John Burchell

Many thanks, Matt, for this information. You sure do know your history! Much appreciated.

Thanks, Matt. Father and son...WWI & WWII...a nice combination.

Thank you.. for your response, Andreas. I have now posted this tag in the appropriate Imperial forum for further comment.

Showing here one that I am told is a WWI Erkennungsmarke (aka: "Hundemarke") as issued to one Emil Kanzler, born 12.8.92 in Neudorf.Elbing. If I read this correctly, he belonged to Reserve Infantry Regiment 210 as a member of the 2nd Machine-Gun Company 219. The tag was already broken in two when I received it.

Ref.: Showing here the "Erkennungsmarke" once worn by Emil Kanzler - presumably father of Herbert Kanzler referenced in the small newspaper clipping from 1941 pictured in the referenced thread. This ID tag was already broken into two pieces and looks to be of the type worn by German soldiers during WWII. One can see that Emil Kanzler was born in Neudorf.Elbing in 1892. He would have been 47 years old at the outbreak of WWII in 1939 and apparently served in Reserve Infantry Regiment 210 as a member of Machine-Gun Company 219. He may also have served in the military during WWI, then being 22 years old in 1914. I would appreciate confirmation as to whether this ID tag is WWI or WWII vintage. As well, any and all additional information will be appreciated. Thanks and regards, John

Refreshing this thread with some additional information on a family member of the above-referenced SS-man. Showing here the "Erkennungsmarke" once worn by Emil Kanzler - presumably father of Herbert Kanzler referenced in the small newspaper clipping from 1941 pictured above. This ID tag was already broken into two pieces and looks to be of the type worn by German soldiers during WWII. One can see that Emil Kanzler was born in Neudorf.Elbing in 1892. He would have been 47 years old at the outbreak of WWII in 1939 and apparently served in Reserve Infantry Regiment 210 as a member of Machine-Gun Company 219. He may also have served in the military during WWI, then being 22 years old in 1914. I hope that members might find this additional information to be interesting, and would welcome any comments and feedback. John

Wow is right! Nobody sorrier than me to hear this...but it is what it is and I thank you, Matthew, for your informed response...now on record and documented here for future reference by others.

It has now been nine years since I posted this award. I am herewith reviving the thread to see if there might be any further comments on assessment of this example as to period originality or otherwise. Thanks for looking, Best regards, John

Pictured here is a recent acquisition which I thought I would add for reference. The known maker is listed in the Jan.1, 2008 post #54 by "Jabnus": Gbr. D. L. (im Kreis) unbekannt unbekannt (Swords).

Gentlemen: In order to obviate any confusion whatsoever, I now wish to post a clarification / correction regarding information which I included in my posting in this thread regarding the surrender of the U-190 off the coast of Newfoundland in May of 1945. Initially, in my posting ID4 I noted that after the "... unconditional surrender on May12th...the U-190 was escorted into Bay Bulls, Newfoundland by two RCN corvettes on May 14th...." I then wrote in my posting ID19 about..."the submarine being towed toward Bay Bulls...[and] subsequently boarded...some 150 miles out at sea...." The latter comment contains the incorrect information which has recently been brought to my attention by the then Chief Engineer Officer on the U190 in May 1945, Werner Hirschmann (also referenced above) who read this thread and expressed concern to me. I agreed to correct my words as stated and will quote his words here: " Two things: Nobody boarded our boat 150 km out at sea....The first boarding happened just at the entrance of Bay Bulls where we were received by a Fairmile. And we entered Bay Bulls very much on own power. There was no need to tow us. I felt a bit hurt by the insinuation that I didn’t keep my Diesels going until the end. I guess this is, by now, quite clear to you, but to read it now on the Internet was a somewhat unpleasant surprise....". He added that, "U-190 did not fly a black flag as requested by our superiors....we didn’t have a black flag at hand and there was no point in looking for one since a black flag has never been in the inventory of a U-boat. U-889 must have developed some ingenuity in creating the black flag that is shown flying from its periscope." And a further note that, "While scrolling through some of the U-190 items on the Internet, some highly inventive author told the world that Canadian crews could not enter U-190 because of a terrible stench in the boat and had to wait until it was “fumigated”. I’m not sure they needed pest control for removing odor but the whole story is pure nonsense. Every night, while snorkeling, the diesels sucked all the bad air out of the boat which was then replaced by the fresh air coming from the snorkel. While I had the Canadian sailors on U-190 on our two-day trip to Bay Bulls all of us at times went on the conning tower and back into the boat without ever noticing any smell whatsoever. But stories will always be repeated and kept alive." So there you have it, gentlemen...straight from the man who was there at the time. I am happy that this has now been corrected for posterity.

Thank you very much, Ed. If this was in use from the 1940s-1960s, I am guessing that it is currently somewhat desirable as a collector item...to the right person, of course. Can you perhaps estimate the worth of this Berlin District patch for me?

Here, for information, are pictures from the original user manual that came with this kit:

These two machine-embroidered patches came to me in a mixed bag of military items and I am unsure about their affiliation, time period and and significance. Both would appear to be German - ie. Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and gold oakleaves. The first perhaps a unit patch and the other possibly a rank patch? Can anyone assist with identification, please? Thanks and regards, John

Sharing here some feedback which I received on the WAF: Quote: To be exact they are RCNR Sub-Lt Engineering Branch and as for value in near relic condition not much. The translation from civy rank to military was odd to say the least as at that time ranks where not as standardized as today. On civy street he would have been a Fourth engineer/third assistant engineer or in other words the lowest commissioned working rank. Unquote

Thanks, Dave!