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Otto Rabbe's
Soldbuch
Story
By
Doug Nash
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Unteroffizer Otto Rabbe was born 28 November 1912 in
Schoeppfeld, a small village in the Oberbarmin
District not far from Magdeburg. After apprenticing
as a bookkeeper's assistant, he was called up by the
Wehrmacht-Heer for active service in March 1940 and
underwent basic training with 2nd Kompanie, Infantry
Ersatz Reigment 33 in the city of Darmstadt.
After seeing seeing
service as a company clerk in Belgium and France from
May to July 1940 with the 33rd Infantry Division's
Infantry Regiment 110, he was transferred along with
the rest of his regiment to the 112 Infantry Division,
where he served on the Eastern Front from June 1941
until November 1943, fighting in such places as Tula,
Orel, and Kiev. Promoted to Unteroffizier on 1 April
1943, he left behind his clerk's job and became a
newly-minted infantry NCO that spring. When his
decimated regiment was used to form the basis for
Regimentgruppe 110 of Korps-Abteilung B, he was
transferred to France, where he joined the
newly-forming Grenadier Regiment 915 of the 352nd
Infantry Division, then being assembled in the St. Lo
area.
On June 6, 1944, Raabe was
serving as a squad leader in 8th Kompanie, Grenadier
Regiment 915, the unit responsible for manning part of
the defenses on Omaha Beach. On 14 June 1944, after
surviving a grueling week of combat before the gates
of Caen, Rabbe was injured in a fall but had recovered
sufficiently to return to his duties after a few days
with the Kompanie Tross. On 25 June, he was wounded
in action by Allied artillery fire and evacuated to
Kriegs-Lazerett 10/528 R in Plombieres, France. He
then began a three-month period of recovery, finally
being discharged from the military hospital in
Halbersleben on 13 September 1944. He was then
assigned to the Convalescent Company of Grenadier
Ersatz und Ausbildung Battalion 396 in Northeim, where
he carried out "light" duties while his wound finished
healing.
Finally, on 26 October, he
was issued a completely new set of clothing and
equipment, assigned to a March Kompanie, and sent off
to join his old division, now redesignated 352nd Volks-Grenadier
Division, then encamped near Flensburg in northern
Germany. Assigned to his old 8th Company, Grenadier
Regiment once again, he was allowed to enjoy one last
leave at home with his wife Jutta from 17 November to
10 December 1944 before participating in the Ardennes
Offensive. His decorations include the War Service
Cross 2nd Class with Swords, awarded on 15 November
1943 and the Black Wound Badge, awarded on 22 July
1944. He is believed to have been captured in the
Ardennes and survived the war.
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