Durch unser Mitglied Darius wurde ich auf ein Fotokonvolut hingewiesen, welches bei Ebay gegenwärtig angeboten wird. Diese Konvolut wird als: " Aus der TOP Nachlass einer Veteran des Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 18,während d. Rückzug durch den Balkan im Sommer und Spätsommer 1944,meistens im Gegend nordlich Rijeka (Fiume), Istrien, Italien (später Jugoslawien)" bezeichnet. Im Konvolut enthalten sind Bilder, welche die Verladung eines Teils dieser Einheit auf 2 Siebelfähren wohl in Rijeka/Fiume zeigen.
Aufgefallen ist mir, dass das Bild (http://www.ebay.de/itm/152737785636?ul_noapp=true) identisch mit einem Bild aus dem Bundesarchiv, (Bild 101l-005-0015-27) ist. Sowohl das Konvolut bei Ebay, als auch weitere Bundesarchiv Bilder mit Signatur 101l-005-0015-nn zeigen wohl das gleiche Verladeereignis. Die beiden beteiligten Siebelfähren wurden wohl als "Peterlein" und als "Holzauge (sei wachsam)" bezeichnet. Jedenfalls lassen sich diese merkwürdigen Bezeichnungen an den Steuerhäusern ablesen. Das Bild(http://www.ebay.de/itm/152737781851?ul_noapp=true) zeigt Offiziere dieser Truppe. Möglicherweise können diese Personen von Forumsmitgliedern identifiziert werden. Ich fände es spannend, wenn es dadurch gelingen könnte, den in den Aufnahmen festgehaltenen Einsatz auch in Kriegstagebüchern aufzufinden und so den geschichtlichen Hintergrund dieser Aufnahmen klären zu können. Wer dazu beitragen kann, möge es hier tun.
Euer Aquarius
Vielleicht hilft das hier weiter
Grüße vom Desertfox
This Italian site shows some of the BA photos and these are linked to the Bozen Polizei Regiment. It would seem that "Holzauge" transported the armoured vehicles :
http://digilander.libero.it/historiamilitaria3/bozen.htm
In the above the date March 1944 is mentioned for the start of Bozen's involvement in Istrien.
edit: Looks like the Bozen Regiment was also responsible for the massacre in the village of Lipa, Croatia on 30 April 1944 :
http://www.lokalpatrioti-rijeka.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=52908
http://www.lokalpatrioti-rijeka.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=250&t=1750&start=30
Gruss,
Arjan
In the mean time I have found confirmation that both the ebay and BA pics do not show soldiers of SS-Polizei Regiment 18 but rather of the Bozen Regiment. In April 1944 Polizei Regiment 18 was active in Greece and as far as I know they were never in Istrien. To go short, the mention of SS-Polizei Regiment 18 was just a mistake on the part of the ebay seller....
http://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/index.php/Thread/9617-Photos-vom-SS-Polizei-Gebirgsj%C3%A4ger-Regiment-18/?pageNo=19
By the way, Randolph Kugler (Das Landungswesen) mentions the arrival of nine Pionier Landungsfähren Type 41 mit Deutz-Endschiffen in Fiume on 7.4.1944 (page 291).
Gruss,
Arjan
Meanwhile I read the italian source you cited Arjan and came to the same conclusion.
From the "Bozen Polizeiregiment"....
"The First Battalion was sent in March 1944 to Istria and employed in extensive anti-partisan warfare operations, encircling and racking alongside German units. At the same time it also had to monitor the railway lines and the transport routes and ensure the safety of the supplies."
see also http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Polizei-Regimenter/PRBozen.htm
So the question now is, has anyone seen citations of these troops in war diaries?
As far as SFs with Deutz-Endschiffen are concerned, I can clearly state that "Peterlein" as well as "Holzauge" were equipped with BMW-Endschiffen. But this is in no way in contrast to Kuglers report.
