Reinhard Pabst
Reinhard Pabst, a native Bavarian, holds the role of Funker in Erste Gruppe. His knowledge on the operation of radios pre-dates the war, however. He was raised working in his parents' radio and hardware supply store. He learned the ins and outs of how radios worked, and after building his first successful radio at age 14, managed to tune into the local Swing music station, before such music was banned by the Reich.
Reinhard volunteered to join the Wehrmacht in 1943, and the Heer was quick to notice his skill with radios and he was assigned the position of Funker in the 984. Grenadier Regiment.
Reinhard became extremely proficient with military radios and field telephones. He was well known in the entire regiment for being a "whiz kid" when it came to communications. He could set up a field phone grid between several outposts in less than an hour using only his hand wire reels and his bicycle.
As the war dragged on, through Aachen, two stints in the Hurtgen Forest and a short time in a hospital for frostbite, Reinhard found himself deployed more often than not without his radios and instead as a standard infantryman. By December, it had been months since he'd seen his radio equipment, now laden with the role of the Gruppe's MG-Schuetze. Reinhard carried the Spandau through the long winter of '44-'45, across the frozen hills of the Hurtgenwald, through the 275. Infanterie's retreat, and through the end of the war.
In February of 1945, no longer a member of Erste Gruppe, but attached to a rag tag outfit of Volksgrenadiers, Pabst could hear the roar of the approaching Soviet Horde in the harsh winter air. He could see their airplanes overhead while it had been months since he'd heard the reassuring whistle of a BF-109. Reinhard knew the war was over, so he and several others began the Exodus to the West to try to surrender to American troops before the Soviets could get to them.
He, unlike many others, made it.
Reinhard made POW life easy for himself by offering the Allies help with their radios. He helped maintain communication at the rear-area POW camp right up until the end of the war when he was released back to German citizenship to help repair Berlin's addled telephone superstructure.
Pabst joined the West German army and kept his job as a Funker well into the 1960s when he finally retired and kept radios only as a hobby.
Reinhard volunteered to join the Wehrmacht in 1943, and the Heer was quick to notice his skill with radios and he was assigned the position of Funker in the 984. Grenadier Regiment.
Reinhard became extremely proficient with military radios and field telephones. He was well known in the entire regiment for being a "whiz kid" when it came to communications. He could set up a field phone grid between several outposts in less than an hour using only his hand wire reels and his bicycle.
As the war dragged on, through Aachen, two stints in the Hurtgen Forest and a short time in a hospital for frostbite, Reinhard found himself deployed more often than not without his radios and instead as a standard infantryman. By December, it had been months since he'd seen his radio equipment, now laden with the role of the Gruppe's MG-Schuetze. Reinhard carried the Spandau through the long winter of '44-'45, across the frozen hills of the Hurtgenwald, through the 275. Infanterie's retreat, and through the end of the war.
In February of 1945, no longer a member of Erste Gruppe, but attached to a rag tag outfit of Volksgrenadiers, Pabst could hear the roar of the approaching Soviet Horde in the harsh winter air. He could see their airplanes overhead while it had been months since he'd heard the reassuring whistle of a BF-109. Reinhard knew the war was over, so he and several others began the Exodus to the West to try to surrender to American troops before the Soviets could get to them.
He, unlike many others, made it.
Reinhard made POW life easy for himself by offering the Allies help with their radios. He helped maintain communication at the rear-area POW camp right up until the end of the war when he was released back to German citizenship to help repair Berlin's addled telephone superstructure.
Pabst joined the West German army and kept his job as a Funker well into the 1960s when he finally retired and kept radios only as a hobby.
