Waffen-SS Wehrpass & Stammkarte — SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 1 “LAH” — KIA Falaise Pocket 1944

Recipient: SS-Sturmmann Karl Baldischwieler
Unit: 5. Batterie / SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 1 “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler”
Division: 1. SS-Panzer-Division “LAH”

Contents

• Original SS-Wehrpass — well-documented, includes photo

• SS-Stammkarte

Service History

• Training: SS-Artillerie-Ersatz-Regiment

• Transfer: To 5./SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 1 (LAH) in June 1943

• Campaigns:

  • Italy (1943)

  • Eastern Front (late 1943–early 1944)

  • France, Battle of Normandy (summer 1944)

• Promotion: Advanced to SS-Sturmmann during combat, 21 June 1944

• Fate: Killed in Action on 20 August 1944 near Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives during the closing stages of the Falaise Pocket

Historical Context: The Falaise Pocket

The Battle of the Falaise Pocket (August 12–21, 1944) marked the decisive end of the German presence in Normandy. Surrounded by Allied forces, elements of the 7. Armee and 5. Panzerarmee—including divisions of the Waffen-SS—were encircled near Falaise, Trun, and Chambois.

• Over 50,000 German troops were trapped, with thousands killed and vast amounts of equipment destroyed.

• Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, where Baldischwieler fell, became one of the last escape corridors and saw fierce, desperate fighting as units of the LAH, Hitlerjugend, and other formations tried to break out.

• Baldischwieler’s death on 20 August 1944 places him among those who perished in the final collapse of the German front in Normandy.

Condition

• As seen in photos: Wehrpass complete, with photo and wartime entries.

• Stammkarte included, further strengthening provenance.

Collector’s Notes

• A poignant and historically significant KIA Normandy grouping tied to the elite Leibstandarte Division.

• Direct connection to the dramatic fighting and destruction of German forces in the Falaise Pocket, one of the key turning points of the Western Front in 1944.

• Rare opportunity to acquire an SS-Wehrpass with Normandy and Falaise attribution.