Soldbuch of Wachtmeister Wilhelm Hentrich, Schwere Artillerie-Ersatz und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 309

Heavily used Soldbuch by Wachtmeister Wilhelm Hentrich, born on 23.5.1918 in Heldra / Dtsl. Hentrich has served in the Heer throughout the war with the exception of a few hospital admissions. This Soldbuch was issued at the beginning of the war. This Soldbuch  has been carried by him for the entire duration of the war. Very interesting detail is pages 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the original Soldbuch were so worn out that for these pages there is an “Ersatzausfertigung” created on 20.4.1945.

Normally a completely new Soldbuch was issued (Zweit or Ersatzausfertigung) but this one was given on a very late date during the war, only the first four pages were replaced. These pages are fairly concise, especially when it comes to which units he served during the war. There, however many notes / Eintragungen in the soldbuch which are stamped with “Schwere Artillerie-Ersatz und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 309 ”, and the Zahlmeisterei notes on page 18 (and also EKM data on page 1) we can see that he served in it during the outbreak of the war Artillerie-Regiment 45 and that somewhere in early 1940, probably before May 1940 he was transferred to the Artillerie-Regiment 152. This is a perfect match as many notes in the Soldbuch are stamped “Schwere Artillerie-Ersatz und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 309”, which provided troops for both Artillery Regiments when they were stationed at the Westwall in the early days of the war and took part in the campaign through France in May 1940.

In 1941 A.R. 152 participated in Operation Barbarossa and  the invasion of Russia. Already in the first month Hentrich was wounded by shrapnel and was hospitalized until October of that year. For his injury he was rewarded with the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz. In August and September of 1942, he was admitted to hospital again but due to damage, the reason is unclear for some reason. His unit fought in 1942 and 1943 on the eastern front in the Orel and Newel areas. The exact date when Hentrich will be transferred to the Artillerie-Regiment 198 is unclear, but I suspect late 1944.

As a soldier now on the front line, he is submitted to the IV Batterie of the Artillerie-Regiment 198, which is part of the 98 Infanterie-Division. This division was fighting in Italy in the Rimini area and was heavily involved in the fighting in August and September 1944. At the end of 1944 the division then withdraws to the Apennin position and fight back to the Senio River. During this fighting, Hentrich is awarded the KVK II Class on 30.1.1945. In April of 1945 Hentrich was promoted to Wachtmeister, his unit then retreats across the Po river in the direction of the pre-Alps, where the division eventually capitulates.