Gordon Williamson

Great info Graham, many thanks for posting this, and some great examples of the docs in question !

Not picky at all, and I appreciate the extra info. My main interest is in the military police formations that formed part of the Wehrmacht's Ordnungstruppe. Of course its impossible to collect this stuff without coming across Polizei material as so many of the military police, in the early days at least, came from the civil Polizei formations. I have no great knowledge of the civil police however ( and absolutely zero about the Czech police !!), and appreciate your feedback. So this is an Ausweis issued to him while he was working with the Kripo, but is not a specific Kripo Ausweis. In

Hi Graham, Its down to an entry in his Polizei Dienstpass. The Ausweis was issued to him in Deecmber 1936, and the Dienstpass shows at this time he was in the Kriminalpolizei.

He's another one I had some contact with some years back. Though partially obscured by his hand, he does in fact wear the Panzer Assault Badge "25"

Both look OK. Although there are very many unmarked GABs around so it can be difficult to suggest makers, the solid bnacked one does look a bit like the type attributed to Berg & Nolte and the one with the scooped out reverse to the bayonet/grenade looks like a Rudolf Karneth going by comparison with the photos in Frank Heukemes book on the GABs.

I had the pleasure of meeting Max Fabich at his home in Berlin. Very nice chap. He only found out about the Ritterkreuz through some of his comrades in the GD Truppenkameradschaft after the war. He had no idea that he had been recommended for it, so of course he never actually received the award before the war ended. I remember he had his German Cross and some other pieces including a GD cuffband and some shoulder straps in a little tin box. He also still had all his award documents. He was into radio control model ships and had a couple of large boats in his study.

Sorry the above is probably to small to read. Had to chop it up to get it at 100%.

AHM = Allgemeinen Heeresmitteilungen. You can get them from the site I posted the link to. Found the one you are looking for. It is in Vol 5 of 1938.

Looks like rather than just repeating the order, it just refers to a Heeresmitteilung (HM) number where it was presumably first published ?. Quite common to see cross references between HVBs. AHMs etc. I have the AHMs, so I will look that one up for you.

Another mis-described photo from E-Bay. Sold as Feldgendarmerie, but actually a much harder to find photo of a Bahnhofswache NCO. Alhough the Gorget is similar to the Feldgendarmerie type, there is a subtly different shape to the scroll., and of course no eagle in the centre (just the Abteilung number). Although the back of the photo is anotated "Zug Streife" suggesting Zugwache the word on the scroll although not too clear, definitely isnt long enough for "Zugwachabteilung".

Larry, I wasn't sure exactly what you were asking for. If you mean HV (HeeresVerwaltungs) Verordnungsblattt, I've never come across such a thing, but if you just mean Heeresverordnungsblatt the full set of these are all available on CD-ROM. Its a huge amount of material. and they do list thousands of orders relating to clothing and insignia and all sorts of other regulations as do the AHM (Allgenmeine Heeres Mitteilungen) which is ( also available on CD-ROM). You can find them here http://deutsches-wehrkundearchiv.de/7.html

Yes, very interesting. It appears that Coeler ( a former Naval Officer) didn't have a post as such at the end of the war and was in the "Führer Reserve". The post though, of "General der Wehrmachts Ordnungstruppe" was a pre-existing one so I guess that the British wanted to leave the German command structure pretty much intact and have a senior ranking (General) officer answerable to them for the use/performance of these troops.

Fabulous ! Many thanks for posting. My guess is that it would be carried by the guys who wore this armband. The fact that the British had such properly printed dual language ID docs and armbands in service within a few days of the end of the war certainly suggests forward planning and that it had been intended for some time to make use of former Feldgendarmerie troops after hostilities ended, and it wasn't just a spur of the moment decision.

Thanks Uwe. I didn't have that OKH Bulletin. For some reason I have the one on 11 March about the Wound Badge and then 25 May but not this one from 15 April. Still, I think it is unlikely that somehow a Zugwache soldier would be involved in clearing German mines, so I still think that enemy action is the most likely.