Stijn David

Hello,

Thank you for the hint about the National archives. DO you have any idea on how to start the research or to whom i can write to get the search for this particualr officer started?

The German soldier (a Luftwaffe member) who has liberated that piece of parachute Silk would have great interest in knowing more about the fate of the Englisch pilot. It would be great iff we can find out more about that englisch pilot and his wherabouts, etc ...

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

And here we have a close up from the Luftwaffe soldiers breast => oh my and what do we see dangling over tehre

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

Here is a picture (postcard size) that i was able to obtain a few days ago, i like it for 2 ways :

1) The multiple Heer branches that are shown in this posed picture (i can ID from left to right, starting above :

top row : Wehrmacht (With EK 2 ribbon and what looks like a eastern front) / Civilian

bottom row : Reichsbahn ? / Kriegsmarine / Luftwaffe

2) I obtained it offcoarse for the Lw. Uffz. that is pictured, and what do we see on his very uniform

I let you guys ID the Lw. awards (can't be that hard at al )

The picture is printed and taken in a atlier at Breslau / so that makes me think that these might be friends or brothers who posed somwhere after 1942 for this picture

Stijn:

May I have a copy of that article?

CAn I get back copies of the BDOS journal?

Thanks,

Ulster

Hi Ulster,

Copying the whole magazine (as that issue has only 1 area : the red cross medal) would probably be just as expensive as getting the magazine itself.

I have seen in teh past that dealers such as Weitze, etc... have such older issue's +> so my advice, surf a bit arround and find that particular piece.

OMM stands for: Orden Militaria Magazin

Cordial greetings,

ps: indeed the copyright needs to be respected, the BDOS is a marvelous organisation and has done already some good work. As a member myself i would not want to disrespect them. (Have edited as i do not want to hijack this thread to much )

Hi Michael,

Thank you for that info, so we can safely assume that he survived the war.

Any idea on where i could find out more on this particular pilot? as i believe this is the one i am after. I have it confirmed that he was the only one downed in that area on that very day.

It would be nice to get more info on him, mayby though some official instancy?

Cordial greetings,

Hi Alexandre,

In a issue from the BDOS magazine this medal was discussed in a rather large article, different types, etc. ...

I will see iff i can find out wich BDOS magazine it exactly is and will report back. Then you can get that source of information

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

These dates are from a older BDOS magazine, can find out a few more about these medals iff wanted.

The magazine in question was : OMM nr. 87 - issue from december 1998

Cordial greetings,

ps: i am slowly learning to become just a small shade of the master, one has to start as a humble apprentice

Hi WIlli,

No need to worry => the master is amongst us and he will answer sooner or later.

Patience my friend, patience ...

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

I have received a hint from a person, it is likely that the downed pilot was:

Warrant Officer W.H. Hunter RAF(Service No. 941800) of 72 Squadron

Is there anyone who can give me more info on this particular pilot?, any kills?, did he survive the war? , what medals did he earn, etc ...

Thanks in advance,

Hello,

Thank you for the update Paul, very interesting.

Here we have our very same man, this time already when he was with Luftwaffe => so iff i am correct the shooting lanyard did replace the profiencystripes.

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

Indeed a very nice combination + altough i am far from a specialist let me take some educated guesses;

* As there 3 thd classes of both Crown and Red eagle it must have been a higher ranking person.

* The lack off WWI awards such as the Iron Cross 2 nd. class or the War Merit cross does make me believe that this person might have been deceased already by that time.

* Then we have the combination of both the Colonial (Afrika) medal + the 2 red cross medals, the III and the II nd. class.

I also believe that this person has been a doctor of some kind. Therefore i have been browsing a bit and have come up with 3 names (altough it would suprise me very much iff it is one of these gentlemens => therefore our wizards will proove me rather fast wrong )

1) Prof dr. August Hildebrandt

Red cross III class : 23/04/1901

Red cross II nd. class : 1914

2) dr. Tom Ringel

Red cross III class : 23/04/1901

Red cross II nd. class : 1916

3) Prof. dr. Julius Wietig

Red cross III class : 23/04/1901

Red cross II nd. class : 1916

Can anyone of the rank list guys eliminate these guys ?

COrdial greetings + hoping i was of some use

Hello,

Thank you, that should certainly help me to narrow down my search

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

I have Wehrpass with the DA 4 e Klasse (Long Service medal 4 e class - 4 years) entered, however no date is entered. Therefor ethe following question.

This person has entered military service on : 01.11.1934

It is also noted that his military sevrice counted from that day on. So does that mean that this person did receive his medal 4 years service on lets say 01.11.1938 ? Or was it common practice that a eligable person did receive his medal a few monts later and that his document was also dated a bit later?

Any idea's?

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

occupied Belgium. In the city of "Lille."

This is actually not so complete correct => Lille is actually French Territory, it has indeed a historical connection with belgium,(as well as the city of Lille aka. Rijsel in Dutch) but that is long gone history from medieval times.

Arround 1200 Lille was still part of what was known as Flanders, this changed in the following years (as borders do change ove rhistory) and so that part of Flanders has become French territory.

Just to be a bit correct

Otherwise love the flare pistol.

Cordial greetings,

Hello,

And in order to give the meaning of tehse signs i will add for you guys also a bit of unitinfo on the different signs. (please note that the sign are not shown chronologicaly)

1) Schleppgruppe 2

The name Schleppgruppe 2 first appeared during october 1943 and was actually the old VK(S) 4 (= Verbindungs Kommando (Segelflug) attached towards the Luftflotte 4 (hence the 4 in the name) )that was renamed.

