »

Hello,

I have finally bought Armia "Łódź" 1939. It was a bargain - only 43 Euro :wink:

In connection with 'Szczerców' and September 4th 1939:
Around 11.00 hrs considerable forces of XI AK captured Szczercow. At about 15.00 hrs a regiment-sized column of German infantry moved out in direction of Lubiec. One have to assume that it was detached recon unit which was ordered to perform reconaissance of Polish defensive system.
Above mentioned German infantry column was allowed to advance as far as Magdalenow [ca 5 km N of Szczercow/N] without any harassment. 3 artillery battalions and 1st battalion of 83 IR were ordered to open fire on it. German column, caught by surprise with centered artillery, MG and small arms fire, did not manage to deploy to combat as planned but scattered in chaos and withdrew with signs of panic. Renewed assault of German recon troops, conducted in southern sector at around 19.00 hrs, was again repulsed by troops of 30th ID.
More to follow.

Regards,

M
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IR 51 - Sep 1939

Post by tigre »

Well done Njorl, keep going. Cheers. Tigre.
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Re: IR 51 at Szczercow - Sep 1939

Post by Domen123 »

One Polish source attributes bulk of fighting there to German 19th ID - opposed by Polish 30th ID. 18th ID is mentioned only once - its recon units were fended off by Polish 72nd IR of 28th ID on September the 4th.
18. ID was fighting to the left from 19. ID during that day:

Image

And here is a photo of Borowa Berg:

http://www.fotosik.pl/pokaz_obrazek/pel ... ac53f.html

There were three such hills in this area.
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Re: IR 51 at Szczercow - Sep 1939

Post by tigre »

Thanks Domen :wink:. Cheers. Raúl M 8).
Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada. General José de San Martín.
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