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Paul - Don't get Kampfgruppen confused with VoPo. The "Combat Groups of the Working Class" were another seperate paramilitary organization whos ranks were made up of factory workers. They were a "party Army" trained by the police but directly responsible to the SED (Socialist Unity Party). For example they were moblized in 1961 to build and provide security for the Berlin Wall.

From an article on East German Police Insignia in the Fall 1996 Die Nationale Volksarmee - Schutzpolizei - Worn by NCO and enlisted personnel of the regular Peoples Police (VoPo). It was not worn by officers. It was worn on the left sleeve, centered on the upper arm of both the uniform tunic and the jacshirt. The patch came in gree for the regular police and in blue for the Transport Police (TraPo). Beteritbsschutz - This patch was worn by members of the VoPo who were assigned to security of factories and industrial centers. This patch came in green only an was centered on the upper arm of the left sleeve by NCOs and enlisted personnel. Officers did not wear this patch. Abschnitzbevollmachtiger - This patch was worn centered on the upper arm of the left sleeve by personnel who were the responsible authority for a selected section or area. It came in green for the regular VoPo and in blue for TraPo. It is believed that this patch could be worn by officers as well as NCOs. The Bereitschaftspolizei (Barracked Police) did not wear any arm patch.

I'm going through my references now as DDR police insignia is not one of my core collecting areas. There is some discussion in Spring 1997 Die Naionale Volksarmee (the journal of the now defunct Society of East German Militaria collectors) that the Bereitschaftpolizei shoulder patch was not worn until 1990.

They each had distinct functions. The Bereitshaftspolizei (BePo) for example was a paramilitary organization. Their role was simular to the US National Guard, i.e. they combined warfighting and civil police functions such as civil disturbance control and disaster perpardness.

I don't collect DDR police uniforms but the patches are quite common. There are two versions one for the shirt and one for the uniform. Here is a illustration of them from one of my NVA Kalender's-

To the best of my knowledge there were warning signs when you approached the border, but nothing like the DDR Grenzschild shown here. Kevin

Bump - Any idea what ranks would have worn this style of Ushanka?

No these were standard wings characteristic for a 1960s to 70s issue badge. Here is an example of one currently on sale at E-Bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/1960s-Era-US-Air-Force...1QQcmdZViewItem

Most WWII and 1950's era para badges were pin back and marked sterling, like the example below made by N.S. Meyer - Most of the SIMCO-GI badges I've seen have been 1960s Vietnam vintage. Also check the clutch backs, WWII clutch backs have a smooth front as post war clutchs have sets of rased 'dimples" on the front edges. It is possible that your veteran may have purchased this badge after the war if he stayed in the service. Kevin

Would this have been worn by a general officer with the field uniform or just senior officers below the grade of General like a Colonel? Kevin

I just purchased a very inexpensive Russian Astrakhan Wool Ushanka. I think part of the reason it was inexpensive is that it has some mothing. It is date marked inside 84 and size 60 with the outline of a rams head and horns. Although I have quite a bit of Soviet insignia including officer and enlisted Ushanka's that I picked up in the 80s in Berlin, I've not come across one of these before. Does anyone have and idea of worth and who these were worn by. Kevin

No problem, There is a DDR forum on the Werhmacht Awards website at: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64 Where they talk about this kind of stuff from time to time. The East Germans were extremely thrifty and recycled everything, why waste good WWII weapons when you have thousands lying around. Others think that at least initally, the Russians didn't trust the East Germans with more modern weapons. Of course at the time they were taking everything that wasn't nailed down in the "Soviet Zone" as war reperations, so there probably was not much of an industrial base left to produce newer weapons. Kevin

MdI stands for Ministerium des Innern so this rifle could have been used by a number of MdI "bewaffneten" organizations including police, customs and the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse and even an early form of the Army called the Kasernierte Volkspolizei (KVP) which existed from 1952-57 and which used a number of repurposed WWII Wehrmacht weapons. Kevin

California Death Index Name: HAWK, DERRALD HOWARD Social Security #: 487010402 Sex: MALE Birth Date: 16 Jun 1913 Birthplace: IOWA Death Date: 23 Apr 1995 Death Place: SAN DIEGO Mother's Maiden Name: EVANS

Thanks for the recommendation. I just checked and the company went thru a number of parent coroprations (Pacific Bell, Pacific Telesis Group, etc..), I believe the current one is SBC Communications. Kevin

Research so far - Can't find my hard copies, so here is some of what I've found on the net - Lake Arrowhead Mountain News 26/2/2004 - Derrald Hawk lived in Glendale (California) and was a supervisor for The Pacific Telephone Company... The article is no longer posted, but apparently Mr. Hawk and his wife were near the scene of unsolved murder that happened in the 60s or 70s at a vacation cottage not far from theirs. His employment as a supervisor for the Pacific Telephone Company is a great link to a WWII Signal Corps past. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) - DERRALD H HAWK, Born 16 Jun 1913, died 23 Apr 1995, Last Residence 92025 (Escondido, San Diego, CA), SSN 487-01-0402, Issued: Missouri National Archives Military Enlistment Records - ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 39294518 NAME HAWK#DERRALD H HAWK RESIDENCE: STATE 91 CALIFORNIA RESIDENCE: COUNTY 037 LOS ANGELES PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 9141 LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 19 DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 04 DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private GRADE: CODE 8 Private BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION NO# No branch assignment BRANCH: CODE 02 No branch assignment FIELD USE AS DESIRED # # TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law LONGEVITY ### ### SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life NATIVITY 72 IOWA YEAR OF BIRTH 13 13 RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen EDUCATION 4 4 years of high school CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 753 FRAMEMAN, TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH MARITAL STATUS 2 Married COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men) CARD NUMBER # # BOX NUMBER 1418 1418 FILM REEL NUMBER 6.184 6.184

Impressive! Unfortunately when I had access to this kind of stuff in the late 80s in Berlin I was concentrating on NVA (East German Army) medals and insignia. Kevin

reverse patches, ribbon bars and collar discs -

collar discs are a single screw post style rather that the two clutch backs that you normally see. I will post the reverse of the discs and the patch shortly.

Medal Obverse with ribbon bars for Bronze Star, Good Conduct medal and European, African & Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 campaign stars -

SHAEF Patch and Signal/US Collar Discs. Patch is black but looks slightly blue against the felt black background -

Medal reverse-

I recently picked up a Bronze Star on E-Bay named to Derrald H. Hawk that came with a theater made SHAEF patch and enlisted Signal Corps collar discs. I'll post photos here shortly. Having seen previous posts about other Bronze Stars I know there are a good number of internet sleuths here that have been able to dig up amazing information. I would appreciate anything that you may be able to find that might shed some light on Mr. Hawk. I've found him in the Social Security Death Index and service entry record on the National Archives website, but don't have that info handy, have to dig it out. Kevin

I believe he may have been a musician who was popular in the DDR in the 60s and 70s. I've seen Heinz-Kunert-Quartett Amiga records advertised on E-bay in the past. Kevin