Original WWII German 'Polenfeldzug' photo album 3./Schwere Artillerie-Abteilung 641

This exceptionally complete and historically significant photo album documents the 1939 Polish Campaign from the perspective of a soldier of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Battalion 641 (3. Schwere Artillerie-Abteilung 641).The album contains 154 original photographs, carefully arranged and almost all provided with handwritten German captions, creating a detailed and continuous narrative of the unit's advance, combat actions, and daily experiences.The album opens with mobilisation and preparation scenes and then follows the battalion's march route through Poland, passing through Krakow, Radom, Mielec, and ultimately Warsaw.The photographs show destroyed villages and towns, blown bridges, burning buildings, and extensive infrastructural damage caused by artillery fire.A substantial portion of the album focuses on the deployment of heavy artillery: moving, positioning, loading, and firing the 21 cm Mörser, as well as close-ups of breech mechanisms and barrel interiors, firing positions outside Warsaw, and observation posts of the battery.Particularly striking are the images surrounding the Siege of Warsaw and Fort Modlin, including devastated city districts, the shelled railway station, smoke plumes rising over the capital, and the German positions preparing the city's capitulation.There are also extensive series depicting Polish prisoners of war, parliamentarians being escorted for negotiations, troop concentrations, and battlefield graves of both German and Polish soldiers.Alongside frontline imagery, the album includes valuable photographs of everyday life within the unit: rest periods, field kitchens, equipment maintenance, group portraits, training exercises in Prümmern and Schleiden, and scenes taken during the return to Germany.The album is sturdily bound, with all photographs originally mounted on thick black photo card using corner mounts.The combination of military action scenes, civilian impressions, personal moments, extensive annotations, and the clear provenance from the 3./Schwere Artillerie-Abteilung 641 makes this album an exceptional and coherent field record.A rare acquisition for collectors focused on the early years of the Second World War, the 1939 Polish Campaign, and the deployment of German heavy artillery.Article number: 17140