3./Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 - Karl Hoffmann
One of the joys you’ll discover collecting Soldbücher is when you find something of value where others may not see it. That was the case with Karl Hoffmann’s Soldbuch. In the early 2000s it was found in the trash outside of a home in the UK. The book was then given to a World War 2 collector for free who was not particularly interested in it either. And why would he be? At a quick glance it looks very worn, there is not a famous unit listed, and in fact there are not even awards listed on page 22.
A few years ago I was scrolling through old forum posts from the early 2000s and came across this Soldbuch. I’ve found that you can find a lot of interesting pieces and history by looking back through posts from many years ago. For my main personal collecting interests, the number one criteria that I look for is combat troops that fought against my grandfather during the war. My grandfather fought with the U.S. 135th Rgt. / 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division as a rifle company commander. Everyone has their own criteria, but my jaw dropped with I found this throw-away piece.
Here is a rare Italian-front 19th and 20th Luftwaffe Feld Division (LFD) Soldbuch with an anti-partisan combat day listed during Operation 'Wallenstein III' (August 1, 1944) which was the largest anti-partisan action in Italy. He started with the 353 Infanterie Division in Normandy and by early 1944 was a Jäger in the 19th LFD. I call it rare, because this is a difficult piece to find due to the short existence of the 19th Luftwaffe Feld Division (only a few months) and their high combat losses. So many of the men were killed or wounded by early July 1944 that the division was disbanded and absorbed by its counterpart, Luftwaffe Feld Division 20. The 20th LFD was itself disbanded before the end of 1944 due to heavy losses. In fact, this is the only Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 Soldbuch that I have come across and it is a first-issue example, meaning that Karl carried with him during all of the battles and events that are discussed below.
Of particular interest to me, my grandfather fought against Karl Hoffmann and the Lw.Füs.Btl.19 at Cecina. The battalion’s presence is the only unit specifically mentioned in the war diary of the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division that fought directly in the town with the SS troops.
The Soldbuch itself is very worn, but all of the pages are present. There appears to be a staining throughout the book that could be water or blood from a wound. It was not uncommon for Allied soldiers to take a Soldbuch from a dead or wounded soldier as a souvenir or for intelligence purposes. I’ve seen blood stains much darker than this in other examples, so my thought is water damage. One common characteristic of first-issue Soldbücher from the Italian campaign is water damage due to the many river crossings and wet conditions (lots of rain, snow, and mud!). There is a nice portrait of Karl on the inside cover. The book is well filled out and gives a clear history of his units and equipment during the war.
You can notice that there is not a typical POW number written on page 1. This is not uncommon when the Soldbuch was taken from the soldier. Also, there is a list showing a close combat day against partisans, which is a rare find by itself because most soldiers would have destroyed this before surrendering - fearing reprisals by the local population or Allied forces.
A colorized photo of Karl Hoffmann taken from his Soldbuch.
Karl Hoffmann was part of the 3rd company, Luftwaffe Füsilier Battalion (3./Lw.Füs.Btl. 19), which fought in Cecina at the end of June/July 1944 with SS Pz.Gren.Rgt. 35. Other combat actions include Castellina, Riparbella, Santa Lucia, and then the bloody second battle of Coriano Ridge near Rimini (Sept. 1944).
Here is a great article about the Battle of Cecina written by Robert Holt and Daniele Guglielmi:
752nd Tank Battalion at Cecina (752tank.com)
Robert’s father, Sgt. Ray Holt, was one of the tankers at Cecina that day. The men of the U.S. 752nd Tank Battalion famously knocked out Tiger 221 of 2./Schw. Panzer Btl. 504 at close range in a tank vs. tank battle reminiscent of the scene portrayed in the movie, Kelly’s Heroes.
It appears that a British veteran probably brought it home as a war souvenir. But for those that are interested in the Italian front, it is a unique piece of history. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is not a lot known about the men that made up the battalion, so this helps to shed some light.
For reference, the German 'Füsilier battalions' replaced the reconnaissance units in late-war German divisions at the end of 1943. They were essentially infantry that could act as a reserve or advance unit, as well as a recon force. Sometimes these units were equipped with bicycles towards the end of the war. US 34th Infantry soldiers ran into an enemy formation several days before Cecina that were equipped with bicycles. One eyewitness remembered the experience as humorous. He said that they saw a large group of German soldiers riding into a small town. They decided to call in an artillery barrage and after the first shells started landing, the Germans all dropped their bicycles and ran off. After that there were more bicycles than residents in that small Italian town. This was either the 19th or 20th Füsilier Battalion.
19th and 20th Luftwaffe Feld Division: Heer or Luftwaffe?
This question can be a bit confusing, but in late 1943 the Luftwaffe Feld Divisions came under the command and control of the Heer, but retained their Luftwaffe names. Karl Hoffmann was transferred to the 19 LFD in late '43 or early '44.
His Soldbuch was opened in Aachen on July 30, 1943. After training he was assigned to Gren.Rgt.671 which was built to replace Inf.Rgt.671 that was destroyed at Stalingrad. Part of the unit (including Hoffmann) was transferred to northern France to build Gren.Rgt. 943 in Dec 1943. This was part of the 353 Inf.Div. that was moved to the St Lo area in June 1944.
It appears that Hoffmann avoided D-Day and was not with Gren.Rgt. 943 for long. He spent the first half of 1944 on occupational duty in the Netherlands with the 19th Luftwaffe Feld Division (which by now was under the command of the Heer). Kesselring ordered the 19th LFD, 20th LFD, and remainder of the 16th SS to Italy after the Allied breakout from Anzio.