This unit did have the following subunits as of that very date (october 1943):

1. (DFS) / Schleppgruppe 2

3. (Go) / Schleppgruppe 2

4. (Go) / Schleppgruppe 2

These units where active in Russia and following wartheaters can be highlighted:

- Crimea (after it has been cut off by teh Russians from the mainland)

- The ressuply of the 1 e Pz. Army (known more commonly as Kamenez-Podolsk)

- the encerclement of Tarnopol

- evactuation of the Krim ( april/mai 1944)

During october 1944 this unit (or what was resting from that) was offically disbanded

2) Lw.Kdo DON

This unit, actually there where 2 glider units attached towards the Lw. Kdo DON, namely:

1. (DFS) / Lw.Kdo. Don

1. (Go) / Lw.Kdo. Don

was created to support the (august 1942) to support the 2 German and 2 nd. Hungarian army.

The Russian winteroffensivs (1942/1943) did end the relatively quite period and it became the task of the glider units from teh Lw. Kdo Don to ressuply the many walking encerclements.

At the end of april 1943 the glider units formerly existing unde rthe Lw. Kdo Don where disbanded and the material was devided under the VK(S) 4.

I do hope this was a bit of interest as in order to point the different unitsigns into their real context. Hopeing to see a few from you guys

Hi Stijn,

You are correct.. L.G. Kdo III does stand for Luftgau Kommando III.

I'm probably wrong but the numbers (63039 A) on his later disc look like a Feldpost number??

Hi John,

Thank you for the confirmation. Any idea in wich time period we have to place this item?

A) Luftgau Kdo III = Hamburg (that is indeed the area from wich our person was)

And iff my sources are correct then the name as shown Luftgau Kdo III has the following history :

Formed 1.4.37 in Hamburg.

12.10.37 renamed Luftgau-Kommando III.

4.2.38 renamed Luftgau-Kommando X.

(source: http://www.ww2.dk/ground/hq/lg3.htm )

B) Then we offcoarse have the number : 63039

This can not possibly be the feldpostnr. As when i look that one up it has the following unit : (25.11.1944-8.5.1945) 16.3.1945 Landessch?tzen-Zug der Luftwaffe 403/XI

Then our soldier was already dead (he did die on 03.11.1943 in a crash with his Go 242). So datewise it can not possibly be a feldpostnr.

The nr. is also written in the Wehrpass as Erkennungsmarke . That would also declare the A (=bloodtype) and the 91 (Stammrollnummer).

Any idea's? (will post a scan later to confirm this)

Cordial greetings,

Cordial greetings,

Hi Ricky,

Aha => well then i hope that someone of you guys does pick this one up + that his identity will be revealed once again from the darkness of history.

As that way i will also learn again why the Schwarzburg one does change its presence

Cordial greetings + thanks

Hello,

Here is a disc that belonged towards a KIA glider pilot.

Can anyone enlighten me on what the meaning would be from the lettering?

Am i correct that L.G. Kdo III does stand for :

Luft Gau Kommando III ?

This is his first ID disc, as accordingly toward shis Wehrpass he received a new one later on with the following code :

63039 A - 91

Thank for looking + for future explanation

Hello,

Probably a dumb question but one that keeps me figuered anyway when looking at this eyecandy.

Why is the F?rstlich Schwarzburgisches Ehrenkreuz (Modell f?r Rudolstadt) - Ehrenkreuz 3. Klasse on the ribbon bar at the second place while at teh actually medal bar it is positioned almost at the very end?

Any toughts on this?

Thank you

Hello,

Thank you for clearing that out => i think we have to search for a more normal mortal soldier.

Mayby listing up what Englisch related fighter groupings or units where active in the Tunesia area can already narrow down a bit the possibility's ?

Cordial greetings,

Hi Rick

Thank you, iff it indeed was Churchill's nephew then we might find it out.

I think however that the Englisch pilot did tell that tale to impress the German's, i do not believe it all that much. => naughty chaps

Cordial greetings,

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the kind words, do not panic => certain things do take time and sometimes even small groupigs can be just as satisfying as a high end award one.

Research and always keep digging is what makes it staisfying.

Cordial greetings,

ps: i would love to see some more Crete glider bravery (or Crete cufftitle) documents !!!

Hello,

I have received the following item a few years ago from a German soldier who was eyewitness from the downing of a Spitfire in Tunesia.

The pilot managed to get out of the plane before it crashed and went into German captivity, i have only the date of the downing of this spitfire, namely 22 april 1943. The shown piece is a original piece of parachute Silk cut from the spitfire pilots chute.

Is there anyone who can help in the following questions:

* What unit could teh SPitfire have belonged?

* Are there loss lists known for that very day in the African theater?

Thank you in advance + hoping to get a bit more info.

Hi Christian,

Not such a s trange question at all, indeed we have a very same system used in belgium and you can find these remembrance table's often on large monuments.

Almost every small town has such one, so it would not suprise me iff Guy has a picture from the momument where his familymember's name can be found.

I have also encountered numerous times on graveyards in belgium that the former holder of certain awards are even remembred in their dead that they did held a certain decoration => for example, the Belgian WWI firecross can often be found either pictured, as a large facsimile in bronze on a certain tombstone, etc ... (the very same ways as in WWI a holder of the EK 2 was remembred)

Cordial greetings,

Hi John,

Thank you for the free drawings

Well since you seem to like drawing a bit => her eis anotehr one that can be found, this is the unit weapon of the Lw. Kdo Don

Cordial greetings,

ps: there are even some gliders marked with a Kitty =>