Description
Object description
German private served with Anti-Aircraft Company, Deutschland Regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier Division in Russia, 1943-1944; on guard duties with German Army in Germany, 1944; served with Anti-Aircraft Company, Deutschland Regiment in Hungary and Austria, 1945; POW in Austria, Germany and GB, 1945-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Pomerania, Germany, 1925-1943: family; education. Aspects of period as civilian in Pomerania, Germany, 1939-1943: reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 9/1939; employment on farm; attitude towards Nazi regime; work with Arbeitsdienst in Konigsberg, 1943. Aspects of enlistment and training as private with German Air Force in Prague, Czechoslovakia and Kharkov, Russia, 1943: volunteering for anti-aircraft service, 1943; threat of attack on streets in Prague; discipline in military training; train journey from Prague, Czechoslovakia to Kharkov, Russia, 5/1943; field training near Kharkov. Recollections of operations as private with Anti-Aircraft Company, Deutschland Regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier Division in Russia, 1943-1944: joining company for Kursk battle, 7/1943.
REEL 2 Continues: supporting infantry troops at Kursk, 7/1943; role protecting divisional headquarters; speed of Russian armoured attacks at Kursk; static nature of warfare; Russian use of Katyusha 'Stalin Organ' rockets; loss of company anti-aircraft gun; opinion of German tanks; lack of quarter given during Battle of Kursk; opinion of scorched earth policy; retreat from Kursk; move to Stalino area on Caucasus front; massed Russian infantry attacks; wounding in shoulder in Kiev area; treatment in field hospital; effects of drinking tainted water.
REEL 3 Continues: relations with Russian civilians; lice problem; Russian air superiority and retreat towards Poland. Aspects of period on guard duties with German Army in Germany, 1944: treatment for stomach problems at Erfurt, summer 1944; treatment and recovery of shoulder wound; duties guarding inmates from Dachau Concentration Camp in Munich area; duties guarding German Army prisoners; Allied bombing of Munich; his refusal to become guard at Nordhausen Concentration Camp.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of operations as private with Anti-Aircraft Company, Deutschland Regiment in Hungary and Austria, 1945: provisions received prior to return to Deutschland Regiment in Hungary; retreat to Vienna, Austria; attitude towards orders to fight to the death; encounter with Russian tank in Vienna; execution of German deserters in Vienna; retreat towards Linz; encounter with US forces near Linz; surrendering to Americans in Linz, 4/1945. Aspects of period as POW in Austria and Germany, 1945-1946: treatment by Americans; volunteering for bomb disposal work; move to release camp in Darmstadt; move to British Zone of Germany. Aspects of period as POW in GB, 1946-1947: volunteering for work in GB; journey to GB.
REEL 5 Continues: farm work at Billinghurst, Mundham and Bosham; making contact with family in Germany; reasons for settling in GB; treatment he received in GB; reasons for retaining German citizenship; father's experiences at end of Second World War. Aspects of service with German Army during Second World War: attitude towards service; use of Volksdeutsch troops for reconnaissance; opinion of Spanish allies; relations with Austrian troops; attitude towards living in GB; attack by Cossack cavalry in Caucasus; fate of Russian POWs returned to Russia.