Combat Timeline:
June 26th, 1944:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 is reported in the areas of Sassetta, San Vincenzo, and 12km south of Cecina.
June 27-28:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 reported in Castagneto, Sassetta, Riparbella, and San Vincenzo.
June 29 -
Battalion moved from Castellina, Casale(?), Quarisello(?), and engaged in the town of Cecina.
June 30 - July 2:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 fighting east of Cecina against U.S. 135th Inf.Rgt. / 34th "Red Bull" Division and 752nd Tank Battalion. Losses are very high. The Americans break through the line, cross Cecina River, and engage with elements of 19th LFD, II/ SS Pz.Gren.Rgt. 35 and Tiger tanks of Schwere Pz.Abt. 504 in the town of Cecina.
July 3 until retreat to Pisa:
Battles at Riparbella, Castellina, and Santa Lucia.
July 17:
Hoffmann issued new gear after retreat and heavy combat. Still had his rifle and bayonet in his possession.
July 20:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 reported in San Rossore (Pisa). Due to the high losses of 19 LFD between June 26 and July 20th, the entire 19th Luftwaffe Feld Div is disbanded (less than a month of fighting U.S. 36th and 34th IDs)! Lw.Füs.Btl. 19 is transferred in its entirety to 20th LFD and becomes Lw.Füs.Btl. 20. Around this time 20th LFD is transferred from XIV Corps to LXXV corps on Liguaria coast for anti-partisan operations.
July 24:
Fivizzano area (anti-partisan)
July 26:
Santo Stefano Magra area. Preparation for large anti-partisan operation August 1-7, 1944.
August 1:
Hoffmann promoted to Gefreiter
August 1-7:
Anti-partisan fighting. At the time Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 arrived north of La Spezia, German units in the area were actively engaged in combat against the partisans. Operations at the end of July produced intelligence that the 'Modena' and 'Reggio' Garibaldi Divisions were going to be waiting in the mountains for a planned airdrop by the Allied/Italian 'Nembo' Para Rgt. What became known by the Germans as Operation 'Wallenstein III' was the most successful anti-partisan action in the western area of the northern Apennines. The action against some 5,000 partisans took place in the Montefiorino - Piandelagotti area. The German units involved were Luftwaffe and Flak units, along with Gend Eins Kdo Bürger (SS Karl-Heinz Bürger - Anti-Partisan Badge in Bronze). Although most of the partisans fled, they suffered 150 causalities. Based on Hoffmann's anti-partisan combat day, Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 looks to have been involved in the combat that took place during this action. Below are photos of the Luftwaffe Feld Division taken during Operation “Wallenstein III” (credit: Bundesarchiv).
August 10-12:
According to messages intercepted by British Intelligence, the 16th SS and 20th LFD are released from LXXV corps and returned to XIV Corps.
Mid-August 1944:
In Paul Schultz's book, "The 85th Division in WW2", it mentions that the US 85th Division took a few prisoners in August of 1944 near Florence that included members of a 20th Luftwaffe Field Division and the 4th Parachute Division. The 85th engaged near Florence beginning on August 15.
September 12, 1944:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 ordered to report to the 29th Panzer Div. / German 10th Army on the Adriaric coast to stop the advance of the Allied Eighth Army toward Rimini. This was part of a large group of reinforcements sent to the Adriatic - including the 356th Inf. Div., elements of the 20th LFD (including Lw.Füs.Btl. 20), and a battle group from the 90th Pz.Gren. Division. They arrived to the defense of Coriano Ridge from the north-west.
September 12:
General Crisolli, born in Berlin of Italian decent and commander of 20th LFD, is killed by partisans returning from a meeting with XIV Corps HQ regarding the division's transfer to Adriatic coast. In the middle of a transfer and without a leader, the 20th LFD would never fight as a division again. Instead, it's regiments and battalions were separated to fight with other German divisions. The Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 was initially assigned to the 29th Panzer Division, then to the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division. Many of the other parts of 20th LFD went to the 26th Panzer and 90th Pz.Gren. Divisions.
September 13:
British intelligence intercepts message that Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 connects with 29th Panzer Division.
September 13 - 20/21:
Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 heavily engaged in the Second Battle of Coriano Ridge attached to the 29th Pz.Gren. Div. - one of the bloodiest battles in the Italy - against Eighth Army, reinforced by 2nd New Zealand Division and 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade.
October - December 1944:
At some point Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 becomes attached to 1st Fallschirmjäger Division. I have not completed the research for this time period, so the specifics are unknown to me.
November 1:
Security stamp by Stab/Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 is the last entry in Hoffmann's Soldbuch. It appears that his last unit is 1./Lw.Füs.Btl. 20.
November 28:
Vietinghoff applied to disband the 20th LFD, saying that due to their losses they had “low combat value and are not up to the big fight.”
December 22:
20th LFD was disbanded and completely torn apart. Lw.Füs.Btl. 20 was integrated into the 157th Gebirgs Div (later the 8th Gebirgs Div) as "Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1057" (Reconnaissance 1057) where it ended the war April/May 1945.
It appears that Karl Hoffmann's story ends in November or December of 1944. I think he was most likely taken POW at this time or KIA/MIA, because his Soldbuch was most likely brought back by a British Soldier. Another possibility is that he was issued another soldbuch, but this one still retains the list with his anti-partisan action in the back of the book, which I'm sure would have been destroyed if given the chance to do so.
I hope that you enjoy this Soldbuch and the (brief) history of the 19th and 20th Lw.Füs.Btls!
