Luftwaffe Helmet Italian Campaign - Vet Info

fishermankw

fishermankw

Senior Member
Bought this helmet out of an attic in Youngstown, OH. You can still see some of the blown in insulation which I think is just an interesting part of it’s history now. My question is does anyone know how to research the German Soldier that has his info listed inside? Appreciate any insight.
 

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You could send the Bundesarchiv an email asking for information, but without the soldier's full name, DOB, or serial number I wouldn't expect much.
 
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In 1943, that FPN number (24392) was assigned to schwere Flak-Batterie zbV 3705 (later renamed 1. Batterie, schw. Flak Abteilung 186 at the end of August). It seems it was deployed to protect the Ploesti oil fields in Romania at the time.

The battery was originally a part of Flak Abteilung 301 located in Bochum in western Germany. The helmet may have been captured there.

I wouldn't hold out much hope that the Sicily markings are real.
 
Very nice helmet and Babyface quick research. This is a quick reference on how to research German Soldiers Names. Also this guy makes great videos

 
OK. So going through OOB for 3rd ID: 2nd battalion of the 30th IR (not aware of another outfit landing in this small operation) chased retreating enemy in a successful landing at Capo d'Orlando 10 Aug. 1943. Obviously this Division and all elements finished their work in Germany with the 30th completing their mission in Austria. You could certainly start with the address of the attic it came from to get info on the vet (as a starting point). Keep in mind the 3rd ID had 25k casualties during the war, lot of guys weren't hurt. Big Division. Needle in a haystack, but a man who participated in Sicily would likely have a NOK tag, which means researchable, back to address of helmet find. Good luck
 
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iron bender said:
OK. So going through OOB for 3rd ID: a battalion of the 30th IR (battalion unknown to me now but I do have a 30th unit history, and not aware of another outfit landing in this small operation) chased retreating enemy in a successful landing at Capo d'Orlando 10 Aug. 1943. Obviously this Division and all elements finished their work in Germany with the 30th completing their mission in Austria. You could certainly start with the address of the attic it came from to get info on the vet (as a starting point). Keep in mind the 3rd ID had 25k casualties during the war, lot of guys weren't hurt. Big Division. Needle in a haystack, but a man who participated in Sicily would likely have a NOK tag, which means researchable, back to address of helmet find. Good luck
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I have the likely name of the vet which would be “John Egley” I was told he owned the home prior and records show he did as well. From what little internet sleuthing I can do it appears he’s still alive and 101 living around the same area, I would venture in some sort of retirement home.

Worth noting, is the previous owner owned many of the lots around the property. The lots appear to either be sold or given to the children and they built their homes there. The gentleman I bought it from said 4-5 years ago he found the fathers bars, medals, etc. in the duct work of the house and he returned the medals to the neighbors. He said since then the kids of the man who previously owned the house have been encroaching on his property, driving through his yard, built part of a garage on his property, neighborly land disputes. He said he paid to have a survey done to try and “curb” the issue. He said part of him felt like selling the helmet helped to right the wrong and offset the cost of the survey he had done. In looking at the county GIS map, his neighbors all have the same last name so it appears it might be truthful. Almost too detailed to make up, but again, still could be just a story.
 
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Found John F. and Albert F. both from Mahoning. Albert went in Mar 42 and John Dec 42. So both could be likely candidates for the helmet. There's a Walter J. from Cuyahoga, Feb 42 too.
Curious was the house on Garfield St, or maybe 'Boardwalk' Blvd? One of the draft cards shows a move during the war. I'm showing John F as having died in 2011, obit has him as heavy equipment operator ETO. Albert F. died in 1970. Found his draft card and that's about it.
 
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iron bender said:
Found John F. and Albert F. both from Mahoning. Albert went in Mar 42 and John Dec 42. So both could be likely candidates for the helmet. There's a Walter J. from Cuyahoga, Feb 42 too.
Curious was the house on Garfield St, or maybe 'Boardwalk' Blvd? One of the draft cards shows a move during the war. I'm showing John F as having died in 2011, obit has him as heavy equipment operator ETO. Albert F. died in 1970. Found his draft card and that's about it.
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Appreciate the research. The house was on “Boardman” Blvd in Boardman (Youngstown), Ohio.
 
It was hard to make out on the draft cards as it was handwritten cursive. They moved from Garfield to Boardman during the war. Just gotta figure out which Egley it was. That was one hell of an operation trying to cut off the 29th Panzer from escaping Sicily.
 
iron bender said:
It was hard to make out on the draft cards as it was handwritten cursive. They moved from Garfield to Boardman during the war. Just gotta figure out which Egley it was. That was one hell of an operation trying to cut off the 29th Panzer from escaping Sicily.
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I would venture to guess it was John Egley then and that the record of him living is wrong. I was told that the house was in disrepair and went through probate court in 2014. With how long probate takes it would make sense that the house was finally sold in 2014 if he passed in 2011.
 
No telling where or when he picked up the helmet but he thought enough of this small scale sea invasion to mark it in this helmet. Congrats on a nice find!
FYI this operation took place on the night of Aug. 10th into the morning of Aug 11th. The battle was intense for a couple of days
 
iron bender said:
No telling where or when he picked up the helmet but he thought enough of this small scale sea invasion to mark it in this helmet. Congrats on a nice find!
FYI this operation took place on the night of Aug. 10th into the morning of Aug 11th. The battle was intense for a couple of days
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Thanks for the help and additional research on this. I was able to find his obit on “find my grave”, I had some luck searching a KIA vet on fold3 when I have some additional to lookup I might commit to another month of that to see if I can dig any more up.
 
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