Original Item: Only One Available. This is an exceptional German WWII Wehrpaß belonging to Friedrich “Fritz” Bielmeier, a Bavarian miner who served as a Wehrmacht combat engineer, or Pionier, from the opening years of the war through 1945. Bielmeier’s Wehrpaß contains a detailed record of unit assignments, medical treatment, and combat participation in both France and on the Eastern Front. Accompanying the Wehrpaß are two particularly significant original documents: an application for the Sturmabzeichen, recording three individual qualifying assault dates, and a February 1945 Panzernahbekämpfung training certificate stating that Bielmeier was considered qualified to conduct close-range anti-tank combat instruction himself.

The Wehrpaß is in very good original condition for a document that accompanied its owner through years of wartime service. The cover exhibits handling, edge wear, surface rubbing, small stains, and general discoloration. The interior pages remain securely present and display an excellent assortment of documentation. Bielmeier’s original photograph remains securely attached to the identification page with the correct metal fasteners and is crossed by the appropriate official Wehrmacht administrative stamps. The image itself remains clear and presents very nicely. Also present is the original brown Wehrpaß protective pouch.

The surviving paperwork allows Bielmeier’s wartime career to be reconstructed in considerable detail. His service included the 1940 Campaign in France with 1./Pionier-Bataillon 296, severe fighting around Yukhnov, Gzhatsk, and the Ugra River in 1942 with Pionier-Bataillon 258, and lengthy Eastern Front service with Pionier-Bataillon 268, including defensive fighting along the Desna and Sozh Rivers and in the Gomel region during the German retreats of 1943. By the summer of 1944 his battalion had become an independent Army engineer formation and was assigned within the German 9th Army command structure at the opening of the Soviet summer offensive known as Operation Bagration.

The primary piece is Bielmeier’s original green-gray Wehrpaß, complete with identification photograph, official stamps, handwritten entries, unit stamps, medical notations, and combat-service pages. The pass identifies him as:

Friedrich Bielmeier, born 3 March 1918 in Bodenmais, in the administrative district of Regen, Lower Bavaria. He is listed as a German citizen, Roman Catholic, unmarried, and employed in civilian life as a Grubenarbeiter, or mine worker. This occupation is especially appropriate for Bodenmais, a community historically associated with the extensive mining activity surrounding the Silberberg.

Bielmeier was first examined for military service at Deggendorf on 24 June 1938. Before entering the Army, he fulfilled his compulsory service with the Reichsarbeitsdienst, or RAD. His RAD record shows that he entered service on 2 November 1938 with the rank of Arbeitsmann and was discharged on 25 March 1939. He was subsequently drafted in July 1939 for a pioneer formation associated with Pionier-Bataillon 88 at Regensburg, before formally entering active Army service on 2 December 1939 with: 2./Pionier-Ersatz-Bataillon 17, Würzburg

He was sworn in on 18 December 1939. The Wehrpaß then records a succession of engineer assignments, including one of the most important entries in the group: 1. Kompanie, Pionier-Bataillon 296 from approximately 30 March through 17 October 1940. This battalion was the divisional engineer formation of the 296th Infantry Division, and Bielmeier’s combat-service pages correspond closely with the division’s movements during the Campaign in the West.

Bielmeier’s Wartime Service

Bielmeier’s first major field assignment was with 1./Pionier-Bataillon 296, the engineer battalion of the 296th Infantry Division. His Wehrpaß records his movements through several distinct phases of the 1940 Campaign in France and provides an unusually detailed record of his later service on the Eastern Front.

France, 1940

From approximately 8 February to 25 May 1940, Bielmeier is recorded as serving in the Heimatkriegsgebiet, followed by deployment north of the Aisne from 26 May to 4 June 1940.

From 5 to 25 June 1940, his Wehrpaß records his presence in the operational area during the Battle of France. Beginning around 26 June, he was serving with the occupation forces in the Département de l’Aisne. These entries correspond closely with the documented movements of the 296th Infantry Division during the closing stages of the Western Campaign and the occupation duties that followed.

Later that year, his service was interrupted by a serious but apparently non-combat injury. The medical section records “Schienbeinbruch re.”, indicating a fracture of the right shin or tibia. Bielmeier received treatment at a Luftwaffe hospital in Rotterdam, followed by additional hospital care apparently in Antwerp. Nothing in the Wehrpaß identifies the injury as the result of enemy action, so it should not be considered a documented combat wound.