Und nun noch einmal auf Deutsch:
Unser Mitglied Arjan hat die Einheit auf den Siebelfährenfotos aus Fiume/Rijeka von 1944 eindeutig als Angehörige des 1. Batallions des Bozen Polizeiregiments identifiziert.
Meine neue Frage daher: Kennt irgendjemand von euch Kriegstagebucheinträge die einen Zusammenhang mit dieser Truppe haben und die Operation auf den Bildern aufhellen können?
Aquarius
Apparently the code name for the anti partisan action was "Braunschweig". More pics can be found in the Südtiroler Landesarchiv (enter search words "Unternehmen Braunschweig" or "Polizei Regiment Bozen") :
https://bildarchiv.prov.bz.it/SLA_images/searchkwf.do;jsessionid=F8C3DC24C2A39FE33B317D20AD3E7789?f=motsclesimage1&q=KOMPANIE+(Mil.)
edit: The search word "Kompanie" also produces a pic of a Fähre. One of the pics shows the port on the island of Susak and the island of Veglia is also mentioned in a caption. Perhaps some of the Fähren pics were taken in the port of Susak ?
Gruss,
Arjan
Thank you Arjan for your research. I could identify two pictures showing troops and SF-Peterlein at Susak dated May 17th 1944. It should be possible to locate some of the pictures on ebay (see start of this thread) as taken in the harbor of Susak. Furthermore the picture 'https://bildarchiv.prov.bz.it/SLA_images/media/304706' with indications
ORT \ GEMEINDE (ASTAT) :SUSNJEVICA
, LOKALISIERUNG :Valdarsa (Susnjevica), ARCHIVTITEL :Soldaten der Wehrmacht in einer zerstörten Kirche, ORIGINALTITEL (N) : Eine zusammen geschossenen Kirche, DATIERUNG ANFANG) : 25.04.1944 is nearly identical with a picture in the ebay convolut. For me this is strong evidence that your suspect "Unternehmen: Braunschweig" is true. [Do not confuse with the same operation name used as successor for "Unternehmen: Blau" 'https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unternehmen_Braunschweig']
I found a book: Nationalsozialistische Besatzungs- und Annexionspolitik in Norditalien 1943 bis 1945: Die Operationszonen "Alpenvorland" und "Adriatisches Küstenland" written by Michael Wedekind, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 01.01.2003 - 538 Seiten, which on page 451 should give more insight into those operation.
As I have no access to this book, has anyone else on this forum access to it and can give some help?
Aquarius
Hallo Otto, the search words "Insel Krk" also produce a pic of a Fähre with the caption: " Die Einsatzfähre auf offener See". Not a great pic but it reminds me of a better pic in the Polish NAC archive showing two Fähren resembling the two in question. If you don't know the pic I'm referring to I will send it to you.
edit: I'm by now certain that the NAC pic does indeed show Holzauge and Peterlein. One of these at any rate has a camouflage pattern that matches and so does the position of the life rings at the rear of the steering house . I'm referring to the Fähre in BA Bild 1011-005-0015-10.
Gruss,
Arjan
Hello Arjan,
I have a copy of NAC-2-588 and of BA Bild 1011-005-0015-10.
IF you're right, and i bet you are, Peterlein is in front of Holzauge and the picture is taken from Holzauge. Peterlein is of the type as illustrated in the HMA as "Grafiken Transportfähren mit Aufbau B" and Holzauge as "Grafiken Transportfähren".
The camouflage pattern is the most serious evidence for identity beside that the couple consists of the same type of ferries as in the pictures from Susak . All "Aufbau B" ferrys had 3 life rings at the rear of the superstructure. You may see the pictures of SF 294 in the HMA. The steering house is a separate part of the superstructure and could not be entered directly from other rooms of the superstructure .
On the roof of the steeringhouse of Holzauge on picture BA 101l-005-0015-20 you can identify a pot-like structure. I think it's a shelter for the ferry's magnetic compass. Pot-like shelter's at this position I have never seen on any other ferry picture. And on NAC-2-588 at the same height as the megaphone but right from it and beneath the lower gun barrel you can find an edge of this pot-like structure. May I name you Sherlok from now on ?
