Wehrpass:Kurt-Georg Scheel

Kurt-Georg Scheel (12 February 1910 – 15 January 1943) was a German reserve officer who served in the infantry during the Second World War. His surviving Wehrpass records pre-war military service, mobilisation in 1939, service on the Western Front, later deployment to the Soviet Union, and promotion to Oberleutnant der Reserve.

Scheel was killed on 15 January 1943 while serving with III. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 538 in the area between Nowo Kalitwa and Rossosch. He was thirty-two years old.

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Personal details

Field	Information
Full name	Wilhelm Hans Kurt-Georg Scheel
Name normally used	Kurt-Georg Scheel
Date of birth	12 February 1910
Place of birth	Sprötze, district of Harburg, Hanover
Nationality	Deutsches Reich
Religion	Evangelical
Civilian occupation	Kaufmann, or commercial employee
Rank	Oberleutnant der Reserve
Date of death	15 January 1943
Place of death	Area between Nowo Kalitwa and Rossosch, Soviet Union

Some personal names and place-names are written in difficult handwriting and should be checked before being regarded as definitive.

Family and civilian background

Scheel came from the Harburg area of northern Germany. His Wehrpass records his occupation as Kaufmann, a general German term for a merchant, salesman, or commercially trained employee.

His father is recorded as Kurt Scheel, also described as a Kaufmann. His mother’s first name appears to have been Wilhelmine, although her maiden name is difficult to read from the available photograph.

Entry into military service

Scheel underwent his entry examination on 15 November 1934 at 3. Infanterie-Regiment in Munich and was judged fit for service. His military service was credited from 1 October 1934.

He was formally taken into service on 15 November 1934 and appears to have completed his initial period of active duty with the 3rd Infantry Regiment. He was released from this first period of service on 12 October 1935 and returned to civilian life.

His discharge destination is recorded as Heitz, Holstein, although the place-name should be verified from the original document.

Pre-war service and reserve status

After completing his initial active service, Scheel remained liable for reserve duty. His Wehrpass records participation in military exercises during 1937 and 1938.

These exercises appear to have taken place with a formation connected to Infanterie-Regiment 19. The entries demonstrate that Scheel continued to receive military training during the years before the outbreak of war.

On 15 March 1936 he was transferred to Reserve I.

Mobilisation in 1939

Scheel was recalled for service at the beginning of the Second World War. His unit list records service from September 1939 with formations connected to Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 220 and Infanterie-Regiment 220.

The visible sequence appears to include:

Period	Unit	Remarks
15 November 1934 – 12 October 1935	3. Infanterie-Regiment, Munich	Initial active military service
1 September – 13 November 1939	3./Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 220	Mobilisation and replacement-unit service
14 November 1939 – 31 March 1940	10./Infanterie-Regiment 220	Field service in the west
1 April – 1 September 1940	3./Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 220	Replacement or training duty
1 September 1940 – 13 February 1942	Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 220	Home or replacement-army service
14 February 1942 – 15 January 1943	III./Grenadier-Regiment 538	Eastern Front; final field unit

Several of the abbreviations and dates are written faintly. The transcription should therefore be treated as a reconstruction rather than a final archival reading.

Training and weapons

The training section of the Wehrpass records instruction with the following weapons:

• Gewehr 98;
• leichtes Maschinengewehr 08/13;
• Pistole 08.

These entries reflect infantry training with the standard rifle, light machine gun, and service pistol available during Scheel’s early military service.

The document also records later courses. One course took place from 24 April to 17 May 1940. Another was held from 1 to 11 July 1941. The exact titles of these courses are difficult to decipher and should be checked.

Promotions

Scheel followed the reserve-officer career path. The promotion page records the following progression:

Effective date	Rank or status
12 October 1935	Gefreiter der Reserve and Reserveoffizieranwärter
1 September 1940	Leutnant der Reserve
1 September 1942	Oberleutnant der Reserve

His advancement from reserve officer candidate to Oberleutnant shows that he was regarded as suitable for command responsibility. By the time of his death, he was serving as a company-grade reserve officer.

Service in the west

The combat section records several periods of service in the West during 1939 and 1940.

The entries include:

• 22 November to 27 December 1939 – deployment in the West, apparently in the Palatinate;
• 18 to 25 January 1940 – further deployment in the West;
• 14 to 31 March 1940 – defensive service on the German western frontier;
• subsequent security or replacement service with units connected to Infanterie-Regiment or Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 220.

