Gordon Williamson

Even on the Pudelmutze

U-711

U-513

U-198

U-380

U-103

Here are a few wartime shots of these crew badges being worn. First, a crew member from U-763

Armband worn by Belgian Soldiers whose wounds resulted in 30% incapacity. Colours are the same as used for the WW1 Commemorative medal . Makers mark R.J. De Rooster Bruxelles on the reverse retaining disc for the star.

And the result was that he was busted, originally an Unteroffizier, he is reduced to the rank of Private ! At least the copies of the SB pages will stay with this one now, to give the full story that sits behind the Wehrpass..

Now this is where it could have been tragic with the SB and WP being split. In the WEhrpass there is no indication of rank. The Soldbuch reveals the reason why. Two entries revealing that he had caught VD ( code 13 -considered a self inflicted illness). Probably decided to "sample the goods" when rousting some grunts out of a Bordello ! But more serious, especially for an MP, a code 36 "feigning illness".

Sees a fair bit of service on both West and East Fronts.

He sees front line service with Feldgendarmerie Abt. (mot.) 551, and Feldgendarmerie Trupp 336.

This one came from a German auction site where unfortunately the seller listed the Soldbuch and Wehrpass separately and I only got the Wehrpass. The Soldbuch went for way more than I'd have paid for a "Zweitschrift" with no photo and not many entries anyway but at least the seller also supplied a full set of photocopies of the Soldbuch pages. Anyhow, our man was initially in the Verkehrsregelungstruppe, or Army Traffic Control, a branch of the military police that was eventually absorbed into the Feldgendarmerie proper.

Very nice example Jan Arne. Looks like a half-hearted attempt has been made to de-nazify the badge at some time ? Sorry to hear about your health problem. Sounds like you were very lucky they found it when looking for the cause of your thigh pain. I believe renal cell carcinoma is one of the really nasty types so I hope they have removed it in time and nothing has spread.

I think that Admin is well aware of the correct spelling, its just a simple typo which will be corrected asap.

Torpedomaat Heinrich Böhm (served on Destroyer "Diether von Roeder"). Shield is worn very high on the sleeve.

Nice and unusual shot of the Narvik shield worn on the greatcoat.

Dietl

Hagemann again, with Krim shield as well as Narvik

Hagemann again, with Krim shield as well as Narvik

Oberst Wolf Hagemann with Narvik Shield

Same problem as with the Waffenrock comparisons above. In real-life and in natural daylight, there is a distinct difference between the pale orange on the Gendarmerie cap and the Orange-red of the Feldgendarmerie cap. Trying to capture the difference on camera isn't so easy, but I think you can see the Army cap has a more vivid orange shade.

The appearance of the image on-screen is another problem, and I totally agree with your comment about differences being more apparent "in the flesh" in natural light. Light and shadow create all sorts of false impressions. The collar tabs on your Artillery officers WR on my screen look rather orangey whereas the underlay to the straps appears a more definite red. I'm sure in real life they are all clearly the correct "Hochrot". Given all the discussions there have been over the years about the various greens ( Jäger, Gebirgsjäger, Panzergrenadier etc) and how untouched tunics etc to one branch have appeared with Waffenfarbe generally assumed to be from another, I am sure the same occured with some of the "redder" shades of Orangerot. I tend to keep a couple of pieces of known Artillery Hochrot insignia on hand. If I pick up a cap I believe may be Fg, I try to access the piping from an area where there is no fading and if it is distinctly different to Hochrot, I'm inclined to class it as Orangerot. I was recently sent some images of a tropical Fg Feldmütze which looked red on the images and I would have assumed was Artillery. However, it came from a large batch of several hundred original unissued caps in mint condition, unfaded and which included all sorts of Waffenfarbe colours so direct comparison with Artillery examples made it quite clear that this was Fg. In the end though I suspect there were batches of Artillery Hochrot which due to variances in dyeing etc may appear more orangey, and Orangerot which for the same reasons appear more reddish. Caps like yours are clearcut orange, so fortunately no question.

Easy mistake to make. The dealer probably did believe that it was a KM ribbon because of the correct Frakturschrift lettering and the use of gold wire which has darkened making the piece look old.

Just an example. When comparing the Waffenrock tabs, the Officers looks Orange and the NCOs looks red. In fact both are Orange with the difference only really apparent when compared to the true red of an Artillery strap.