Did Soldats in a Division come from the same region?

[SchutzeHagemann]

Hello,

If men from Dresden Wehrkreis IV formed the 223 Inf.Div. in 1939, would men being assigned to that same division in 1941 be coming from Dresden as well? How did that work? I've asked my unit but they don't really know. Danke.

Sam P.

[gebirgs soldat]

Yes. There would be a replacement battalion assigned to that Wehrkreis that would be the feeder to the Division. There were exceptions of course, specialists transferred in, new officers, etc..

[SchutzeHagemann]

Yes. There would be a replacement battalion assigned to that Wehrkreis that would be the feeder to the Division. There were exceptions of course, specialists transferred in, new officers, etc..

So it would be an Ersatz Battalion? Ex: I/Ersatz.Btl.223?

[gebirgs soldat]

Yes, but I wouldn't put that on your dog tag.. As someone else posted earlier to one of your questions, you really should be asking one of the "alte hasen" in your outfit!

[SchutzeHagemann]

Yes, but I wouldn't put that on your dog tag.. As someone else posted earlier to one of your questions, you really should be asking one of the "alte hasen" in your outfit!

They already had me put that on, just making sure with the other experts in the field on here. Thank you.

[gebirgs soldat]

In other words, when filling out your soldbuch and creating your impression, talk to your unit members... if that doesn't help, email one of the guys from "erste zug" with a specific question.

Keep in mind this.. build your persona from some parts of your life, starting with your hometown, what you were doing when called up, etc..

Me, at my age (48)... I make myself a WWI vet, and was part of the Bavarian State Police before they were incorporated in the Wehrmacht as part of the 1 Gebirgs Brigade..

[SchutzeHagemann]

In other words, when filling out your soldbuch and creating your impression, talk to your unit members... if that doesn't help, email one of the guys from "erste zug" with a specific question.

Keep in mind this.. build your persona from some parts of your life, starting with your hometown, what you were doing when called up, etc..

Me, at my age (48)... I make myself a WWI vet, and was part of the Bavarian State Police before they were incorporated in the Wehrmacht as part of the 1 Gebirgs Brigade..

Thank you for the advice. I already have a couple things thought up. For now I will just be a student from Dresden.

[gebirgs soldat]

Sehr Gut!

[leicanthrope]

Yes. There would be a replacement battalion assigned to that Wehrkreis that would be the feeder to the Division. There were exceptions of course, specialists transferred in, new officers, etc..

So it would be an Ersatz Battalion? Ex: I/Ersatz.Btl.223?

Probably not, actually. It's apparently a bit of a "reenactorism" that the Ersatz Battalion had the same number as that of the regiment. Take a look at http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de and you'll see that quite often they didn't correspond one-to-one.

[paulmfjr2]

Oh and don't put yourself down as a student, most men from the age of 15 had a 'trade' (baker, builder, printmaker etc), most students at university went on to be officers.

[Steffen]

Here is a small illustration of the different Wehrkreise (military districts) of the Reich. You can see that Dresden, for example, is related to the Wehrkreis 4.



It's some kind of interesting; my chosen unit, the 116. PD, was mainly refreshed by the Wehrkreis VI during summer of 43/ beginning 44, particularly in Hamm, Münster and Rheine. I was born in the middle of this "city- triangle", so it`s "homeland- history, anyway", also because one or two of my greatuncles serverd in this unit.

As already mentioned, there were most often men of the same landscape in the companys and units; the advertiser of the WH and SS often visited schools, especially during the late wartime years, to promote for new recruits. In best cases the most boys of a class got a draft coincidently and were collected to the local school yards then, to get divided for the units and each different weapon type; artillery, infantry etc. etc..

So you had a large number of local companys, above all during the early- and midwar; westphalinan, saxion, bavarian etc..

Best regards,
Steffen