Photo Album of DKiGträger Feldwebel Willi Born

 

Willi Born (16 July 1913 - 28 January 1944)

 

 

Source :
Denis Daum photo collection

Divisionskommandeur Hans Kratzert with his Staff Officers

 

Sitting in the middle is Generalleutnant Hans Kratzert (Kommandeur 251. Infanterie-Division); at right is Hauptmann i.G. Zabel; at left is Hauptmann Kratzenberg (Kommandant Stabsquartier 251. Infanterie-Division), followed by Kriegsgerichtsrat kalmereit. Just come in outside the gate is Hauptmann Breitenstein.

Source :
Denis Daum photo collection

The Thousand-Mile Stare of Soldier from Panzergrenadier-Regiment 126

 

 

Soldier of I.Bataillon / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 126 / 23.Panzer-Division in Romania, April-August 1944. His face showing the thousand mile-stare: a mixture of sheer exhaustion, everyday fear, endless boredom and despair...

Source :
ECPAD Archives, courtesy of Blanluet Christophe
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158997833213308&set=gm.2748717868728774

SS Soldiers with StG 44 Assault Rifle

One of the most well-known photos with Sturmgewehr G44 (in fact it's an MP43/1) of SS-Panzergrenadiers from IV. SS-Panzerkorps engage in conversation during a break in Hungary, 1945.

 

 

Source :
https://equipment.fandom.com/wiki/M44_Erbsenmuster
https://twitter.com/StG44Geek/status/1221936827659116547
https://www.ww2-weapons.com/mp44-stug44-mp43/

Bio of Generalmajor Eckhard von Geyso

 

Generalmajor Eckhard von Geyso
Born: 25 May 1891 in Charlottenburg
Died: 16 Jul 1982 in Berlin

Promotions:
Gefreiter (18 Sep 1910); Unteroffizier (30 Oct 1910); Fähnrich (21 Feb 1911); Leutnant (18 Nov 1911); Oberleutnant (27 Jan 1917); Hauptmann/Rittmeister (01 May 1924); Major (01 Jan 1934); Oberstleutnant (01 Aug 1936); Oberst (01 Feb 1939); Generalmajor (01 Oct 1942)

Career:
Entered Army Service (18 Jun 1910)
Two Year Volunteer with Possible Advancement with the 3rd Queen-Elisabeth-Guards-Grenadier-Regiment (18 Jun 1910-18 Jan 1915)
Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the 262nd Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (18 Jan 1915-03 Sep 1916)
Adjutant of the I. Battalion of the 262nd Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (03 Sep 1916-20 Feb 1917)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 262nd Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (20 Feb 1917-08 Feb 1918)
Leader of the 10th Company of the 262nd Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (08 Feb 1918-03 Mar 1918)
Ordinance-Officer with the General-Command of the XIV. Army-Corps (03 Mar 1918-19 Apr 1919)
Company-Leader in the 7th Grenadier-Regiment (19 Apr 1919-09 Jul 1919)
Transferred into the 57th Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment (09 Jul 1919-20 Feb 1920)
Detached to Course at the Infantry Firing School in Wünsdorf (05 Jan 1920-05 Feb 1920)
Company-Officer in the 12th Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment (20 Feb 1920-01 Jan 1921)
Company-Officer in the 8th Company of the 8th Infantry-Regiment (01 Jan 1921-01 Oct 1921)
Detached to the 3rd Pioneer-Battalion for Training in Pioneer-Service (31 Jul 1921-10 Sep 1921)
Company-Officer in the 6th Company of the 8th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1921-01 Oct 1923)
Detached to Signals-Course with the 3rd Signals-Battalion (06 Dec 1921-29 Apr 1922)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 8th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1923-01 Apr 1927)
Chief of the 4th (MG) Company of the 8th Infantry-Regiment (01 Apr 1927-01 Oct 1932)
Detached to Course on Heavy MG in Döberitz (26 Sep 1927-15 Oct 1927)
Detached to Course for Physical-Training in Wünsdorf (14 Feb 1928-03 Mar 1928)
Detached to Firing Course for Heavy MG Infantry Weapons in Döberitz (07 Oct 1930-30 Oct 1930)
Rittmeister with the Staff of the 10th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1932-01 Oct 1933)
Transferred to Military-Region-Line Breslau (01 Oct 1933-01 Oct 1934)
Adjutant of the Army-Service-Office Breslau (01 Oct 1934-01 May 1935)
Commander of the II. Battalion of the Infantry-Regiment Crossen (01 May 1935-15 Oct 1935)
Commander of the II. Battalion of the 29th Infantry-Regiment (15 Oct 1935-10 Nov 1938)
Commander of the I. Battalion of the 121st Border-Infantry-Regiment (10 Nov 1938-24 Oct 1939)
Commander of the 121st Infantry-Regiment (24 Oct 1939-20 Feb 1942)
Führer-Reserve OKH (20 Feb 1942-12 Apr 1942)
Commander of the 489th Infantry-Regiment (12 Apr 1942-10 Aug 1942)
Detached to the Commander of the Troop-Exercise-Grounds Döberitz (10 Aug 1942-01 Sep 1942)
Commandant of the Troop-Exercise-Grounds Döberitz (01 Sep 1942-01 Jul 1943)
Commander of the 709th Infantry-Division (01 Jul 1943-10 Dec 1943)
Taken ill, in Hospital – Führer-Reserve OKH (10 Dec 1943-20 Mar 1944)
Detached to Military-District-Command Bohemia and Moravia (20 Mar 1944-01 Jun 1944)
Commander of Division 193 (01 Jun 1944-08 May 1945)
In Czech then Soviet Captivity (09 May 1945-08 Oct 1955)
Released (08 Oct 1955)