Aquarius
It's always nice to see pieces of a puzzle coming together :-).
:MG:
Arjan
:TU:)
:MG:
Darius
Hello (Sherlock) :-D Arjan,
I puzzeld a little more with the pictures showing SF "Holzauge". Thus I have to correct my classification "Holzauge as "Grafiken Transportfähren". The superstucture of "Holzauge" is made of the same components as "Transportfähren", but the complete superstucture is shifted abaft. The ferry is more heavily armed than earlier "Transportfähren" carrying at least one (on portside) if not two 7.5 cm Schneider guns on it's transport platform and a 20 mm Flakvierling on the superstructure's deck. Until now I did not see a picture of a SF anywhere, configured the same way. To me it's likely that "Holzauge" is the older ferry compared to "Peterlein". Until now we haven't identified the tactical numbers of both ferries, but it seems clear that they belonged to "10. Landungsflottille". So some challenges still persist.
By the way are there windshield wipers :? on the front panes of "Peterlein" 's steering house in picture (http://www.ebay.de/itm/152737781851?ul_noapp=true)?
Aquarius
Hallo Otto,
You are quite right, they are unmistakebly windscreen wipers. By the way, Sf 294 also had the "fish tank" spray shield on top of the steering house. I've found another pic in my archive of a Fähre with a fishtank and the two Schneider guns. Perhaps you know it already, it's not a great pic but I will send it to you anyway.
Gruss,
Arjan
Currently on Ebay a photo of two Fähren in Susak :
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-Polizei-Rgmt-Bozen-Bandenkampf-Istrien-Kroatien-Insel-Krk-Fahre-Susak-12/323565078218?hash=item4b55fb46ca:g:q40AAOSwYj9b-AjG:rk:1:pf:0
Arjan
The ebay pic also shows Peterlein from behind. What I hadn't noticed before is that Peterlein was equipped with two 8.6cm RAG (Raketenabschussgeräte), one on each side of the vessel. The RAG can also be clearly identified in the BA pics of Peterlein. The only other pics I know of a Fähre with RAG is of SF 294 . I'm not sure if the Fähre in the foreground is Holzauge, if it is, it would seem its port Schneider gun had been removed. I saw in the HMA data that there were several Fähren equipped with two 7.5cm guns, one stands out which is Sf 290 because it had been fitted with two Italian 7.6cm guns for anti-partisan actions.
Arjan
Hello Arjan,
The SF in the foreground is definitly "Holzauge". A comparison with picture 1011-005-0015-30 from "Bundesarchiv" shows an identical camouflage pattern on the bulwark of the superstructure. I have to correct my statement about the superstructure I made on Nov. 2nd. It is not the same as on my drawings of "Transportfähre". The latter is a mount of 3 different preproduced components. The outer parts had a front, a back and a side wall, while the middle part only had front and back wall. This middle part has been removed on the "Holzauge" superstructure and the result is mounted with a 90° turn at the end of the platform. You can find all these 3 types of components on pictures 98425 (no sidewall) an 98427 from SA-KUVA. Let me know if you don't have them.
The "Holzauge" superstructure thus is very similar to that of "Peterlein" except the vierling gun stands and the command platform on the steering house.
As the port Schneider gun is clearly missing, how about the idea that we see an earlier photograph than those showing the gun in place?
Aquarius
Hallo Otto, it is quite possible that the ebay photo was taken earlier than the other ones. The quality of the photo is very good so it was probably also made by a professional war photographer. Perhaps the gun or guns were also removed when the need arose, that is to say when the full deck space was needed to transport a lot of vehicles . Removing these guns would probably have required the use of a rather big crane so it is unlikely this was done in a small port like Susak (the port of Fiume did of course have such cranes).
Gruss,
Arjan