4th SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment "Der Führer", SS DIVISION VERFÜGUNGSTRUPPE (SS-VT)
"This division was the “grandfather” of many of the Waffen-SS divisions. It was formed after the Polish campaign, in which most of its units had participated. Its units were from all over Germany. The Deutschland Standarte (regiment) came from Munich, the Germania from Hamburg and Der Führer from Vienna. It was officially activated on April 1, 1940. SS-VT fought well in the Netherlands and France in 1940, and was on occupation during in France until February 25, 1941, when it was disbanded. Its units were used to form the 2nd SS Division “Das Reich,” which later distinguished itself in combat as the 2nd SS Panzer Division “Das Reich”and other units.
The 2nd SS Division was formed on December 21, 1940, from two regiments of the old SS Verfugungstruppe Division and the SS Motorcycle Regiment “Langemarck,” which was made up of Germans and Germanic volunteers. Divisional troops were added quickly. Initially designated SS Division (mot.) “Das Reich,” it first saw action in the Balkans campaign, and later in 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, fighting in the battles of the Dnieper crossings, Smolensk, Kiev, Vyasma, and the Battle of Moscow. It also played a major role in saving the 9th Army in the Rzhev Pocket during the winter of 1941–42. It lost almost 10,000 men in the bitter winter fighting: 60 percent of its combat strength"
This dog tag is said to have been found about 20 years ago where the Battle of Rzhev was fought.
The division later saw action at Kursk, Normandy, Ardennes, and additional combat on the Eastern front at the end of the war.
The 2nd SS Division was formed on December 21, 1940, from two regiments of the old SS Verfugungstruppe Division and the SS Motorcycle Regiment “Langemarck,” which was made up of Germans and Germanic volunteers. Divisional troops were added quickly. Initially designated SS Division (mot.) “Das Reich,” it first saw action in the Balkans campaign, and later in 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, fighting in the battles of the Dnieper crossings, Smolensk, Kiev, Vyasma, and the Battle of Moscow. It also played a major role in saving the 9th Army in the Rzhev Pocket during the winter of 1941–42. It lost almost 10,000 men in the bitter winter fighting: 60 percent of its combat strength"
This dog tag is said to have been found about 20 years ago where the Battle of Rzhev was fought.
The division later saw action at Kursk, Normandy, Ardennes, and additional combat on the Eastern front at the end of the war.
230th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division
The division was annihilated in the Battle of Stalingrad and reformed by the OB West on 17 February 1943. Dog tag was found somewhere on the eastern front.
This dogtag was found in Leningrad oblast near the village of Sinyavino, where Volhov and Leningrad fronts connected.
43rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
This division actively participated in the Invasion of Poland, fighting near Mława, Węgrów and Garwolin and ended the campaign east of Warsaw.
It later played a minor role in the Invasion of France, but returned to active operations with the beginning of the Operation Barbarossa. The division advanced on the city of Leningrad as part of Army Group North, and remained in the area until December 1943.
Eventually it returned to its native East Prussia in 1944 and actively defended the area until the fall of Konigsberg in 1945.
It later played a minor role in the Invasion of France, but returned to active operations with the beginning of the Operation Barbarossa. The division advanced on the city of Leningrad as part of Army Group North, and remained in the area until December 1943.
Eventually it returned to its native East Prussia in 1944 and actively defended the area until the fall of Konigsberg in 1945.
This dogtag was found in a former POW camp near the town of Chernyakhovsk in a vicinity of Kaliningrad (formerly Konigsberg).
45th Infantry Regiment, 21st Infantry Division
The 21st Infantry Division was formed in 1934 in Elbing, East Prussia, by expanding the 3rd Prussian Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the old Reichswehr.
Mobilised in the 1st wave in 1939, the division took part in the German invasion of Poland and the following year's invasion of France. For the next four years, it fought on the Eastern Front, largely as part of Army Group North, assigned to Eighteenth Army.
After being involved in series of defensive battles and retreats to Riga as the Soviet army liberated their territory, late 1944 saw the 21st Infantry Division again in East Prussia, assigned to Third Panzer Army in the area of Tilsit before being reallocated to Fourth Army and deployed in the area of Insterburg, facing the Soviet East Prussian Offensive. Along with the bulk of Fourth Army it was encircled and largely destroyed in the Heiligenbeil pocket in the closing weeks of the war.
Mobilised in the 1st wave in 1939, the division took part in the German invasion of Poland and the following year's invasion of France. For the next four years, it fought on the Eastern Front, largely as part of Army Group North, assigned to Eighteenth Army.
After being involved in series of defensive battles and retreats to Riga as the Soviet army liberated their territory, late 1944 saw the 21st Infantry Division again in East Prussia, assigned to Third Panzer Army in the area of Tilsit before being reallocated to Fourth Army and deployed in the area of Insterburg, facing the Soviet East Prussian Offensive. Along with the bulk of Fourth Army it was encircled and largely destroyed in the Heiligenbeil pocket in the closing weeks of the war.
