Schütze Strunz
Name: Willhelm ‘Willi’ Strunz
Born: 10.2.08 at Rosenheim, Bayern
Civilian Occupation: Deutsche Bahn
The older of two brothers, he left school at 16 to support his mother & brother,
after their father walked out on them.
Taking up employment with the Deutsche Bahn, he enjoyed his work and
also busied himself both at ‘Abend schule’ (gaining the qualifications
he had missed at school), and in his home town as a keen amateur footballer.
In Rosenheim he married a local girl and fathered 2 daughters.
At the outbreak of WWII, he volunteered to join the Wehrmacht alongside
many of his football team mates, but was told that the combination of
his age & occupation deemed that he would better serve the fatherland
on the home front, keeping the trains moving.
He was eventually called up in August 1941, 2 months after the opening
of operation ‘Barbarossa’ and following on from basic Ersatz
Infanterie training he, was assigned to the ‘Rollbahn’ supply
train, keeping the ‘Ostfront’ troops supplied with ammo,
food & clothing.
However, whilst on home leave in April, 1942 he met an old ‘team-mate’ on
leave from the IRGD. Hearing of their recent heavy losses, he immediately
applied to join this elite regiment and was told to forthwith to attend
the GD Ersatz Infanterie Training school at Juterborg, south of Berlin.
There he successfully passed the physical & mental tests and was
accepted into the now reorganising & expanding IDGD, and by June
of 1942 had been posted to a reconnaissance battalion of the “Großdeutschland”,
serving on the ‘Ostfront’.
