Back to the front
In his KTB he writes that on 17/01/1945: Abstellung Mühlheim / Ruhr. There he starts a long journey to reach his unit again. In his KTB there are is a long list of places he passes : Essen, Bochum, Siegen, Haiger, Wetzlar, Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg, Heigenbrücken Nürnberg, Pilsen, Prag, Wien (Strasshof). They stay for 2 days in Vienna, where he attends a comical opera „Eine Nacht in Venedig“.
From Wien to Lundenburg to Zilin and finally he arrives in Jablunkau (Oberschlesien) on 06/02/1945. Jablunkau (=Jablunkov) is situated in the Czech Republic near the Polish border. According the Lexicon the 253. ID is active in Oberschlesien at that time which is consistent with Philipp’s information. From there they march 100 kilometers through mountains and in stormy weather. He finally reaches the front on the 14/02.
On 19/02 they already have to repel the first attack of the Russians. Next attack is on 21/02 and 2 days later the third. Philipp writes that are on duty (Einsatz) day and night. After 7 days without sleep they can rest on 24/02 in the second divisional positions for 3 days. After that they are thrown back into action. They change a lot of times of position (Stellungswechsel).
From 07/03 till 09/03 he is in the “Tross” for treatment for two frozen feet. When he returns at the front on 10/03 there is a big attack from the Russians at Schwarzwasser, +/- 30 000 shots (maybe he means artillery shells?). He will not be staying long with his unit because a day later (11/03) he gets wounded a second time. This time a bullet grazed his head (Kopfstreifschuss) and one shot that went through (Durchschuss) his right upper leg.
He is transported on a stretcher to the Hauptverbandplatz where he only stays one day. He is transferred to Wal-Meseritz (Meseritz is German name for Midzyrzecz, Poland). There Philipp is put on a hospital train with direction Prag. It takes 7 days (12/03-19/03) to get there. On 01/04 he is operated. The recovery takes about a month as he is released on 29/04.
From the hospital he goes to the Frontleitstelle in Prag. Then his journey starts to get back to his unit. Via a few Frontleitstelle he finally finds the “tross” of his unit in Patzmannsdorf (Austria near Czech border) on 02/05. He rides with the tross until 10/05 because he still needs medical care as his wounds haven’t healed completely yet.
In the village “Heinrichsweiler/Protektorat” he gets his promotion to Gefreiten and gets the E K II. The cross is missing but the document survived. The date on the document is 21/03/1945. At that date he was still in the hospital in Prag. There is no indication for what kind of action he got the cross. It is signed by Generalleutnant Becker (Carl), commander of 253. ID. Becker got the Ritterkreuz (29/10/1942) mit Eichenlaub (14/04/1945).
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