Eastern Front, 1942

Following recovery and additional replacement-unit service, Bielmeier reached the Eastern Front with Pionier-Bataillon 258 in January 1942. At this point the Wehrpaß becomes particularly detailed, recording the following combat periods:

● 7–14 January 1942: Defensive fighting between the Protva and Ugra-Shanya
● 15–29 January 1942: Winter Battle at Yukhnov
● 30 January–3 February 1942: Offensive fighting north of Yukhnov
● 4 February–4 March 1942: Defensive fighting along the Yukhnov–Gzhatsk road
● 5 March–18 April 1942: Defense of the Ugra position and Vernichtungskämpfe against the Soviet 33rd Army in the rear area
● 19–25 April 1942: Fighting on the Ugra

The period term Vernichtungskämpfe means “war of annihilation” or “battles of extinction.”
These entries place Bielmeier in some of the severe winter and spring fighting that followed the failure of the German advance on Moscow. The Soviet winter counteroffensive had forced German formations onto the defensive, and the battles around Yukhnov, Gzhatsk, and the Ugra formed part of the prolonged struggle to stabilize the central sector of the Eastern Front.
An especially interesting connection within the grouping is Bielmeier’s first documented qualifying assault for the Sturmabzeichen, dated 29 March 1942. This falls directly within his recorded service during the defense of the Ugra position and operations against the Soviet 33rd Army.

Pionier-Bataillon 268, 1942–1944

After a period in a Genesenden-Kompanie, or convalescent company, Bielmeier returned to field service and by 28 July 1942 had joined Pionier-Bataillon 268, initially with its 2nd Company.

From 16 September 1943, he is recorded with 1./Pionier-Bataillon 268. His subsequent combat entries reflect the increasingly difficult German withdrawals across the western Soviet Union.

From 17 to 29 September 1943, Bielmeier participated in defensive fighting along the Desna River, followed by further defensive fighting on the Sozh River from 30 September to 21 November 1943. Beginning on 22 November, his Wehrpaß records continued combat in the Gomel region, with the surviving notation apparently extending toward the Rechitsa and Pripyat area.

Here again, the accompanying Sturmabzeichen documentation provides a connection. Bielmeier’s third qualifying assault took place on 25 November 1943, directly within this recorded period of heavy fighting around Gomel. His second qualifying assault had occurred earlier on 6 September 1943.

The Collapse of the Central Front, 1944

Pionier-Bataillon 268 has an interesting later history. Although the 268th Infantry Division was dissolved in November 1943, its engineer battalion remained in service as an independent Heerestruppe, essentially an Army-level formation.

Early 1944 orders of battle place Pionier-Bataillon 268 with XXXV. Armeekorps, and a German 9th Army order of battle dated 23 June 1944 still lists the battalion among the army’s engineer units.

This date is especially significant, as Operation Bagration had begun only days earlier. The massive Soviet offensive shattered much of German Army Group Center, destroying or encircling numerous formations of the German 9th Army.

Bielmeier remained officially assigned to 1./Pionier-Bataillon 268 through 12 August 1944, establishing his continued service with the formation during this extremely difficult period. The surviving documents do not, however, establish his exact physical location during the Bobruisk encirclement, so it would be inappropriate to claim that he was personally trapped inside the pocket.

Medical records from July 1944 show Bielmeier receiving additional treatment, including at Reserve Hospital Lyck. His condition is recorded only under the period medical code 375, which is best left uninterpreted rather than assigning it an uncertain modern diagnosis.

On 13 August 1944, he was transferred to the convalescent company of Pionier-Ersatz-Bataillon 27 at Ingolstadt.

Late-War Training and Anti-Tank Qualification

By 4 September 1944, Bielmeier’s Wehrpaß records assignment to:

2. schw. Kp. Pi.Ers.-u.Ausb.Btl.27

or the 2nd Heavy Company, Pioneer Replacement and Training Battalion 27.

Pionier-Ersatz-Bataillon 27 had officially been redesignated Pionier-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 27 on 1 September 1944, and Bielmeier’s Wehrpaß begins using the new designation only three days later.

His final surviving document brings his story into the closing months of the war. Between 20 and 23 February 1945, Bielmeier attended a Panzernahkampflehrgang, or close-range anti-tank combat course, conducted under Division Nr. 407 at Kempten.

By this stage of the war, German troops were increasingly being trained to engage enemy armor at very short ranges using the anti-tank weapons and methods available during the final phase of the conflict. Most significantly, the corrected wording on Bielmeier’s certificate establishes that he was considered sufficiently proficient to lead such a training course himself, rather than merely having completed it as a student.

Personal Information in the Wehrpaß

● Name: Friedrich Bielmeier
● Alternate Name: Fritz Bielmeier, as recorded on the 1943 Sturmabzeichen document
● Date of Birth: 3 March 1918
● Birthplace: Bodenmais
● Administrative District: B.A. Regen / NBay. - Bezirksamt Regen, Lower Bavaria
● Nationality: Deutsches Reich
● Religion: r. kath. - Roman Catholic
● Marital Status: ledig - unmarried
● Civilian Occupation: Grubenarbeiter - mine worker
● Schooling: Volksschule
● Qualification: Führerschein Kl. III - Class III driver’s license
● Wehrpaß Issued: Deggendorf, 24 June 1938

Of note: some writing in this book is in Kurrentschrift, an older form of Germanic script writing, which is why the all the "u" letters are written as "ŭ". In this script the lowercase "n" and "u" are identical, so the latter gets the arc shaped mark over it. This is not indicative of an umlaut or other diacritical marking.