hucks216

I knew that other forum member had a more detailed thread with regards to looking for War Diaries. Here it is with prices...

Drew5233

He may of been evacuated but there is also the chance that he was wounded in the drive across the Steppe towards Stalingrad (or possibly wounded within the city) and was already safe in a rear hospital long before the Russian counter-offensive closed around 6.Armee - or away from the front on a course or had earned leave at the time his comrades found themselves in trouble.

I think I used to have a Soldbuch to a soldier in 389.Infanterie-Division who caught Typhus in October 1942 and this essentially saved his life! Unfortunately I never kept the images of it when I let it go a few years ago.

Nice example.

The advance to Stalingrad commenced on 19th August 1942 so it falls within that time frame although I wonder how many of the 3 assault days were earned before than or if all three are for the 19-22 August time frame? Looks like it is signed by Wilhelm Knetsch who won the Knights Cross in Stalingrad on 8th October 1942.

Do you have extra pieces for this soldier?

Judging by some posts on another forum that centers on British WW2 history, not hearing back from the British Archives is not a rarity so you are not the only one it seems.

Here is one thread about finding War Diaries at Kew - the person who has posted the first entry in the thread has a very good reputation for seeking files out for people so it might be worth contacting him via his site...  A Guide..

This is his website... ARCRE

Here is the National Archives catalogue on Excel...  National Archives Catalogue

Here is a section on War Diaries.. War Diaries

Here is a thread on WW2 Maps - not what you require but I have included it as the person who has started the thread looks up (or has) War Diaries. See his signature at the bottom of his post... Drew5233

That should be enough to get your teeth in to for a while! It sounds like you have a nice little treasure trove of documents on the way already!

That is a great group and the research is well written and presented. Do you actually own the award citations or just photocopies?

Great photo of him wearing his medal bar. Thanks for posting this set.

6 minutes ago, ColinRF said:

Damn! But you agree the two signers you have drawn the lines between are the same? Out curiosity, what is the dicument you excerpted the signature from?

The perils of trying to ID junior officers.

I agree that the two signers are the same man, one year (and one rank) apart. The document that bears 'my' signature is a Soldbuch I have to a soldier who served in Wachbataillon Berlin/GD for 2 years.

In my files I have over 200 GD-related signature examples and I also have various self-compiled spreadsheet lists for GD officers down to Kompanie level (and in some cases Zug level) from 1939 to 1945 but unfortunately there is very little 'out there' to help compile such lists for Wachbataillon/regiment GD. I'm sure there must be stuff in the archives that could help with that particular GD sub-unit but I've no idea where.

I'm wondering if it starts with a 'B'. Generalmajor Baade, Generalmajor Fritz Becker and a few others have a similar way of starting their signature as shown in your example.

This is von Heynitz's signature, hence why I deleted my post about it being him. Notice how he is a Hauptmann in June 1943 but the other signature is an Oberleutnant one month later...

I would say that it fits. Your example seems to be a more neater signature whereas mine is a more hurried 'admin' signing example.

I'm not sure if it is true that all Kompaniechef of Wachbataillon/regiment GD were RK holders. In a Soldbuch to a member of that unit (from which the above signature comes from) there is a signature of another Kompaniechef of 5.Kp dated for February 1943 and it clearly reads Kose and no-one with that name is listed in the RK lists.

Plus a Leutnant Görlitz commanded Ehrenkompanie Schloss Laeken (a sub-unit of Wachbtl GD) and he isn't listed either.

2 minutes ago, ColinRF said:

...

Strangely your prior message suggesting Hptm von Heinitz has not appeared in this thread, at least notbon my machine. But I got an email notification that you had posted the suggestion with the content.

Many thanks for taking the time to chase this for me.

Colin

I deleted/hid that post as I was incorrect. After posting that suggestion I realised I had an example of his signature in my files and it looks completely different so didn't want to send you down the wrong path.

Unfortunately my listing of Wachbataillon/regiment GD officer's doesn't contain anything that looks similar but I might have another example of his signature while an Oberleutnant & Kompaniechef of 5./Wachbataillon GD and dated for July 1943.

There are plenty of others - almost a collecting theme in their own right! 

Here are some others including another Dirlewanger variant and two Luftwaffe versions...

I'm afraid that this is a fantasy piece and is not a genuine item. It - and others like it - are flooding the market from Eastern Europe.

Here are just some of the many other versions of these fake pieces...

Some more...

That's great Glenn, thanks very much for that.  

Can anyone name this Major please? Kompanie-Chef of 1./Pionier-Btl 1 (1.Infanterie-Division) dated for October 1938.

The Offizierstellenbesetzung 03.01.1939 lists a Hauptmann Scharfenorth in that position, with an Oberstleutnant Otto Meyer in command of Pi.Btl 1.

That must of been a very serious injury that saw him spend over 2 & a half years in a hospital. What grade of Wound Badge (assuming it was a combat injury) was he awarded?

1939 dated Stamped variant.

Thread is now Pinned

9 minutes ago, nesredep said:

Tanks LarryT! Please start this new thread Larry!

This is the thread for KM speciality badges - I have changed the title to suit the idea.

13 hours ago, LarryT said:

...

Maybe a thread should be started showing the different types being worn.

Cheers,

Larry

I have changed the thread title to promote this idea. It will be interesting to see the various examples.

I have this one in a Soldbuch showing a sailor on the Tirpitz.

And this one showing a sailor from 5.Raumbootsflottille.

Nice photo. I wonder what the War Badge is that we can just see the top of - U-Boat or Aux.Cruiser maybe?

Autographen Des Nationalsozialismus 1919-1945 Band II. Luftwaffe by Andre Huesken - Second in the series with this new release covering Luftwaffe Leadership, Flying Personnel, Flak & Fallschirmjäger.

There are a few antique shops in Plymouth, including Parade located in the Barbican area of the city. They have a big assortment of items including a fair amount of militaria, originals and fake! This is their website...

http://www.paradeantiques.co.uk/

There is also the bombed-out church which is located on a traffic roundabout at Charles Cross (just up from the main shopping area of Plymouth) which has been left as a memorial to the losses and devastation caused by the heavy bombing the city underwent.

And you can also take a river tour and go past the Naval Base at Devonport.

Nice example to a unit (both the Pz.Pionier-Btl and it's parent unit 23.Panzer-Division) that saw a lot of combat. Of the 11 soldiers in 23 Pz.Division that won the Close Combat Clasp in Gold, no less than 5 came from Pz.Pi.Btl 51.

Signed by Hauptmann Hesse, the soldier was wounded on the 9th September when Pz.Pi.Btl 51 was used to counterattack Soviet forces that had captured Prochladny deep in the Caucasus region. By the evening the village of Primalkinskoje was back in German hands but the attack against Prochladny had bogged down.                              

If I could figure out what the first letter is of the surname I should be able to figure it out! 

Nice photo and that sounds like quite a collection. Hopefully you won't have long to wait to reach 400 such images.