Germany - Third Reich: A superb German Occupation of the Sudetenland October 1938, Fallschirmjäger Airborne Assault on Crete May 1941 Armband “Kreta” and Russian Front 1941-1942 Iron Cross 1st Class, Wound Badge 1939 in Silver and Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge group of award certificates to Feldwebel Johannes Wüstner, 8th Company later 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment, 7th Flieger-Division. Wüstner was awarded the Kreta Cufftitle for his participation during the airborne assault on Crete during May 1941, this award being given to him on 20 May 1943, by which time he had added a number of awards for his units fighting on the Neva river near Kelkowo and Wyborgskaja during October to November 1941, he being most probably the victim of frostbite on 12 November 1941.
Medal for the Entry into the Sudetenland, 1 October 1938 with Prague Castle Bar Award Certificate, issued in the name of Gefreiten Johann Wüstner, 2nd Battalion, Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 1, as issued at Berlin on 20 June 1939 by Generalmajor Kurt Student, commanding 7. Flieger-Division. (Part of document lost on bottom side owing to fire damage).
Iron Cross 1939 1st Class Award Certificate, issued in the name of Oberjäger Johannes Wuestner, 6./Fallsch.Jg.Rgt.3’, dated 24 April 1942, facsimile signature of Kurt Student as General commanding the 11th Flieger-Korps. (Part of document lost on bottom right band corner owing to fire damage).
Wound Badge 1939 in Silver Award Certificate, issued in the name of Feldwebel Wüstner, 6./Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 3, awarded for one serious wound received on 12 November 1941 - this being most probably frostbite which gained the award of the Silver Badge instantly, as issued to him on 14 October 1942, signed by the Battalion Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment. (Part of document on left band side showing scorch marks owing to fire damage).
Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge, issued in the name of Feldwebel Johannes Wüstner, Fallschirmjäger-Rgt. 3, dated 1 October 1942, this being the date one which this award seems to have been awarded to the men of his 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment. Facsimile signature of the Generalleutnant and Divisional Commander. (Part of document lost on left side owing to fire damage).
Crete Armband “Kreta” Award Certificate, issued in the name of Feldwebel Johannes Wüstner, 8./Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 3, dated 20 May 1943, facsimile signature of Kurt Student as General commanding the 11th Flieger-Korps. (Part of document on right band side showing scorch marks owing to fire damage).
Condition: please see individual document reports, overall fair condition
Johannes Wüstner, name also spelt Johann Wüstner, saw service during the German occupation of the Sudetenland on 1 October 1938, and was one of those who had participated in both the occupation of the Sudetenland and the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia on March 15, 1939, hence his award of the Medal for the Entry into the Sudetenland, 1 October 1938 with Prague Castle Bar. When he received this medal in June 1939, he was serving as a Gefreiten with the 2nd Battalion, Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 1, as part of the 7th Flieger-Division under Generalmajor Kurt Student. This unit was then the only parachute troops unit of the Luftwaffe.
By September 1939 this division consisted of the 1st Parachute Regiment and the 2nd Parachute Regiment. Each regiment had three battalions. It seems likely that Johannes Wüstner took part in the campaign in France and the Low Countries during May and June 1940, but he then found himself in Fallschirmjäger Regimentt. 3, which was officially formed in August 1940, consisting of three Battalions. After eight months of intensive training the regiment was considered combat ready.
Johannes Wüstner then fought as a Fldwebel in the 8th Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment during the Battle of Crete in May 1941, which was the scene of the largest German Airborne operation of the war, and the first time in history that an island had been taken by airborne assault. The XI Fliegerkorps was responsible for ferrying the paratroops to Crete using 530 JU-52's and 70 DFS-230 light assault gliders, all together 8100 Fallschirmjäger were dropped on to Crete, 1680 men at Maleme, 2460 men at Chania, 1380 men at Rethymno and 2360 men at Heraklion.
On May 20th the first waves of paratroopers landed on their drop zones at Agya, southwest of Galatas in the face of resolute resistance by Commonwealth troops. Yet the paratroopers held their positions. Late in the evening of May 23rd the paratroopers made contact with Geb.Jg.Regt.100 near Stalos and together they co-coordinated their counterattacks. With the air landing of the 5th Mountain Division, military success looked brighter for the paratroopers on Crete. On May 25th the heavily defended positions at Galatas were taken, and two days later paratroopers captured the city of Chania and raised the German flag over the harbour. Afterwards, Crete was dubbed the graveyard of the Fallschirmjäger, with 1032 officers and men killed, 1632 wounded and 1759 missing.
Feldwebel Johannes Wüstner was awarded the Kreta Cufftitle for his participation during the airborne assault on Crete, this award being given to him on 20 May 1943. In the meantime he had seen action on the Eastern Front, by which time he had transferred to the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment.
The paratroopers took up new battle positions on the Eastern Front positions on the Neva river near Kelkowo and Wyborgskaja. After weeks of extremely difficult fighting FJR.3 was relieved. It had succeeded in holding its positions but at a very high price. On November 15th 1941, only 120 paratroopers were in formation for an inspection by Oberst Heidrich, and one company had lost 130 men to injury, frostbite and death. The survivors were happy to enjoy Christmas at home.
Feldwebel Johannes Wüstner would be award the Wound Badge 1939 in Silver on 14 October 1942, this being a belated award for one serious wounded received back in Russia on 12 November 1941 when engaged in the difficult fighting there. It would seem that he became the victim of frostbite, which one have automatically gained him entitlement to both the Wound Badge 1939 in Silver and the Iron Cross 2nd Class if he did already have the latter decoration.
It seems that Feldwebel (later Oberjäger) Johannes Wüstner was also the recipient of the Iron Cross 1st Class for his gallantry in action during this period in Russia, it being awarded to him on 24 April 1942, and possibly issued with his return to the unit, and he then went on to be awarded the Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge on 1 October 1942. This combat badge was not instituted until March 1942, and it is believed all such badges were awarded to the qualifying men of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment on this date. See the awards of another member of the 6th Company, Siegfried Jamrowski (on Traces of War website), who also received his Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge on 1 October 1942. Jamrowski went on to win the Knight’s Cross for the Battle of Monte Cassino in March 1944.
Early in January 1942, FJR. 3 had again been dispatched to the training ground at Gross Born, where it remained while training up the young replacements. On June 23rd they were put on alert and all leave cancelled. Tropical clothing and equipment was issued however it soon became obvious to them, that there was not to be an airborne operation against Malta. The Battalion was assigned to Airborne Brigade Ramcke. On August 12th the brigade was transported to the combat zone in the Western Desert facing the British 8th Army .Their positions were successfully held until November 2nd, when they were ordered to withdraw. The retreat was fought as a delaying action followed by a daring escape using captured British vehicles, marching, or hitching rides. During the following months the paratroopers were relieved and flown to Italy. Only a few members of Brigade Ramcke remained in Africa, and they fought their way back to Tunisia in small kampfgruppes.
It is unclear what happened to Johannes Wüstner at this time, and he may or may not have survived the war. It is clear that someone at some stage tried to burn his award documents, though these above have clearly survived in some form or other.
