Original German WWII ID dogtag - 1./INF.ERS.BATL.132 (44. I.D.) (Stalingrad)

Description

This dogtag was found near the Gumrak Airfield in the vicinity of Stalingrad.
Battle of Stalingrad
was one of the major battles of the WWII. The goal of Wermacht was to capture the city and block the transport routes of the river Volga and then proceed further deep into the Soviet territory. However the 6th Army, which was tasked with capturing the city failed to wipe out the Soviet forces completely and got stuck in Stalingrad. The Red Army seized this opportunity and encircled the 6th Army in the city, eventually forcing it to surrender.
This victory of the Soviet forces marked the turning point in the war - Wermacht lost
over 300 000 men
in Stalingrad and Manstein's
Army Group South was forced to rapidly retreat
in the following months.
1./INF.ERS.BATL.132
stands for
1./ Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 132
(
1st Company of the 132nd Reserve Infantry Battalion
).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/InfErsBat/InfErsBat132-R.htm
This unit provided reinforcements for the
Infanterie-Regiment 132
(
132nd Infantry Regiment
of the
44. Infanterie-Deivision
(
44th Infantry Division
).
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Infanteriedivisionen/44ID-R.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
44th Infantry Division
(also known as
Reichsgrenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister
)
was formed on 1 April 1938 in
Vienna
, about two weeks after the Anschluss of Austria.
It first saw combat at the start of the war in the
Invasion of Poland
, and also took part in the
Battle of France
in 1940. After a 9-month period of coastal defence the division was transferred East.
On 22 June 1941, the division took part in the
invasion of the Soviet Union
, attached to
Army Group South
. It remained in the east after the failure of "Operation Barbarossa", taking part in defensive actions for the winter against the Soviet Army offensives near
Izum and Kharkov
.
Refurbished, the division participated in the German summer offensive, and was subsequently destroyed with the
6th Army in Stalingrad in January 1943
.
Insingia of the 44th Infantry Division (Source: Wikipedia)