Original German WWII Heer Army Named 10th Company 91st Infantry Regiment Photo Album – With Documents & Birth Certificate Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. A wonderful personal photo album, marked on the front with the Reichsadler Eagle, over regimental designation 10. Komp. / Inf.-Rgt. 91, or 10th Company, 91st Infantry Regiment. Inside the front cover is the standard Erinnerungen an meine Wehrdienstzeit (Memories of my Military Service), message. The back still has a visible maker mark, and the album overall measures approximately 10.5″ x 7″. Inside the cover are some lovely named personal documents from the owner, which look to be birth and enlistment papers.

The first few pages have images of the top brass of the German Wehrmacht, including A H, and overall there are 30 pages in total, with “onion skin” separators to keep the pages from sticking together. There are over 56 personal photographs of various sizes, showing all manner of scenes and locations. There is even a newspaper clipping added. Most photos seem to be held in by the original adhesive, though it is possible that they were reattached over the years.

Overall a really nice hard to find photo album from World War Two Germany.

The division was originally formed as an air landing division (Luftlandedivision) trained and equipped to be transported by aircraft (i.e. having only light artillery and few heavy support weapons) to take part in Operation Tanne Ost, an aborted airborne operation in Scandinavia. Despite its name, the 91st in practice was a regular Heer unit and spent its entire existence as a conventional infantry division.

Formed in the Baumholder area from replacement center personnel in January 1944 under the command of Generalleutnant Bruno Ortner, its command was transferred to Generalleutnant Wilhelm Falley and moved to the Cotentin peninsula with von der Heydte’s 6th Parachute Regiment and 100th Panzer Replacement and Training Battalion, armed with captured French light tanks, attached as part of the German 7th Army.

Located within the landing zones of both the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, it saw heavy fighting around Sainte-Marie-du-Mont with its divisional commander being killed.

Placed under the temporary command of Generalmajor Bernard Klosterkemper, It attempted to block the U.S. 4th Infantry Division’s advance off Utah Beach at Carentan where its 1058th Grenadier Regiment was all but destroyed. After the second week of the Allied invasion of Normandy the 91st had suffered so many casualties it was no longer considered combat effective as a unit.

Now at battle group strength, it was attached to the 77th Infantry Division then to the 243rd Infantry Division in Corps von Schlieban defending Cherbourg where most of its remaining forces were captured by the Americans. Remnants of the division under the command of Colonel Eugen Konig escaping to the south. Despite recommendation the unit be dissolved Oberkommando des Heer (OKH) chose to rebuild it adding replacement battalions and sending it back to the front in early August.

Defending Rennes from Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s U.S. Third Army, it again suffered heavy casualties and was reduced to battle group strength. It followed the German retreat to the Siegfried Line and was later consolidated with the remains of the 275th and 344th Infantry Divisions to form the 344th Volksgrenadier Division.