Awards & Decorations:
- Deutsches Kreuz in Gold: am 18.10.1941 als Oberst und Kommandeur des Infanterie-Regiment 121
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Fürstl. Hohenzollernsches Ehrenkreuz III. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Fürstl. Lippisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Spange zum EK II
- Spange zum EK I
- Anerkennungsurkunde des Oberbefehlshabers des Heeres: am 04.10.1941 als Oberst und Kommandeur des Infanterie-Regiment 121

Source :
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generalmajor/GEYSO_ECKHARD.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14230&p=2008441&hilit=geyso#p2008441

Bio of General der Kavallerie Ernst-August Köstring

 

General der Kavallerie Ernst-August Köstring
* 20.06.1876 auf Gut Serebrjanyje Prudy/Gouvernement Tula/Russisches Kaiserreich
† 20.11.1953 auf dem Bichlhof bei Unterwössen

Ernst-August Köstring (20 June 1876 – 20 November 1953) was a German diplomat and officer who served in World War II.

Born in Imperial Russia in 1876, Ernst August Köstring grew up in St Petersburg (or Moscow) and was fluent in Russian. He left Russia just before the World War I as many other Germans. He took part in World War I, serving under Major General Hans von Seeckt in the Austro-Hungarian Seventh Army. After the war, he was retained in the Reichsheer. From 1919, he was back in the Prussian War Ministry and then detached to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in 1919 when that ministry was established.

On 1 August 1935, he was returned to active service as a military attaché to Russia and Lithuania and sent back to Moscow. During the invasion of Poland, as a German military attaché in Moscow Köstring played a key role in coordination between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. In September of 1939 he was involved in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact negotiations along with Colonel Heinrich Aschenbrenner. On 8 August 1940, Köstring was warned by General Franz Halder that "he would have to answer a lot of questions soon", making him one of a few people who knew what would happen with Russia despite the non-aggression pact. With the planned Operation Barbarossa his position in Moscow was untenable; he was repatriated under diplomatic immunity and assigned to the Führerreserve. He visited, together with Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg, prisoner of war camps recruiting Soviet POWs for the German war effort. On 1 May 1941 German military delegation headed by Ernst August Köstring attended the Soviet military parade in Moscow in honor of International Workers' Day.

On 1 September 1942 when he was appointed "General Officer attached to Army Group A for Caucasian Questions" under General Eduard Wagner. In this role he worked on creating national legions among the indigenous people of the Caucasus, among them the Muslim Karachai. He arranged for Armenians, Georgians and other Caucasian populations to fight at the front after training in Poland. Most of the Armenians deserted.

The Karachai had formed an anti-Soviet committee under Qadi Bayramukov before the Germans arrived. Köstring invited them to the Bairam feast on 11 October. He was exceptionally well received and was carried shoulder high in celebration as was the custom.

In the spring of 1943 Köstring put into the Führer reserve. In mid-June 1943, he was appointed Inspector of the German commanded Turkic associations, on 1 January 1944 appointed the General of the "volunteer" organizations in the Army High Command. Throughout this period he spent most of his time helping with the creation of Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army. He surrendered on 4 May 1945 to the U.S. Army; he was released in 1947. He co-authored the 1946 book The Peoples of the Soviet Union which was later used by the U.S. Army.


Awards & Decorations:
- Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern: am 04.11.1944 als General der Kavallerie und General der Freiwilligen-Verbände im OKH
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Ritterkreuz II. Klasse des Kgl. Württembg. Friedrichs-Ordens
- Ritterkreuz II. Klasse des Grossherzoglich-Badischen Ordens vom Zähringer Löwen mit Schwertern und Eichenlaub
- Fürstl. Lippisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz
- k.u.k. Österr. Militär-Verdienstkreuz III. Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration
- Türkischer Medschidié-Orden III. Klasse mit Säbel
- Türkischer Eiserner Halbmond
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Kgl. Preuss. Dienstauszeichnungskreuz
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_August_K%C3%B6string
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=605555#p605555
http://www.oocities.org/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General2/KOESTRING_ERNST.html

Ernst-August Köstring with a Traditional Guitar

General der Kavallerie Ernst-August Köstring holding a traditional Eastern people's guitar. It looks likes a Georgian Panduri. Most likely he was visiting a Georgian-manned unit, in his capacity as "General Officer attached to Army Group A for Caucasian Questions" (from 1942 on).

 

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=254527&p=2312393#p2312393

Hellmuth Felmy wearing Tropical Uniform

 

 

General der Flieger Hellmuth Felmy wearing Luftwaffe tropical uniform and Troppenschirmmütze a.k.a "Hermann Meyer cap". There is no information where and when this picture was taken, but possibly when he was posted in Greece as Befehlshaber Südgriechenland (Commander of South Greece), 21 June 1941 - 11 September 1942.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2312049#p2312049