Gordon Williamson

His membership card for the DLV

Early Nazi Period Arbeitsbuch, dated 1936

One of the finest and most complete document sets I've ever had.

Rudolf Edel, served on the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper.

Lots to come, starting with the pre-war stuff.

Here is his pre-Nazi Arbeitsbuch

Very nice Gordon. Just recently I obtained Forman's two book edition of Documents. These examples of yours are textbook to what Mr. Forman has listed in his book.

Very nice .. and like you mention .. some are extremely rare pieces  :food-smiley-004:

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Glad you like them. I'll start another thread to show one of the most incredible document sets I've ever owned, not U-Boat this time but to a crewman of the Admiral Hipper. It will take some time as there are dozens of docs, so I will only list the really interesting ones.

And in Silver

Just to finish off, the award documents for the U-Boat Clasp.

Bronze

John,

The Badge was awarded after the individual had completed two separate war cruises. Cruises could last anything from a few days up to several months. If the crewman was wounded in action or performed a particularly meritorious act, it could be awarded on the first cruise, or of course, if he was killed in action on his first cruise it could be awarded posthumously.

The last type to be introduced was the small size A5 ( the others are all A4). These A5 examples are extremely rare. This time, the crewman in question, from U-299 was a survivor. The boat survived the war to be sunk by the British in "Operation Deadlight"

Condolence letter to P?plow's family from his Flotilla Commander.

A special version was also produced for Posthumous awards. It had a simplified border pattern and lettering ammended to show that it was for a sailor who had fallen.

This example is to a crew member from U-540, a Type IXC sunk on her first patrol by two Liberators from RAF Coastal Command. No Survivors.

The next type to be introduced had the foliage border replaced by a decorative geometric pattern. This example was awarded to a member of the crew of U-375. A type VIIC, she served in the Mediterranean, operating out of La Spezia and sank 7 enemy ships. She was sunk by a US sub-chaser on 10 July 1943. No survivors.

Award docs to "Mediterranean" U-Boats are extremely rare.

Condolence letter to Starke's family from his flotilla commander, Korvettenkapit?n George-Wilhelm Schulz ( Knight's Cross winner and former commander of U-64 and U-124)

Just to accompany the thread on U-Boat Badges, here are some of the docs that go with them.

This first one is the earliest type, with foliage border around the edge. This example is very early. The badge was awarded after the second war cruise. To have earned the U-Boat badge by January 1940, this sailor, a crewman on U-61 would have done his first cruise in November 1939, operating out of Wilhelmshaven and returning there on 3 December 1939. His second cruise, particularly interesting for me, was a minelaying operation in the Firth of Forth just a few miles from where I live. U-61 was a small Type IIC coastal boat, but fairly successful with six sinkings before she was retired to training school duties in November 1940. Thereafter, Starke served on U-588, a Type VIIC under Kapi?nleutnant Viktor Vogel. After sinking six enemy ships her luck ran out and she was sunk with depth charges by two Canadian warships, HMCS Wetaskiwin and HMCS Skeena. No survivors.

Dave,

I'm with you on this one. These have been freely available for several years at under ?30. If you have a look at Nick Morigi's site you will find them still available today. (Nick isn't trying to pass them off as genuine, they are sold openly as copies)

)

Dave, as to the criteria for being awarded these, the reality seems to have been it was on the recommendation of the U-Boat captain as to which members of his crew he felt were most deserving. There wasn't the sort of laid down criteria as for the bronze/silver/gold Luft flight clasps that these resemble.

One German Cross winner I spoke to said he really rated the Bronze version but felt that in the last days, the silver were given out more freely if you happened to be at the right place at the right time. Bottom line really though was that anyone who actually lived long enough to get one in the late days of the war was a bit special.

Here is the actual silver second type I pictured above being worn by its original owner, Oberleutnant Heinrich Niemeyer

Here are the two being worn, the bronze by a seaman, and the silver by an officer.

Note the difference in wording on the second type. "ENTWURF written as a full word, and only two lines of text "BERLIN" having been omitted.

On the right, the "SW" (for S?dwest= South West) is missing.

Note the bottom of the pin always seems to rub away the letter "I" in SCHWERIN

Silver Second Type

Second Type Bronze

The right has ENTWURF/SCHWERIN/BERLIN SW68. The "68" is usually very faint.

The wording on the reverse also differs in the first patter. On the left is "ENTW. / PEEKHAUS / BERLIN in three lines of text.

It is common for part of the text to be obscured by solder and the letter "T" in ENTW is usually very faint.

Here is the first type in Silver.

It is believed the second type came out just after the silver grade was instituted (November 44) as examples of the first type in Silver are extremely rare.

Here is the first type in Bronze.

There are two types known of this award. The first is die struck (or die "forged" ) and has separately applied hook and hinge and an oval recess behind the central motif similar to that found with Luft Flight Clasps.

When first stamped out the planchette has excess "flashing" of metal in the centre and around the edges, which is removed with a cropping tool, this giving the edges a "sheared" look just like regular tombak die struck awards.