Josef Allerberger

Josef Allerberger
Nickname(s) Sepp
Born 26 December 1924[1]
Wals-Siezenheim, Austria
Died 2 March 2010 (aged 85)[2]
Wals-Siezenheim, Austria
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Years of service 1942–1945
Rank Obergefreiter
Unit 3rd Mountain Division
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Iron Cross 2nd & 1st class
Infantry Assault Badge
Wound Badge (silver)
Sniper's Badge (gold)
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross[Notes 1]

Josef 'Sepp' Allerberger (26 December 1924 – 2 March 2010) was a German sniper in the II Battalion of the 144th Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division on the Eastern Front, and was credited with 257 kills.

He was born in the vicinity of Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, on 26 December 1924 (although in his memoirs he states he was born in September), the son of a local carpenter. Sent to the Eastern Front in June 1943 as a machine gunner, Allerberger was lightly wounded at Stavropol and experimented with a captured Soviet Mosin-Nagant 91/30 rifle with a 3.5x PU telescopic sight whilst recuperating. Eventually he made 27 kills before being sent for sniper training at Seetaleralpe, and being assigned a Karabiner 98k sniper variant with 4x telescopic sight. At the end of the War he would often use a Gewehr 43 with ZF4 4x telescopic sight and an MP40 submachine gun.

During combat, Allerberger was noted for using the Wehrmacht-taught technique of an umbrella with the cloth removed and foliage woven into the arms which he held to his front in order to camouflage himself.[3] This camouflage was quickly assembled and lightweight and adaptable to many circumstances.

In 2005, a book titled Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross ISBN 1-84415-317-7 was published, written by Albrecht Wacker based on interviews with Allerberger. The book was noted for suggesting that the Soviets had cannibalised their own comrades' corpses, and graphic depictions of torture. This translation into English is an abridged version of the book Im Auge des Jägers. The first three volumes of this work appeared under the title Der Wehrmachtsscharfschütze Franz Karner, as Allerberger was initially reluctant to be named.

According to his memoirs, Allerberger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, the commander of Army Group Centre, on 20 April 1945, although no official documentation ever recorded the award. However, this was not uncommon at this late point in the war.

After the war, Allerberger worked, like his father, as a carpenter. He died on 1 March 2010 in Wals-Siezenheim.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Josef Allerberger is not listed in Veit Scherzer's book Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives nor in Walther-Peer Fellgiebel's book Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945

References

Citations
  1. ↑ "Geburtstage" [Birthdays]. Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 24 December 2004. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Obituary" (PDF). Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 3 March 2010. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  3. ↑
Bibliography
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Wacker, Albrecht (2005,2006), Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross. ISBN 1-84415-317-7 Pen & Sword Military.
  • Wacker, Albrecht (2000), Im Auge des Jägers, ISBN 978-3-932077-27-2.