Sonnenthal, Wilfried/Michaelis, Rolf Wilfried Sonnenthal's Memories of the Waffen-SS. An SS Radioman with the SS-Karstwehr-Bataillon Remembers

Wilfried Sonnenthal joined the SS Signals Replacement Battalion in Nuremberg in January 1943, and in June 1943, he was transferred to the SS-Karstwehr-Bataillon in Pottenstein. With this battalion he took part in the disarming of the Italian Army in northern Italy in September 1943, and then was assigned to guard the Adriatic Coastland Zone of Operations. He describes combat actions against the mainly Slovenian partisans in the province of Gorz and the Italians in the province of Udine, for which he was awarded the Anti-Partisan War Badge in Bronze. In the summer of 1944, he was assigned to train volunteers from South Tyrol, and in 1945, he was transferred to the nominal 24. Waffen-Gebirgs [Karstjager]-Division der SS and took part in the retreat to Germany. A detailed history of the SS-Karstwehr is included, as well as a look at the Anti-Partisan War Badge.

He describes the missions against the mostly Slovenian partisans in the province of Gorizia and the Italian partisans in the province of Udine, for which he was awarded the Bronze Combat Badge. In the summer of 1944, he was deployed to train South Tyrolean volunteers, followed in 1945 by his transfer to the radio mastery of the nominal 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS ("Karstjäger") and his retreat to Germany. The appendix contains the history of the SS Karstwehr, as well as a description of the gang combat badge.