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AntEater · 11-03-07, 08:55 AM

My paternal grandfather trained as a cavalryman but actually saw combat in the same manner as the original posters. As a StuG crewman, first driver, later gunner, from late 1943 until the end of the war. Don't know the unit, but it was some independent StuG brigade in the central sector of the eastern front.
He did shoot some T-34s as well, I suppose.
He barely managed to avoid the Warsaw uprising. He was on home leave and SS and Field Police were combing the trains at Warsaw station for "volunteers" to join the fighting in the city. As an assault artilleryman he was exempt from such press-ganging and was one of the few who didn't have to go.
He tells a lot of depressing stories about the retreat and captivity in Russia. He was a POW for about three years in Stalingrad, rebuilding the city, and had to remove a lot of corpses there.
He drove stuff his whole life, trucks, excavators, construction machinery, anything on the road, regardless if it had tracks or wheels. He still drives his BMW on the Autobahn, but always complains about not being able to tinker with it anymore as everything is computerized.

My late maternal grandfather was a Gebirgsjäger (one of the few non bavarians or austrians I suppose) serving at Poland, Norway and later the Caucasus.
He was flown into Narvik in April 1940 as reinforcement with a Ju 52.
He was later captured on Crimea and sent to work in the mines in Karaganda in Kazakhstan, for about two years. Was better than it first sounds, as the POWs who worked there were actually paid, and part of the money was even sent to his wife in west Germany.
He told a lot of stories about the war, at least when grandma wasn't around to shut his mouth. But since he liked telling stories I never knew which one was true.
Later he worked in a sausage factory

My grand uncle was the soldier in our family, he was a drill instructor before the war and served in a Luftwaffe field division near Leningrad.
He served in three armies for over 30 years (Reichswehr, Wehrmacht, Bundeswehr) but always remained a Feldwebel.

11-03-07, 08:55 AM	#4
AntEater Grey Wolf Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 936 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	My paternal grandfather trained as a cavalryman but actually saw combat in the same manner as the original posters. As a StuG crewman, first driver, later gunner, from late 1943 until the end of the war. Don't know the unit, but it was some independent StuG brigade in the central sector of the eastern front. He did shoot some T-34s as well, I suppose. He barely managed to avoid the Warsaw uprising. He was on home leave and SS and Field Police were combing the trains at Warsaw station for "volunteers" to join the fighting in the city. As an assault artilleryman he was exempt from such press-ganging and was one of the few who didn't have to go. He tells a lot of depressing stories about the retreat and captivity in Russia. He was a POW for about three years in Stalingrad, rebuilding the city, and had to remove a lot of corpses there. He drove stuff his whole life, trucks, excavators, construction machinery, anything on the road, regardless if it had tracks or wheels. He still drives his BMW on the Autobahn, but always complains about not being able to tinker with it anymore as everything is computerized. My late maternal grandfather was a Gebirgsjäger (one of the few non bavarians or austrians I suppose) serving at Poland, Norway and later the Caucasus. He was flown into Narvik in April 1940 as reinforcement with a Ju 52. He was later captured on Crimea and sent to work in the mines in Karaganda in Kazakhstan, for about two years. Was better than it first sounds, as the POWs who worked there were actually paid, and part of the money was even sent to his wife in west Germany. He told a lot of stories about the war, at least when grandma wasn't around to shut his mouth. But since he liked telling stories I never knew which one was true. Later he worked in a sausage factory My grand uncle was the soldier in our family, he was a drill instructor before the war and served in a Luftwaffe field division near Leningrad. He served in three armies for over 30 years (Reichswehr, Wehrmacht, Bundeswehr) but always remained a Feldwebel. __________________