Can anyone help me understand the regiment? Fallschirmjäger at Cassino.

Hi can anyone please help? Trying to understand this Regiment. 14 Komp 3rd Regiment fallschirmjäger. All I can find on 14 Komp is anti tank company and 3rd Regiment was an elite parachute Regiment. Can anyone help me with this please? This is my great uncle Paul who died at Cassino. I really appreciate any help.

 

The German term "Regiment" is different from the British. It is comparable to a British Brigade, with 3 Bataillone (battalions) with 4 Kompanien (companies) each (I. Bn: 1. - 4. Kp., II Bn: 5. - 88. Kp., III. Bn.: 9. - 12. Kp.). Companies higher than No. 12 are "specialists", normally only one Kompanie of its kind per Regiment, but several different companies (e.g.: Werfer (mortar) or Flak (anti-aircraft or Infanteriegeschütz (kind of artillery)) per Regiment possible. 15. Kompanie was a Pionierkompanie (engineers).
In some cases, there was at times a fourth (IV.) battalion with companies Nos. 13. - 16. Kompanie), which seems to apply to this Regiment at a certain period. So it is possible that your great uncle belonged to a Fallschirmjägerkompanie.

It is a long time since having dealt with German formations, and I haven't got these books and notes at hand. By memory, 14. Kompanie for Panzerjäger might be correct unless there was a fourth battalion.

You can possibly apply for his service papers at
WASt - Wehrmachtsauskunftsstelle
Auskunft bei der Deutschen Dienststelle (WASt) beantragen - Amt24

If you need help for this re. German language, send me a private message.

Be warned! They are famous for delayed answers. Years ago, a friend of mine waited about a year or so. For no more answers than he had received already from my notes ...
Edit: typos

 

You have pretty much got it covered already - he was serving in 14.(Pz.Jäger) Kompanie of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 of 1.Fallschirmjäger-Division and was killed by a gunshot to the head on Height 593 which was 2km northwest of Cassino and today rests in the German war cemetery at Cassino in Block 25 Grave 119.
1.FJ.Division = Lexikon der Wehrmacht - 1.Fallschirmjäger-Division
FJR-3 = Lexikon der Wehrmacht - Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 3

 

FJR-3 has a two volume pictorial history available. It is worth looking around for them to find them at a more reasonable price but both volumes are listed here:

Fallschirm-Jager RGT.3 Vol. 1 & 2 1916/1941 1st Editions Hardback Klaus Peters | eBay

 

Point593 is a well known position in the Cassino battles and is the site of the Polish 3rd Carpathian Division Memorial

 

Thank you all so much. What a superb response. I'm so grateful. I've got loads here to carry on with. I'm also waiting on the BundesArchiv with details of my grandad who was in the Luftwaffe, shot down over England and ended up in POW camp in Scotland. Married my Glaswegian granny. I may have to come back and ask for more help so just want to say thanks again!

 

How much do you know about your grandad? There's a series of books available that give details of every Luftwaffe aircraft shot down over UK soil including crew names etc.

 

Long Post Alert! Hi, do you know i know absolutely nothing. I've searched Ancestry and come up with zero hence the approach to BArchiv but I'm trying to be optimistic. They were a family from East Prussia. One brother killed at Cassino as my earlier post. One brother killed on the Eastern Front I managed to get that info. A sister shot by the Russians at 16 and my GGrandad shot by the Poles. My GGrandma starved in Neustrelitz camp. My grandad died when I was young and no one spoke about him afterwards. I only know that he was in the LW and was in a POW camp in Scotland having been shot down allegedly over England. I know which farm he worked on in 1949. But I'd love to know about his life before us! Please can you tell me about the book? I work in the library service so its maybe something I can get hold of? Thanks so much for replying and sorry for the life story!

 

The series of books are these ones - Luftwaffe Crash Archive - with each one covering a set date period. If he shared the same name as the one killed at Cassino then he isn't listed which means he wasn't shot down over UK soil.

 

Thanks Owen
Should I put it in Third Reich? Regards Elizabeth

 

Oh Hucks thanks, yes he was Herbert Schareina. The mystery deepens. Thank you for checking. Its much appreciated - Elizabeth

 

Herbert Schareina
1914–1975
BIRTH 19 FEB 1914 • Gallinden Osterode/ostpreußen
DEATH 15 SEP 1975 • Glasgow

Spouse: Annie Thomson McArthur Paton Thomson
Father: Ferdinand Schareina
Mother: Caroline Reinholz
Birth: 19 Feb 1914 Osterode, Nordhausen, Thüringen, Germany
Death: 15 Sep 1975 Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland

TD

I know its your tree details but in order for other members to hopefully find other details then it will help to have these details available

 

I wish I had known this when I visited with several military groups. A Named German soldier who fought and fell at Pt 593 and buried in the Cassino war cemetery.

Point 593 is easy to visit - but a bit of a climb unless you get the key to the car barrier from the monks. The motivation, training and ethos of the German paratroops was something the British military was interested in.

I made this video from photos from a battlefield study led by the padre of 1st RHA to explore the moral dimension of the war in Italy and is cut with contemporary images. Shots of Pt 593 appear at 1:53 You will also see the German cemetery where your relative is buried.

 

Wow! I really need to go there. My husband and son have visited Ypres and a lot of the memorials and cemeteries in France. But this is something I would have to do. Thank you for sharing.

 

Might be an idea then to check out minden1759 as he guides tours in that area of the world

www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk - cassinobattlefields - Home

TD

 

I'm not sure that Volksbund have plans of their cemeteries on line. He might well be sharing his grave (Block 25 Grave 119) with 2 or 3 other men depending on how they decided to bury them.