SS PANZER-GRENADIER DEPOT AND RESERVE BTL 16 INDENKAMPFEN BEI ARNHEIM 17.9.44-7.10.44

Publisher: War Office

Year published: 1945

Pagination: 45pp, maps

Condition: v/good in brown boards

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An extremely rare diary by Sturmbandfuhrer Sepp Kraft, commander of SS Panzer-Grenadier Depot and Reserve Battalion 16. It is a detailed account of the Battalion's actions in the Arnhem Campaign, 17 September to 7 October, 1944. Battalion 16 was originally a training and replacement unit for the 12th SS-Panzer Division ‘Hitlerjugend’. The unit was in the Oosterbeek/Arnhem area on 17th September,the day of the Allied landings. Krafft’s battalion became embroiled in the battle where it distinguished itself, remaining in the Oosterbeek area for a total of three weeks, defending a sector of the Rhine. Krafft produced a post-battle diary detailing the units actions over the three weeks and submitted it directly to Himmler himself. This is an English translation of that diary. It consists of 31 pages of typewritten text plus 14 fold-out battle maps. It has apparently been rebound in foolscap brown boards and there is a pasted in facsimile of Heinrich Himmler's thanks for Krafft's birthday wishes. There is also the bookplate of a well known military historian/author.