Bohemia and Moravia - March 1939.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little history here.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

When on March 16, 1939 the Führer and Commander in Chief of the German Armed Forces spoke at the Prague Castle (Hradschin) to thank to the Commander in Chief of the German Army for the services performed by the troops on March 15, 1939, during the occupation of the major cities of the former German lands of Bohemia and Moravia, the proud PR 36 of Schweinfurt was included in that recognition. After a short period of instruction our young recruits from Franconia had taken part in the successful operation.

The PR 36 was organized on November 10, 1938 in Schweinfurt, WK XIII with two detachments (Abteilungen). Together with the PR 35 were part of the 5 Pz Brigade within the framework of the 4 Pz.

eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

On March 10, 1939 the PR 36 (4 Pz) was alarmed: the 4 Pz had to march to the Training Camp of Döllersheim located northwest of the city of Krems an der Donau in order to carry out shooting exercises. The movement would begin with a mobilization alarm. The troops worked overnight and in short time the unit was ready to go. At 06:00 hours the wheeled vehicles were rolling from the barracks in the direction of Bamberg, where the brother regiment (PR 35) would join to form the march column of the 4 Pz under the command of Oberst Breith thus constituting the Pz Regiment Breith .

The snow was even thicker when in the evening we take the highway from Munich to Salzburg; that night we quartered in Rosenheim and Aibling. The march through the thick snow and hail had been an ordeal for our drivers, but the next day they expected an even greater difficulty: ice and later snow layers.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Armored pause in Salzburg.

The column went through the city of Salzburg in the middle of a snowstorm and when taking the highway to Vienna it was so disastrous that auxiliaries and mountain troops had to work hard to release the vehicles from the snow. Thus continued the march of several hundred kilometers in a constant struggle with the snow and ice. The winter column passed the Danube by Krems an der Donau and on March 13, 1939 it arrived in the Training Ground of Döllersheim. As scheduled in the evening arrived by rail the armored vehicles.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

New alarm!

The next day, March 14, 1939, the troops were alarmed again. Due to recent known events in Czechoslovakia it was necessary the intervention of the German Armed Forces. That evening, the Armored Regiment Breith as part of the 4th Armored Division, marched due north to the Reich's border towards Zlabings . Our young drivers had to overcome another cold night with a thick mantle of snow on the roads.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

New alarm!

It is noteworthy that the night alarm was performed without major drawbacks and therefore the long line went northwards, ahead was expected action in hostile territory. So on the morning of March 15, 1939 and as the troops awaited the order to cross the border it was ordered ​​a brief stop in Zlabings.

Shortly after midnight the orders came through orders officers (O1) to the heads of the marching groups. At 06:00 hours on March 15, 1939 the advance guard of the 4th Pz crossed the border of the Reich. At the head of the regiment Breith crossed the company Sauvant together with a battalion of the SS Deutschland.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Wolfgang luth]

Gee willikers, I just learned the German names for a whole lot of places I've spent quality time in. Thank you so much for posting!

[tigre]

Hello to all ; thanks for joining Wolfgang luth . Now more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Iglau.

Through snow, ice and cold that hindered the march, the column arrived at the German-speaking island of Iglau. It soon were observed the first flags with the swastika and the troops were received with joy and expressions of gratitude to the Reich and the Führer. And then Iglau in the mountains with beautiful towers and wide market place. A replay of the memorable days lived in October 1938.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Iglau. Warm welcome of the population.

Quickly it was established a warm relationship between the German soldiers and the population of the city, which considered a matter of honor to receive the soldiers or at least entertain them.

Of course there was no space to accommodate the entire division in the city so the Abteilung of Oberstleutnant Seupel was billeted in two nearby towns. The following days were devoted to the restoration and maintenance of the vehicles after the march we carried out. Meanwhile Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Konrad Henlein visited the liberated city.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Iglau. Warm welcome of the population.

On March 21, 1939 it was held a military parade presided over by the Commander of Army Group 3, General Blaskowitz, who thanked the troops for their efforts in the operation. Local people thus had opportunity to observe the power of a German armored division.

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; the end follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Armored Military Parade thru the city.

Not sure where this parade took place ..... but I find it interesting to put it here to close the thread ...

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

It's all folks. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; following with the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, now with the 3 Pz to Prague.....................

The 3 Pz in the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia.

On Friday March 10, 1939 in the afternoon we received an alert for mobilization. Vehicles were loaded with explosives and live ammunition instead of inert ammunition and no smoke cartridges. The night from Friday to Saturday was spent fully clothed and early Saturday we learned that on Sunday, the 3 Pz was to be moved to the Training ground of Königsbrück. The night from Saturday to Sunday was spent like the previous and at dawn on Sunday morning we started towards Dresden and to Königsbrück.

However, the training camp was full of troops so we billeted in family homes in Laussnitz (2000 inhabitants). The news on the radio were quite disturbing. At 15:00 hours we departed from Laussnitz eastward marching by Bautzen towards Zittau. At midnight we reached our assembly area around the town of Hühnerwasser. We were in a spruce forest covered with snow. Shortly after midnight the company commanders gave the orders: early morning we'll march by the shortest route to Prague!. Any resistance must be broken immediately.

Source: Lebenserinnerungen in Wort und Bild, Band I: written by Günter Sieling.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more follows.....................

The 3 Pz in the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia.

On Thursday March 16, 1939 at 06:00 hours, the column of vehicles covered with snow began the march toward the Czech border located about 5 kilometers away. We were not the first on the road, other units including tanks advanced ahead of us. The route had become very difficult for ice and the motor vehicles without chains could not move. When crossing the border the swastika flag flew at the guard shack. Then the first Czech town, there we were told that there was no resistance.

The journey continued through a snowstorm ever more intense. More and more often we saw military vehicles which could not go further and were being held on the sides of the road. The drivers, most of them recruits, had their great test drive without having to sleep in this cold night.

Source: Lebenserinnerungen in Wort und Bild, Band I: written by Günter Sieling.

Cheers. Raúl M .

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!

[tigre]

Hello to all ; last part.....................

The 3 Pz in the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia.

Some vehicles belonging to our company were stranded but again and again could overcame the hellish journey and managed to rejoin the column. We were approaching our goal, "Prague 40 km, 30 km, then 20 km, shortly before Prague our company joined with the rest of the march column.

Suddenly after a steep curve of the road a wide valley opened before us and we could see the buildings, towers and the wide and silvery domes of the city of Prague ..................

Source: Lebenserinnerungen in Wort und Bild, Band I: Escrito por Günter Sieling

It's all folks. Cheers. Raúl M .

[iglau]

Hello to all ; the end follows.......................

Through snow and hail storms to Moravia. Services of our brave young soldiers.

Armored Military Parade thru the city.

Not sure where this parade took place ..... but I find it interesting to put it here to close the thread ...

Sources: eBay Österreich Fotoalbum-Panzer-Einheit-14_Pz-Division-Stalingrad-Top- (Artikel 370375283086 endet 13_05_10 200120 MESZ).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... r/PR36.htm

It's all folks. Cheers. Raúl M .

Hi, heer isnt Pictures from IGLAU !!!
IGLAU Parade 21.3. 1939

[tigre]

Hello iglau ; thanks for sharing it . Cheers. Raúl M .