Original DAK Diary: From "Gegenangriff" at El Alamein to Alabama POW camp

Hello everyone,

I would appreciate some opinions and historical insight on an original 1943 Panzerarmee Afrika pocket diary / calendar that I recently acquired.

The diary is complete in structure and original, with a yellow cover featuring a palm tree. The center of the cover shows a worn area where a swastika was originally present, though it is no longer visible.

Inside are extensive original handwritten entries throughout the year, including:
– multiple named soldiers, with ranks (one identified as Hauptmann),
– references to Heer artillery / battery units,
– organizational and operational military notes,
– full postal addresses in Germany and the Sudetenland,
– entries clearly related to the North African campaign.

Particularly interesting are explicit handwritten references to El Alamein, including the term “Gegenangriff” (counter-attack), with dates corresponding to the summer period.

The original owner is not explicitly identified by name, but the content strongly suggests a non-commissioned officer or experienced artillery soldier of the Heer attached to the Panzerarmee Afrika. This is an informed assumption rather than a confirmed attribution.

Condition: original and unrestored; approximately 5–6 pages are partially loose, otherwise very well preserved for a field-used diary.

I am sharing a couple of representative images below and would be grateful for any thoughts regarding the historical significance and collectability of this piece.

Thank you in advance.

 

The owner is on one of the last few pages. Obergefreiter Hasenpflug.

These types of calendar diaries were probably quite common, my grandfather had one too.

All the best

Andreas