This dogtag was found in Leningrad oblast near the village of Sinyavino, where Volhov and Leningrad fronts connected.
236th Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division
The 69th Infantry Division spent the first months of the war in the Eifel region of northwest Germany.
In April 1940, the division participated in the German invasion of Norway and after its success stayed there until November 1942.
In December 1942 the division was moved to the Leningrad front as part of Army Group North's 18th Army.
The division remained in the area and was pushed back to the Pskov area by Soviet offensives through February 1944.
In July 1944 the division was transferred south to Army Group Centre, which was reeling from repeated Soviet assaults. Falling back to Memel and then evacuated to East Prussia, by the beginning of 1945 the division was one of four defending the besieged city of Königsberg. Subjected to intense aerial bombing and artillery assault, the surviving members of the unit surrendered to the Red Army shortly after the city fell on April 9, 1945.
In April 1940, the division participated in the German invasion of Norway and after its success stayed there until November 1942.
In December 1942 the division was moved to the Leningrad front as part of Army Group North's 18th Army.
The division remained in the area and was pushed back to the Pskov area by Soviet offensives through February 1944.
In July 1944 the division was transferred south to Army Group Centre, which was reeling from repeated Soviet assaults. Falling back to Memel and then evacuated to East Prussia, by the beginning of 1945 the division was one of four defending the besieged city of Königsberg. Subjected to intense aerial bombing and artillery assault, the surviving members of the unit surrendered to the Red Army shortly after the city fell on April 9, 1945.
This dogtag was found in Stalingrad near the Gumrak Airfield.
176th Artillery Regiment, 76th Infantry Division
The 76th Infantry Division was created on 26 August 1939 together with the 23rd Infantry Division in Potsdam. The division was annihilated in the Battle of Stalingrad and reformed by the OB West on 17 February 1943.
This dogtag was found somewhere in the central Russia, where Army Group Center operated.
82nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division
The division saw combat under the command of Generalleutnant (Major General) Rudolf Kaempfe during the invasion of Poland in 1939 as part of the Tenth Army's XVI Motorised Corps,[3] which included a role for the division in the drive on Warsaw.[4] After a reorganisation it then participated in heavy fighting during the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940,[5] as part of XI Corps and the Sixth Army of Army Group B.[6]
In June 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant General) Heinz Guderian's Panzergruppe 2. of Army Group Centre. The 31st Division initially fought in battles for Białystok and Minsk.[5] During the battle for Smolensk which commenced on 17 July 1941, the division was part of Generaloberst (General) Maximilian von Weichs's 2nd Army, as part of the XII Corps.[7]
It was also involved in fighting at Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (in late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. Generaloberst Walter Model's 9th Army, XLVI Panzer Corps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dnieper area of the Ukraine. It was almost completely annihilated to the east of Minsk in June/July 1944. Its commanding officer, Generalleutnant Willifrank Ochsner, was taken prisoner along with most of the remaining troops.
In June 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant General) Heinz Guderian's Panzergruppe 2. of Army Group Centre. The 31st Division initially fought in battles for Białystok and Minsk.[5] During the battle for Smolensk which commenced on 17 July 1941, the division was part of Generaloberst (General) Maximilian von Weichs's 2nd Army, as part of the XII Corps.[7]
It was also involved in fighting at Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (in late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. Generaloberst Walter Model's 9th Army, XLVI Panzer Corps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dnieper area of the Ukraine. It was almost completely annihilated to the east of Minsk in June/July 1944. Its commanding officer, Generalleutnant Willifrank Ochsner, was taken prisoner along with most of the remaining troops.
Dog tag was metal detected near Rzhev.
14th Rifle Regiment, 5th Panzer Division
Identification tag issued to soldier number 226 of the 14th Rifle Regiment, 5th Panzer Division. The division took part in the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941. After the end of the Greek campaign the division was sent to the north to participate in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, in which the 5th Panzer Division took part in the advance on Moscow. Coming within 34 km of the city the division was forced to retreat after the Soviet counterattack in December 1941 and remained in a defensive position throughout the winter of 1941–42. For the remainder of the war the division continued to retreat and fight in defensive battles on the Eastern Front in Poland, briefly in Courland and East Prussia. It was trapped on the Samland peninsula in April 1945 and parts of the division were evacuated by the German Navy, thereby being able to surrender to the Western Allies at the end of the war.
Dog tag was found in Stalingrad.
160th Motorcycle Messenger Platoon, 160th Motorcycle Troops Battalion, 60th Infantry Division
In January 1941 the division was moved to Romania and in April took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. This division participated in Operation Barbarossa, advancing through Uman and across the Dnieper River as part of the 1st Panzergruppe (commanded by General Von Kleist). It took part in the attack and occupation of Rostov until it was pulled back along with other German troops to the Mius River. In a series of defensive battles during the winter of 1941–42 it managed to hold its position and then in March 1942 took part in the battles of Kharkov. Later in 1942 the division took part in the drive on Stalingrad. During the latter part of 1942 it was involved in the bitter battles for this city, and then in early 1943 was encircled at Stalingrad, and destroyed.
