D-188 Army Grouping for a Leutnant Willi Tornow in the
“Feldherrenhalle” – with Soldbuch, Wehrpass and Several Paper Documents
Interesting Army Soldbuch for a soldier promoted to Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) in
early 1945 (his initial grade was Unteroffizier). The Soldbuch is in good
condition, though the cover is noticeably cleaner than the inside pages (which
are soiled, have some light stains and a little edge wear), and was probably a
replacement for a damaged original (the staples are also backwards). The swastika
looks to have been removed and later penciled in dark. The Soldbuch has the
award entries listed in the back section and as was often the case, with the
word “Auszeichnungen” ("Decorations") handwritten as a heading. The award
entries cover three pages! The middle page (originally an insert) has come
loose. Herr Leutnant was well decorated, with awards including the EK 1 and II,
a War Merit Cross with Swords, Infantry Assault Badge in Silver, Close Combat in
Bronze, and a Gold Wound Badge among others. The pages are crammed full of
entries. The Unit assignments show assignment to the Staff Company,
Fusilier-Regiment Feldherrnhalle. The Wehrpass is in very good condition,
stamped on the cover top in red ink “Zweitschrift” as well as on the top of
the first inside page – this indicating that the book was a duplicate copy
made after the original was worn out, filled up, or lost. The cover and spine
tape show some minimal wear, but the interior pages are in superb condition. The
civilian photo of Tornow is nearly a sepia print now – lightly faded and brown
hued (at least, that’s the tone of the photo in its current state), but still
quite clear. Unlike the entries in the Soldbuch, the nicely corresponding
entries in the Wehrpass are very legible, and also quite extensive, with a long
list of weapons: K98, Gewehr98, P-08 and P-38, MG34 and 42, Gewehr 43, MKb-42,
the “Storm Karbine” (“Sturm Karabiner” - the Stg44?), and the Grenade
launcher 08 and 12mm. He attended an Officer candidate course including the
Panzertruppenschule Krampnitz. His 12 awards are clearly listed including a
Bulgarian award. Combat actions (France, Balkans, Soviet Union, incl.
Stalingrad) cover a page and a half, with the last dating to May of 1945.
During his convalescence from some wound or injury, he was assigned to an ad hoc
Kamfgruppe on the Western Front. His promotion to Leutnant occurred on 1 May
1945. The additional documents include a 1 May 1944 dated promotion message, a POW
data sheet /discharge paper (pretty rough shape), and a post-war civil affidavit
certifying that Tarnow (an Austrian) had never been a member of the NSDAP or one
of its organizations. Really neat group for an Officer in a scarce Unit!
$995.00
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Item D-188
