Gordon Williamson

Superb example of a KM buckle which is very hard to find in this condition!!!

Hi Morten, Nice pic even if it is a little (well - a LOT) distorted !!!

I heard from them a couple of weeks back that they had completed their market testing and were pleased with the results ( with this kind of product it usually means a limited launch over a restricted geographical area)and so the "real" launch should be imminent. I will try to find out if/when they plan a UK launch.

I'd imagine that as the plaid shirts were "non-military" in appearance, the majority of those which survived after 1945 were simply used with civvy clothing until they were worn out. Can't recall ever seeing one that was cliamed to be original being offered for sale. A modern equivalent would look just as good for display purposes so long as you chose the right material ( i.e. wool /cotton, not some of the more horrible syntheic materials). Likewise with white KM shirts, surviving stock would be perfectly suitable for civvy wear and used up pretty quickly after the war. I'm sure original examples exist but can't recall seeing one offered for sale. The various uniforms on display on mannikins in the U-Boat Archiv look great with just modern white shirts. Long time since I had a KM jacket displayed on a dummy, but if I recall I used a Bundesmarine white shirt on the basis that at least it was a genuine military issue shirt, rather than use a white civvy shirt.

Here's a rather scarce KVK doc picked up thanks to Kevin. Note that as well as the usual "Im Namen........der Wehrmacht" text, it has the supplementary "Hat das Oberkommando des Heeres" indicating the award being made through the OKH. The award is to a member of the Army Patrol Service and signed by Luftwaffe Generalleutnant Helmuth Mentzel, Stellvertretender Chef des Wehrmachtsstreifendeinstes at the OKH.

Yes, thats the type usually worn by engine room personnel as opposed to the leather "Deck" jacket worn by other crews. The black type was typically worn by crews of surface vessels with grey leather worn by U-Boat crews but I have certainly seen photos of U-Boat crews wearing black, especially in the early part of the war. I wonder how many of these ended up being "converted" into "waffen-SS leather Panzer Jackets"

Martin, You can order it direct from the publisher (Patzwall), just 24 Euro. http://www.patzwall.de/de/Phaleristik-/-Auszeichnungen.ja?x71c60=hpl072b1q2br8525kun8ebpst6

Yes, its a nice little book for quite a modest price. Some really nice material inside but also one or two real awful fakes. On the whole though, well worth having.

Thanks Joe, Coincidentally, around the same time, I got the doc, I also acquired this superb original portrait photograph from Robert Noss. Same unit though not the same guy (but who knows - just maybe)!

A common enough award, but not easy to find for these particular troops. Zugwachabteilung 507 operated in Silesia and this guy almost certainly earned his badge when wounded defending his train against a Partisan attack.

And in Russian ! Issued by the MIlitary Authorities in Berlin, they refer to his release from the POW camp in Rudersdorf, a small village on the Eastern approaches to Berlin. One wonders how a soldier serving in a DIvision which served and ended the war on the western front ended up in a POW camp in the Soviet zone east of Berlin. Also, how a member of the Feldgendarmerie was released by the Soviets as early as July 1945, when most who fell into Soviet hands ended up in Labour camps in the Soviet Union for many years- assuming the returned at all. Love these intriguing little docs that pose more questions than they ever seem to solve !

The intresting part of the group was the inclusion of several other documents including these two "safe passes" requesting that he be assisted in making his way home to Hamburg after being released from Prisoner of War Camp. First in French/English.

Fairly basic awards, just the Black Wound Badge and War Merit Cross. Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 272 was the Military Police detachment for 272 Infanterie Division ( later 272 Volksgrenadier Division). During the period in which the War Merit Cross was issued 272 Inf Div was on security duty on the French/Spanish border. It was sent to the Invasion Front in Normandy after the allied landings and saw action at Caen and Falaise where it was virtually destroyed. The remnants were reformed as 272 VGD and remained on the Western Front where it eventually surrendered in the Ruhr pocket.

A book definitely more interesting for the type of unit rather than the awards in it. ! He only got the KVK2. Not entirely surprising in a relatively "safe" posting like Paris.

Zugwachabteilung 502 came under the Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes für Reiseverkehr West, based in Paris.

.

Another one that Ian tipped me off about. Zugwache books are not easy to find and officer rank books are even harder to locate. This Oberleutnant served with Zugwachabteilung 502. Very nice sharp photo.

Picked up this set thanks to Ian Jewison. Nice pair to a former Flak soldier who joined the Feldgendarmerie of 9 Panzer Division. The Division was decimated during the Kursk Offensive and was reformed in France in early 1944. I am guessing that this guy was one of those who were transferred into the Division when it was rebuilt. The Division fought through the Normandy campaign and in the Ardennes Offensive. In 1945 it took part in a disastrous push towards the bridge at Remagen,which saw it virtually destroyed again, with only 600 men out of the entire Division surviving. Most of the remnants were trapped in the Ruhr pocket where they finally surrendered. Silver Wound Badge docs to Feldgendarmerie are relatively rare and this one seems to have been earned during the horrendous battering that the Division took in February/March 1945.

Very nice S&L Jan Arne. Interesting that the hinge is set higher than normal position against the bow of the ship.

Very nice, and not a common type, so a good find. This design was used by S&L, W&L and K&Q. I'm personally not convinced that S&L is more likely than W&L as the maker but either way a very nice original badge.

Detlev Niemann. It was offered first as a complete grouping and was only split as no one was interested in buying the entire group,(no doubt due to the very high price of such groupings).

In the circumstances one wonders whether he was killed by a Russian bullet or a German one. His wanted picture was published in a Heeresmitteilungsblatt, very, very unsual - these were circulated to every unit in the German army so they must have really wanted to get this guy. The Germans are estimated to have executed around 50,000 of their own troops during WW2. In WW1 they had been very lenient, with only 48 soldiers executed for various military crimes. The UK in comparison executed well over 300 ! So brutal military justice against its own troops was very much something introduced by the Third Reich. The rank in the Volksbund DB may well be wrong, they often have incorrect info. I had a letter written by one soldier dated several days after they had him listed as KIA.

The more I think about it, the more I am sure you are correct. Normally if a soldiers actual awards were being listed he'd be referred to as "Inhaber". This just states he is wearing them, as opposed to entitled to them. Explains why they were making suh a big case against a lowly ranked individual. "Stolen valour" and all that.

Sadly for him, he didn't survive the Eastern Front, and was killed in action on 15 September 1944.

Doesn't win the Cholm Shield but he does get the Demjansk Shield, not an easy award to find for a Feldgendarm, as well as the Kraftfahrbewährungsabzeichen in Gold.