Original German WWII Soldbuch Soldier Identity & Payment Book of Lt. Erich Pfeil with Translated Summary - Panzergrenadier Regt. 11

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic genuine well-used WWII German Soldbuch, issued to Gefreiter and later Leutnant Erich Pfeil, a soldier in the Infantry as well as Motorized infantry. In 1942 Infanterie (Infantry) Regiments were renamed as Grenadier Regiments by Adolf H as a historical homage to Frederick the Great's Army, and the Schützen (Motorized Infantry) were renamed to Panzergrenadiers. 

Pfeil was born 26 4. 23, and the book indicates he was issued the soldbuch 27. 3 . 43 in Allenstein. His picture is on the inner cover, secured with staples on two corners and bearing the correct ink stamps over the other two corners. We can see that he is wearing the standard enlisted shoulder straps, and his rank would have been indicated by sleeve insignia. As is standard, Page 1 gives his rank progression, page 2 has personal information, and page 3 indicates the units he was stationed in. The handwriting in the book, like many we see, is written in period script, which is unfortunately very hard to decipher. However, this book came with two copies of a translated summary of his service! They both have the same text, but are in different sizes / formats, and read as follows:

Erich Pfeil joined the Germany Army in March 1943. After training with Reserve Replacement Company 217, his first field unit was Reserve Grenadier Regiment 217 in Allenstein, He didn't stay here long, but soon transferred to Reserve Panzer Grenadier Battalion 5, located in France with the 151st Reserve Division. By the fall of 1943, he had transferred to another unit of the 151st, Reserve Grenadier Battalion (motorized) 119, both units of the 155th Reserve Division. While with the 119th, Pfeil was promoted to Corporal in December 1943 and Sergeant in March 1944. The 119th became part of Panzer Grenadier 11, 9th Panzer Division in the spring of 1944, Pfiel went with them and was promoted to the rank of officer candidate in June 1944.

After the German retreat from southern France in August - September 1944, we find Pfeil attending an officer candidate course, in October 1944. He completed his training in February 1945 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant and immediately moved to the armored school in Bergen, in northern Germany, where he was issued additional clothing. In early April, Kampfgruppe Schulze was formed from members and tanks at the Bergen Armor School, equipped with five Panther and Six Tiger I tanks. Pfeil was engaged in the German attack on Weiter4sheim on April 9, about twenty-five miles behind British spearheads moving east. Several tanks are knocked out, but the Kampfgruppe attacks toward Buckeburg, destroying some American tanks but losing three more tanks of their own.

The surviving members of the Kampfgruppe continue on the Nienstedt, where they surprise American forces and liberate 200 German prisoners and destroy a few more American Tanks. By April 13, the battle group is in Hohenbostel, about ten miles southwest of Hannover, where its few vehicles run out of fuel and are abandoned and Kampfgruppe Schulze is dissolved. Pfeil was wounded during one the actions described here and was treated at Lazarettzug 821, a hospital train in the area. He received a Black Wound Badge on April 20, 1945, issued by Lazarettzug 812. Page 8 shows he received an initial issue of clothing Master Sergeant Officer Candidate in December 1944, while at the office school, that included cap, tunic, boots, belt, Overcoat, leather gloves, etc.

Overall condition is good and many pages have handwriting or ink stamps, meaning this has some excellent further research potential. The book does show a lot of wear, and the pages have detached from the cover, which is itself covered with a black paper folded cover. 

These are exceptionally rare and difficult to find with this much information!

Of note: some of the writing in this book is in Kurrentschrift, an older form of Germanic script writing, which is why the all the "u" letters are written as "ŭ". In this script the lowercase "n" and "u" are identical, so the latter gets the arc shaped mark over it. This is not indicative of an umlaut or other diacritical marking.

More on the German Soldbuch:
The Soldbuch served the soldier as a personal identification document in wartime and as an authorization to receive pay from his own or outside pay-stations. In addition, it was identification for rail travel, detached service, leave, and for receiving mail. The Soldbuch was always carried by the soldier on his person in a tunic pocket. Leaving the book in one's baggage or in one's quarters was not permitted. The careful preservation of the book was in the best interest of the owner. The Soldbuch had to be kept in an orderly fashion. The owner must see to it, that all changes in pay due to transfer or promotion are immediately entered by his responsible duty station. The Soldbuch was an official document. Entries were only to be made by a Wehrmacht duty station. Making unauthorized changes is punishable as falsification of official documents. The loss of a Soldbuch was to be reported as soon the loss is discovered to the holders unit or duty station, and the issue of a new Soldbuch will be requested.