GEN-DE-L Archives

From: LTC519 <>
Subject: Re: WW1&WW2 military records
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 20:08:20 GMT

I did not see the original posting about these records, but I can say the
Deutsche Dienststelle was quite helpful in supplying what World War II
information it had (minimal) on my grandfather. I used that information
for checking on possible military medical records at the Krankenbuchlager
in Berlin, and there I also had success. With the units (infantry
divisions) provided by these two places, I was able to ask the
Bundesarchiv in Freiburg for unit histories that covered the period of
time my grandfather was assigned to these divisions; their information was
quite comprehensive.

The effort was time consuming, and had to be done in German. It cost
nothing except postage. I will point out, though, as these German offices
will also tell you, that their information is fragmentary as most records
were destroyed in air raids during the war. The pieces of information I
have on my grandfather, for example, are only on his service in the East
Front in 1943-1944. He was captured by the British on the West Front in
1945, and there is no German information on his service there. I am now
trying the British angle to see if there is any capture data available.

Fred Groth
San Antonio, Texas

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• Re: WW1&WW2 military records by LTC519 <>