Original German WWII ID dogtag - 5./Art. R. 15 (15 I.D.) (Battle of Stalingrad)

Description

This dogtag was found near the
Baburkin khutor
in the vicinity of
Stalingrad
.
5./Art. R. 15
stands for 5./
Artillerie-Regiment 15
(5th Battery of the
15th Artillery Regiment
)
Artillerie-Regiment 15
was set up on October 1, 1934 in Ludwigsburg (Wehrkreis V) as
Artillerie-Regiment Ludwigsburg.
On October 15, 1935, the unit was renamed as
Artillerie-Regiment 15
. It was assigned to the
15th Infantry Division
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Infanteriedivisionen/15ID-R.htm
The division was formed on 1 October 1934 in
Würzburg
under the cover name Artillerieführer V. With the announcement of German rearmament, the division was renamed on 15 October 1935. Mobilized on 25 August 1939, the division took part in the
Invasion of Poland
in the same year and the
Battle of France
in 1940.
In July, 1941 the division was transferred to the
Eastern Front
. It took part in the siege of
Mogilev
and the
Battle of Smolensk
.
The division was one of the units taking part in the
Second Battle of Kharkov
from February till March 1943. The division was destroyed in August 1944 during the Soviet Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. In October 1944 a new 15. Infanterie-Division was raised near Cluj-Napoca using the remainders of the old division and new recruits. On 5 May 1945 the division surrendered to the Red Army at Brod.
Insignia of the 15th Infantry Division (Source: Wikipedia).