Prisoner of War A.F. W3000 Transfer Slip for German POW Walter Schmitt
Dublin Core
Title
Prisoner of War A.F. W3000 Transfer Slip for German POW Walter Schmitt
Subject
A slip showing his transfer into British military custody after leaving the United States.
Description
This document gives some of the most detailed information on Walter Schmitt's military service. His identity disk identified him as a Panzer Jager (Pz. Jg.) anti-tank unit. He was part of the 334th Infantry Division's 755 Grenadier Regiment 3rd Battalion 10th Company. His place of capture is listed as Tebourba on May 9th, 1943.
The 334th Infantry Division was set up on 25 November 1942 as "Kriemhilde" unit of the military districts XIII, XVII and XVIII at the Grafenwoehr training area. It was unusual that their three regiments (754, 755, 756) were drawn up from three different military districts (754/XIII – Nuremberg, 755/XVII – Vienna, 756/XVIII – Salzburg). It had two infantry regiments (754 and 755) and a mountain infantry regiment (756). The division was already destined for a deployment in Africa at this point in time. In January 1943 the division was transferred by ship from Naples to Africa and assigned to the 5th Panzer Army in Tunisia, in a time where the supply ports of the Axis, as well as its forces, where threatened to be encircled in the winter of 1942/43. Its lead elements of the 754. Infanterie-Regiment arrived in Bizerta in late December 1942 under the command of Oberst Friedrich Weber (promoted to Generalmajor on Jan.1,1943), with the rest of the Division arriving by 15 January 1943.
Together with the 10th Panzer Division and the Division “von Manteuffel”, they successfully defended Tunis and northern Tunisia in the "Run for Tunis" in January 1943 as part of the "Company Eilbote" (Unternehmen Eilbote). Between February and March the division ("Kampfgruppe Krause") stayed in the northern Tunisian mountains and remained continually engaged, suffering heavy losses amid heavy fighting, in a series of fierce and costly engagements that cost the division dearly in casualties that it could not replace. The 334th was involved in the storming of Djebel Manson. In late April 1943, "Gruppe Audorff" of the division participated in an attack on the heights of Medjez el Bab. After a week of bloody fighting, the 756.Geb.Inf.Rgt. retired from the heights it had recently regained and moved back towards Tunis. The 334th Division was separated from the rest of the army with the volunteer organization “Phalange africaine” of the Vichy regime, which had been assigned to the Division's 754.Inf.Rgt.(mot.), and surrendered to the Allied troops in the Beja area on 8 May 1943, a few days before the fall of Tunis in the Bizerta bridgehead.
The 334th Infantry Division was set up on 25 November 1942 as "Kriemhilde" unit of the military districts XIII, XVII and XVIII at the Grafenwoehr training area. It was unusual that their three regiments (754, 755, 756) were drawn up from three different military districts (754/XIII – Nuremberg, 755/XVII – Vienna, 756/XVIII – Salzburg). It had two infantry regiments (754 and 755) and a mountain infantry regiment (756). The division was already destined for a deployment in Africa at this point in time. In January 1943 the division was transferred by ship from Naples to Africa and assigned to the 5th Panzer Army in Tunisia, in a time where the supply ports of the Axis, as well as its forces, where threatened to be encircled in the winter of 1942/43. Its lead elements of the 754. Infanterie-Regiment arrived in Bizerta in late December 1942 under the command of Oberst Friedrich Weber (promoted to Generalmajor on Jan.1,1943), with the rest of the Division arriving by 15 January 1943.
Together with the 10th Panzer Division and the Division “von Manteuffel”, they successfully defended Tunis and northern Tunisia in the "Run for Tunis" in January 1943 as part of the "Company Eilbote" (Unternehmen Eilbote). Between February and March the division ("Kampfgruppe Krause") stayed in the northern Tunisian mountains and remained continually engaged, suffering heavy losses amid heavy fighting, in a series of fierce and costly engagements that cost the division dearly in casualties that it could not replace. The 334th was involved in the storming of Djebel Manson. In late April 1943, "Gruppe Audorff" of the division participated in an attack on the heights of Medjez el Bab. After a week of bloody fighting, the 756.Geb.Inf.Rgt. retired from the heights it had recently regained and moved back towards Tunis. The 334th Division was separated from the rest of the army with the volunteer organization “Phalange africaine” of the Vichy regime, which had been assigned to the Division's 754.Inf.Rgt.(mot.), and surrendered to the Allied troops in the Beja area on 8 May 1943, a few days before the fall of Tunis in the Bizerta bridgehead.
Date
Earliest date on the form appears to be February 21st, 1946 and the latest date is February 13th 1947
Citation
“Prisoner of War A.F. W3000 Transfer Slip for German POW Walter Schmitt,” CIC Museum, accessed April 4, 2025, https://cicmuseum.org/items/show/31.