The precise wording is difficult to read, but the entries place Scheel on the Western Front during the period commonly known as the Sitzkrieg or “Phoney War”.

Eastern Front

On 14 February 1942, Scheel began service with III. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 538. The combat record states that he participated in the campaign in the East as part of Grenadier-Regiment 538 and the 385. Infanterie-Division.

This posting placed him in front-line service on the Soviet-German front. By this time he held the rank of Leutnant der Reserve, later becoming Oberleutnant der Reserve on 1 September 1942.

His service continued through the remainder of 1942 and into January 1943.

Awards

The awards page appears to record at least the following decorations:

• Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, commonly called the Ostmedaille;
• Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse.

The exact award dates are faint or partly obscured.

The Ostmedaille indicates qualifying service during the severe winter campaign of 1941–1942. The Iron Cross 2nd Class was awarded for military merit or bravery in the face of the enemy.

Death near Rossosch

The casualty page records that Scheel was gefallen on 15 January 1943.

The entry appears to read:

Gefallen beim III./Grenadier-Regiment 538 im Raum zwischen Nowo Kalitwa und Rossosch.

In English:

Killed while serving with III Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 538, in the area between Nowo Kalitwa and Rossosch.

The date places his death during the destructive winter fighting on the southern sector of the Eastern Front. His final unit and the location recorded in the Wehrpass indicate that he was killed during the collapse of German and allied positions around Rossosch in January 1943.

A handwritten note below the casualty entry appears to praise his conduct during the fighting, but the full sentence is difficult to read from the photograph.

The associated loose documents

Two loose documents are shown with the Wehrpass, but they do not bear the same name as the Wehrpass holder.

Ostmedaille certificate

The award certificate shown beside the Wehrpass was issued to:

Sanitäts-Obergefreiter Helmut Scheel

It records the award of the Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 on 1 August 1942.

Because the recipient is named Helmut Scheel, this certificate should not automatically be attributed to Kurt-Georg Scheel. It may relate to a relative, another soldier with the same surname, or an unrelated document later placed with the Wehrpass.

Disciplinary decision

The second loose document concerns:

Gefreiter Günther Scheel, Transportkolonne (mot.) der Luftwaffe 8/XVII

It is dated 6 May 1941 and states that a formal warning issued on 24 April 1941 was cancelled following Scheel’s successful complaint. The authority concluded that the disciplinary prerequisites for such a formal warning had not been fulfilled.

This document likewise concerns Günther Scheel, not Kurt-Georg Scheel. It should be catalogued separately unless additional evidence proves a family or provenance connection.

Document assessment

The Wehrpass provides a coherent record of Kurt-Georg Scheel’s military life:

• initial infantry service in 1934–1935;
• reserve exercises before the war;
• mobilisation in September 1939;
• service in the West;
• promotion through the reserve-officer ranks;
• deployment to Grenadier-Regiment 538;
• Eastern Front service;
• death near Rossosch on 15 January 1943.

The loose documents add historical interest but create a provenance problem because they name two different men. A careful collection description should distinguish clearly between:

1. the Wehrpass of Kurt-Georg Scheel;
2. the Ostmedaille certificate of Helmut Scheel;
3. the disciplinary document of Günther Scheel.

Without further evidence, the three men should not be presented as the same person.

Historical significance

Kurt-Georg Scheel’s Wehrpass illustrates the career of a pre-war reservist who was recalled in 1939 and gradually advanced into the reserve officer corps. His service began with routine infantry training and reserve exercises, but ended almost nine years later during one of the Wehrmacht’s major winter defeats in the Soviet Union.

The document also demonstrates the importance of checking names carefully within document groups. Shared surnames do not necessarily establish that loose certificates and letters belonged to the Wehrpass holder. Accurate historical reconstruction depends on separating confirmed information from assumptions about provenance.

Notes on transcription

Several handwritten entries are difficult to read. Unit abbreviations, course titles, personal names, and certain place-names should be checked. Uncertain readings have deliberately been described cautiously.

See also

• Wehrpass
• Grenadier-Regiment 538
• 385. Infanterie-Division
• Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42
• Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
• German reserve officers
• Researching Wehrpass document groups