Info on Helmut Dollinger?

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headwest
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Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#1

Post by headwest » 21 Jan 2020, 22:41

Hi Everyone

I was reading some on the Battle of Bulge here and became interested in tiger 213. I read that Helmut was commander of this tank, was also with Wittmann on Aug 8 and that wittmann was his former commander

I then read he was killed in Feb 45 in Hungary

I am wondering 2 things at this time

1) what Tank was he in with the Wittmann Attack on Aug 8?

2) WHat unit, and where was he in hungary when he was killed? Do we know what action and where? and then, is his grave marked in a cemetery somewhere?

thanks much!

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eindhoven
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#2

Post by eindhoven » 22 Jan 2020, 05:26

Dollinger's track on that day

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=241574&p=2201212&h ... r#p2201212

Specific questions on Dollinger

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=51288&p=458986&hil ... er#p458986

Dollinger's fate aber auf Deutsch

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=232412&p=2125723#p2125723

Good re-reads and ground we've covered.

All the best


headwest
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#3

Post by headwest » 22 Jan 2020, 15:22

Thanks Eindhoven

Interesting, from what i can translate is it saying he died at Neuhäusel? in germany?

I had read it was in hungary. also, is the video still available for the La Glieze German veteran? it says not available now.

thanks!

headwest
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#4

Post by headwest » 22 Jan 2020, 15:54

Sorry i found the town, close to hungarian border

is there more info on the unit and action that day which i guess is feb 45 not march

I am also with google earth looking at La Glieze, for the Warimont Farm? has anyone pinpointed that ? and roughly where 213 was when hit?

thanks!

This is the most info I have found outside of this forum. Still wondering if he was properly buried and marked/known today

http://historyofthewaffenss.com/communi ... dollinger/

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eindhoven
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#5

Post by eindhoven » 24 Jan 2020, 05:30

headwest wrote:
22 Jan 2020, 15:54
Sorry i found the town, close to hungarian border
is there more info on the unit and action that day which i guess is feb 45 not march
Per "Tiger im Kampf: Band II", KtB s.SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101 (501)

12 Feb 1945 19 Operational tanks. Detrained near Raab (today Győr)
14 Feb 1945 SS-Ustuf. Amselgruber is awarded the German Cross in Gold
17 Feb 1945 Panzergruppe-LAH (including 19 Tigers of 501) start the assault at Parizsky Canal. Though the Winter thaw causes the ground to be heavy, this day's assault objective is taken towards evening after a PAK front is destroyed.
18 Feb 1945 On both sides of the Gywa (Šarkan) a bridgehead is established; after crossing the Šarkanyfalva river an assault on the heights North-West of Mužla is started.
19 Feb 1945 The Southward attack is continued in the direction of Parkany (today Štúrovo) which is captured in the evening. Several enemy tanks are knocked out.
23 Feb 1945 Assembly for the liquidation of the rest of the bridgehead
24 Feb 1945 After a strong Pak Front is pierced, Kéménd is captured and the remains of the bridgehead are eliminated. Operational tanks: 4
25 Feb 1945 Beginning the transfer into the area of Komorn(today Komárno,)-Komárom; the track elements are transferred by train to Veszprém
.

Sadly nothing is recorded in the KtB regarding the death of Dollinger or of Hantusch in February. The above gives an idea of the area of operation. Kéménd, captured on 24.02.45, recorded as Dollinger's date of death, is 41km from Nové Zámky.

In "Michael Wittmann erfolgreichster Panzerkommandant im Zweiten Weltkrieg und die Tiger der Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" , pg 334, translated from German. I do not have the English version

"On February 24, 1945, the Leibstandarte attacked Kéménd from the south and hit a deeply divided position dominated by an anti-tank barrier consisting of thirty-seven guns. In the fast attack, because stopping here means the greatest of danger, the Tigers shoot and destroy some of the Pak, roll over them and break through the anti-tank barrier in hard fighting and reach Kéménd. Here house to house fighting rages, which lasts until the late afternoon"
.......
"Among the other losses of the Tigerabteilung fell SS-Obersturmführer Helmut Dollinger, Zugführer of I.Zug in 2.Kompanie, His radio operator, SS-Rottenführer Hubert Heil recalls: "In a swampy cornfield, our tank had sunk and was disabled by a Soviet SP. We could only escape the Tiger by the escape hatch. Dollinger was with me and we had to make our way through snowy mud and shell fire until we found refuge in the foxholes of our infantry. We were shot at like rabbits by the enemy Anti-tank guns. Dollinger went forward and was killed. The next day Ivan was pushed back and we recovered our tank."

SS-Rottenführer Hubert Heil, Dollinger's radio operator pictured below
rttf Hubert Heil.jpg
rttf Hubert Heil.jpg (85.47 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

headwest
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#6

Post by headwest » 24 Jan 2020, 17:44

awesome Eindhoven, thanks SO much again for all this info. I have no idea where you find all of this!

so probably in that last fight is when it happened, and now i knwo the approx area as well.

interesting when you google earth it and drop in around those towns it is very country. alot of corn fields possibly.

is there any mention in records of a grave for him?

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eindhoven
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Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#7

Post by eindhoven » 25 Jan 2020, 22:50

headwest wrote:
24 Jan 2020, 17:44
awesome Eindhoven, thanks SO much again for all this info. I have no idea where you find all of this!

so probably in that last fight is when it happened, and now i knwo the approx area as well.

interesting when you google earth it and drop in around those towns it is very country. alot of corn fields possibly.

is there any mention in records of a grave for him?
Your welcome for the assistance. As for a grave marker, Wilhelm 'Helmut' Dollinger does not come up on the VDK Kriegsgräbersuche with any details. Sadly not uncommon. Even the unit Rechnungsführer of 1.Kompanie, the paymaster, is missing in Hungary. As an example of the brutality in the final months take this entry in the unit KtB a month after Dollinger died:

"30 March 1945 2 Tigers (Untescharführer Eser) remain behind in Neudörfl, without fuel and ammunition. Two days later after the Russians march in, the crews are shot; the corpses were not allowed to be buried."

It is a safe bet what the carrion feeders did not digest or carry away was put into a hole together when it was finally possible to do so. Maybe someday a farmer will turn over a grave and report its location. IMO Until then Dollinger lies under the earth somewhere South of Kéménd along with Georg Hantusch and the other causalities in a forgotten grave.

More to come on La Glieze, Tiger 213, and Werimont to answer those questions.
La Gleize King Tiger post-war.jpg

headwest
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Joined: 29 Aug 2014, 23:18

Re: Info on Helmut Dollinger?

#8

Post by headwest » 27 Jan 2020, 16:56

Thank you Eindhoven! I look forward to more info from you as always.

you made me think how many unknown graves still linger out there. I wonder if they are even marked anymore at all even if in someone field or farm. I think Knispel's grave was found thru records? or a new building but not from a marking that was still there. I understand how info broke down towards the end but its a bummer we dont know more about some of these actions.

thanks again!

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