Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Interesting Wehrpass, this one.Guy is in his fifties when he gets his call up. Obviously not enamoured with the idea of serving at the front................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 ............ he sends this letter, going on about his service with the Reichsstudentenbund, and asking......"Since I thus already carry out an activity important to the war effort, I ask that I be exempt from other duties in the armed forces."It doesn't do him much good, he still gets called up, but his speaks a foreign language, and look where they post him................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 To the interpreter dept of the Luftwaffe, and posted to a POW camp - ending the war at Oflag 9. (He stays on there too , for a little while after the war, working for the allies.)Didn't even know there was a "Sprachmittler Abteilung der Luftwaffe" ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I dont think he can complain to have had it to bad... it smacks of "Hogans Heroes".... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 Indeed. He certainly ended up with a "cushy" posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I dont think he can complain to have had it to bad... it smacks of "Hogans Heroes".... :-)I wonder what language he was employed for? English? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulsterman Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Funny he didn't make Sonderfuhrer. Maybe he didn't want to though.Did he get a KvKx? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 I wonder what language he was employed for? English?Yes, it was EnglishFunny he didn't make Sonderfuhrer. Maybe he didn't want to though.Did he get a KvKx?Nope, no awards at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Funny he didn't make Sonderfuhrer.I was thinking the same thing... I would have guessed either a Sonderfurhrer or Adminisitrative Official. I wonder what waffenfarbe he wore? POW guards did not have their own waffenfarbe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 He seems to have been a highly educated man.... it is strange that someone of his civilian position was a simple Obergefreiter... maybe the Luftwaffe was miffed at his attempts to get out of service and made sure he did not become a Sonderf?hrer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rick Research Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 What's in the Wehrpass about his education and WW1 ranks/awards? He served 3 years in the field artillery then-- but also not until 1915 (age 25!!) so he was no more "enthusiastic" the first time around, either.I've never heard of such a VERY junior NCO level Qualified Interepreter... suggesting there was some... impediment ... to his holding higher rank. That would have been social and financial the first time around, but perhaps was something to do with his Nuremburg Laws status in the second round-- despite the mustache...but THAT makes NO sense, based on his duties with the Very Nazi Indeed NS Studentenbund!!!! "Fit for labor service" suggests he wasn't in great shape, as a classification, but that should not have kept him from shiny shoulder boards at this sort of desk job, if he had the proper school certificate.Verrrrrrry mysterrrrrrrious..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Post 2 shows his job as something more than simple man at the counter...Maybe just TOO high for simple service... not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Williamson Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 He seems to have been a highly educated man.... it is strange that someone of his civilian position was a simple Obergefreiter... maybe the Luftwaffe was miffed at his attempts to get out of service and made sure he did not become a Sonderf?hrer?That was my thought. Teach him a lesson for trying to get out of military service by giving him a very low rank. If he is in a senior management post in a bank, I'd have expected him to be comissioned.What's in the Wehrpass about his education and WW1 ranks/awards? He served 3 years in the field artillery then-- but also not until 1915 (age 25!!) so he was no more "enthusiastic" the first time around, either.Not a thing mentioned about ranks in WW1. Very unusual. I assume he was just a private.I've never heard of such a VERY junior NCO level Qualified Interepreter... suggesting there was some... impediment ... to his holding higher rank. That would have been social and financial the first time around, but perhaps was something to do with his Nuremburg Laws status in the second round-- despite the mustache...but THAT makes NO sense, based on his duties with the Very Nazi Indeed NS Studentenbund!!!! "Fit for labor service" suggests he wasn't in great shape, as a classification, but that should not have kept him from shiny shoulder boards at this sort of desk job, if he had the proper school certificate.Verrrrrrry mysterrrrrrrious.....Definitely something strange went on. Whatever it was, it seems he certainly wasn't "flavour of the month". The only other papers are the actual call up notice and his discharge by the allies from POW status.I do like a good mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew42 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Hallo Gordon! Sprachmittler-Abteilung in Bonn-Hangelar oder in Olmütz, Mähren? Gruss Andrej Edited April 30, 2012 by Andrew42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naxos Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) I recently acquired a Luftwaffe Soldbuch from an Unteroffizier of Sprachmittler-Abteilung der Luftwaffe. He was born 1909 in Saint Petersburg, Russia to a German aristocratic family, his father was a member of Tsar Nicholas' war cabinet. The man studied in Berlin before the war achieving a master's degree in economics. His profession is given as; Diplom-Volkswirt. He however, was enlisted as an ordinary soldier to a Flak unit in 1942. In October of the same year he was transferred to the Sprachmittler-Abteilung der Luftwaffe. In 1943 promoted to Gefreiter and awarded the "Wehrmacht-Dolmetscher Armbinde". He was then assigned to the Stab of the 12. Lufftwaffen-Feld-Division (later Division z.b.V. 300) and served in Kurland. In 1944 he was promoted to Unteroffizier. During his service he was awarded the KVKII and on April 20, 1945 the Kurland cuff title. Edited January 28, 2015 by Naxos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Funny he didn't make Sonderfuhrer. Maybe he didn't want to though. Did he get a KvKx? I was thinking the same thing. Obergrefeiter is a really low rank for the service he was doing. I would have thought that with his age and skill set that he would have been an Admin Service or Sonderfuhrer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Auld Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I recently acquired a Luftwaffe Soldbuch from an Unteroffizier of Sprachmittler-Abteilung der Luftwaffe. He was born 1909 in Saint Petersburg, Russia to a German aristocratic family, his father was a member of Tsar Nicholas' war cabinet. The man studied in Berlin before the war achieving a master's degree in economics. His profession is given as; Diplom-Volkswirt. He however, was enlisted as an ordinary soldier to a Flak unit in 1942. In October of the same year he was transferred to the Sprachmittler-Abteilung der Luftwaffe. In 1943 promoted to Gefreiter and awarded the "Wehrmacht-Dolmetscher Armbinde". He was then assigned to the Stab of the 12. Lufftwaffen-Feld-Division (later Division z.b.V. 300) and served in Kurland. In 1944 he was promoted to Unteroffizier. During his service he was awarded the KVKII and on April 20, 1945 the Kurland cuff title. That is the first Kurland entry I have seen, it is a very busy book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) This is an extremely interesting Soldbuch, I´ve only seen very very few examples, where enlisted men owned a private firearm! Edited January 30, 2015 by turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naxos Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Here are some pages: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now