Lithuanian Wehrmacht Soldiers in the Battle of the Giogo Pass

The German 4th Parachute Division

The 4.FJD was formed in Italy towards the end of 1943 and from Anzio onwards it always operated in our peninsula. The cadres were made up of veterans: many had the “Afrika” or “Kreta” band, and some wore both. The troop was instead made up of young recruits and heterogeneous personnel of various origins: Flak, technical personnel, airport security guards and so on. Often these were highly qualified personnel who, however, had only picked up the rifle during the basic training phases. Despite this, the large unit performed rather well during the Italian campaign.

The constant contact with the enemy led to serious losses: having retreated from Florence, the division positioned itself on the Gothic line in the sector between the Futa pass and the Giogo pass. In the few days of rest she had available, she was refreshed with young recruits from Germany (apparently also children coming directly from the Hitlerjugend) who received further intensive "local" training shortly before deployment in battle. It was probably then that the Lithuanian volunteers were aggregated to the 12th regiment; it is unlikely that they reached the unit before then because a longer presence within the unit would have left greater historical traces than those that have survived. These reinforcements dissolved in a few days, and a fair number of the prisoners taken on the Yoke by the GIs and classified in the reports of the time as paratroopers were in reality Lithuanians.

The Dog Tags Found on the Giogo Pass

The unit of origin stamped on the plates is the Flak Ersatz Abteilung 51. Formed on 26.8.39 in Stettin-Kreckow in 4. Batteries, numbered from 1 to 4. In 1941 it was converted into schwere Flak-Ersatz-Abteilung 51 (heavy anti-aircraft ).In June 1942 the unit was divided into:

• Flak-Ersatz-Abteilung 51 in Szczecin-Kreckow
• Flak-Ausbildungs-Abteilung 51 in Stettin-Kreckow (shortly afterwards it was renamed and became Flak-Abteilung 693)

In 1944 the force was increased to 9 batteries; between November and December 1944, batteries 6. – 9. saw operational use in Luftgau III.

Service (source: http://www.ww2.dk/):

• 8.39 – 9.40 in Stettin-Kreckow under the Luftgau-Kommando IV
• 9.40 – 8.41 in Szczecin-Kreckow under Kommandeur der Flakersatzabteilungen beim Luftgau IV
• 8.41 – 7.42 in Szczecin-Kreckow under the Stab/Flak-Ersatz-Regiment 7
• 7.42 – 5.45 in Szczecin-Kreckow under the Stab/Flak-Ersatz-Regiment 1

Unfortunately, at the moment it has not been possible to find any reference to the Lithuanians who were merged there. It is probable that the Flak Ersatz Abteilung 51 was used as a transit unit to temporarily "park" the assigned personnel while waiting for a definitive assignment. According to the limited information we have received, the Lithuanians who arrived at the 4.FJD were around 400, grouped in a "Litauer Batallion". Apparently they were not of much help and many surrendered to the Americans at the first opportunity. The bad end that the survivors would have met after the war, when they were repatriated to the Soviet Union, is imaginable.

The following quotes are taken from F. Montevecchi's book “The road to Imola”, University press Bologna, 1991, and have in turn been taken from other texts.

Page 80, referring to the state of the 4FJD in September '44: "...while the 12th regiment was completed with the remains of the 1st assault regiment of the II Fliegerkorps, with departments of Lithuanian volunteers and with personnel from the dissolved Luftwaffe divisions ” (E. Busch, Die Fallschirmjaeger Kronik, pag.110-111, Pallas, Friedberg 1983).

Page 87, again referring to the state of the FJD4 a few days after the 5th Army's offensive: “Once the 4th Parachute Division had employed every possible man, even the few trusty Lithuanians, all that remained at Schlemm were two battalions of Lehr” (H. Greiner, Kampf um Rom, Inferno am Po, pag.167, Scharnnost Buchkameradschaft, Neckargemuend 1968).

Other references can be found in Amedeo Montemaggi's recent book “Clausewitz sulla Linea Gotica” (Angelini editore, Imola 2008).

Page 120, regarding the events of September 18th we read:
“The attack on Bitorzolo 3 of Monte Altuzzo was continued during the night by companies “I” and “L” and finally at dawn on the 18th the objective was taken. Several Germans surrendered, including some grenadiers of the 6th company of the Lehr Brigade and about forty Lithuanian volunteers, who had more the intention of deserting than fighting, the others retreated beyond the pass".

Note 140 at the end of the chapter adds:
“The Lithuanians were part of a Labor Battalion of 360/430 men coming from southern France. Of these, 75 had been diverted to Monte Altuzzo."

The "trusty Lithuanians" in Montevecchi's book are a bit perplexing, given and considering what has been reported elsewhere, namely that these "volunteers" surrendered at the first opportunity. What is certain is that an unknown number of Lithuanians fell during the fighting on Altuzzo. There is certainty of at least two, confirmed by the direct testimony handed down to us by those who saw the bodies in the aftermath of the battle.

But let's get to the military plates as they present themselves.

One is in aluminum and the other in zinc (the zinc one was treated with Indian ink to make the inscriptions better visible and easier to read), the characters used are identical and the serial numbers are quite close to each other. The Stammrollnummern, the identification numbers assigned to individual soldiers within a unit, are quite high (over 4000); this is a typical characteristic of the training and replacement departments, through which thousands of men passed. At the same time, a high registration number may also suggest that the Lithuanians were classified late in the war. The plates were almost certainly printed with the same machine; they were supported during molding on a knurled base, and this can be seen particularly on the aluminum example.