hucks216

U-Boat Badge citation dated 19th October. U-18 completed her third war patrol on this date having sailed on the 2nd October.

Here is a very early U-Boat Badge grouping. They all belonged to Mechanikermaat Helmut Welsch of U-18 from U-Flottille 'Lohs' (which was renamed 3 U-Flottille.)

The U-Boat Badge citation is dated for 19th October 1939 and as the badge was instituted on the 13th October 1939 I am assuming this citation would be a backdated one. The Service Award IV Class bears the signature of Doenitz while the 1st Oct 1938 Award citation is signed by Hans Eckermann.

The ranks of Ableseaman, Leading Seaman & Petty Officer still exist. For the first two it just depends on the trade of the person for their version of the rank. For example, a Warfare Specialist would be AB & LS but the equivalent for engineers would be ET & LET (Engineering Technician & Leading Engineer Technician), whereas for Petty Officer they would all carry that rank with the trade following afterwards so a Petty Officer in an engineering branch would be Petty Officer (ET) rather than a Petty Engineering Technician. The Rate of Ordinary Seaman no longer exists, it is AB 2 now with an Ableseaman (as you would understand it) being AB 1.

As for the RNR branch, I am not sure as I haven't seen any. The only time I have come across RNR's that were recalled from civilian life in time of conflict were all posted into shore billets so that the regular sailors in those billets could be assigned to ships. I am sure there are exceptions to that rule, especially in the Mine Warfare role, but an ex-Radar or Electronic Warfare operator (for example) being recalled to the fleet after 5,6 or whatever years in civilian life would be very very rusty, out of date of current procedures and possibly not trained on the current equipment so it would be easier (and cheaper) to stick him (or her) into a shore billet where there is a regular sailor who does have those current knowledge & skills and assign that said sailor to a ship.

OM(W)1 is (or rather, was) the equivalent rank of an Ableseaman. OM (W) = Operator Maintainer (Warfare). The Navy brought in the OM branch around 1993 to combine the Weapon Engineering & Operations branches. It wasn't a success and in the past few years it has reverted back to being two separate trade branches, Warfare Specialist and Engineering Technician (Weapons Engineering).

This is the book:

Die deutsche Feldpostübersicht

by Norbert Kannapin

3 Volumes, a complete list of Feldpostnummern, Biblio-Verlag 1980, ISBN-10: 3764811838

Try this website...

http://www.stampsx.c...l-datenbank.php

...put your FpNr in the box marked ' oder Nummer eines Nummernstempels' and press Return. However it doesn't list the numbers under 10000.

The database is also available on cd-rom and as a stand-alone computer programme, but for the books & cd-rom you are looking at a few hundred £££'s.

Thank you Gordon for the information. For a relatively small unit (I recently read somewhere - can't for the life of me remember where - that the unit consisted of approx 100 men, including helpers) they seemed to of had a daunting amount of tasks & responsibilities.

I have a Wehrpass to a member of GFP Gruppe 560 which was assigned to 6 Armee during Operation Barbarossa. I was wondering if any member can tell me if it would of fallen under the GFP areas of responsibility to investigate the bombings in Kiev caused by Russian laid booby traps after the Germans had occupied the city etc, and to hunt down any of the sabateurs? Also, would it of been possible that this GFP could of been involved with the round-up of the Jewish inhabitants that were murdered at Babi Yar at the end of September 1941?

In the campaign entries (see below) there are mentions of being at Kiev at around that time although there is a 3 day gap for the period of the Babi Yar massacre - would the GFP of moved off with units of 6 Armee during this gap or is it reasonable to assume that they would of still been in the city?

I realise that there isn't a great deal of information available (at least in the English language) on the various GFP units so any thoughts, opinions & reasoning is welcome.

Hi Hucks,

Oh I see. I suppose gone are the days, when no one wanted nuclear ships in their harbours.

Gordon.

There are still countries that don't allow such vessels alongside. New Zealand springs to mind.

Ten months at sea doesn't actually mean 10 months at sea continuously, not for the current Royal Navy anyway. It refers to the time spent away from base port. In those 10 months she would of called at various ports to change crew members, receive stores (including food), conduct maintenance, R & R etc

It is certainly possible. While there is a ratio for 'sea:shore' time it is only a guideline. He could be scheduled to be on one boat for 30 months (for example), then become eligable for promotion after a year so leave that boat and spend a couple of months on course and on finishng the course join another boat. And when he was due shore time someone with his trade skills might be needed to take the place of someone on a boat so he could then be crash-drafted back to sea again before he thought he was due to - it happens alot! Or he might of just been loaned to a specific boat for a few months for whatever reason.

Many thanks for confirming that it is indeed Soviet/Russian.

I can't remember if the pin badge with the wings at top right was Russian or given to me at some other point in time from a US or Canadian serviceman, but thought I'd include it here just in case it is Russian...

Not a collecting interest but down the years I have acquired these items from various meetings with Russian sailors so I just thought that I'd show them here.

The side cap & shoulder boards were acquired when I spent a day at sea onboard the Udaloy I class destroyer Admiral Levchenko in 2006 for which I exchanged a Royal Navy cap tally, while the pin badges were obtained from various sailors of the Soviet Union as good will gifts.

Final Pt - Post War Paperwork

Pt 5...Post War Paperwork

Pt 4...Crimea Shield Citation & PoW Discharge Sheet

Pt 3...Campaign Listing & Eastern Front Medal Citation

Pt 2... Birth Details & Unit Listings

Hello all,

Just thought that I'd share this fairly recent addition to my collection, namely a WP (zweitschrift) & paperwork grouping to an Oberfeldwebel who served in Feldgendarmerie units from the start of the war. Erwin Boebel was born in Lodz in Poland.

Edit: Information found after someone pointed out that it is Ernst Maisel, rather than Meisel.

Hello all,

Does anyone have any information - or have actually heard of - a Generalleutnant Meisel during WW2, possibly with a link to the OKH? There is a March '45 dated EK I citation signed by him in Forman Third Reich Docs vol 1 and I have found another March '45 dated citation (EK II this time) with his signature on it but I have not been able to find any definite references to him.

A Google search has one very brief reference to a General Meisel in a subject under the headline The German Army Confronts The NSFO when it returns the answers to my search request but the actual site doesn't mention him in the one page it publishes on the web for free. I have Wolf Keilig's 'Die Generale Des Heeres' but he isn't mentioned in it and he isn't on the Axis Biographical Research website. I know there was an Admiral Meisel but the one I seek was a Generalleutnant in March 1945.

Any information, or pointers, is much appreciated.

I know that during the last Gulf War one of the 'S' boats (possibly HMS Sceptre) transitted via the Suez Canal, HMS Somerset providing close protection, but I can't remember if it was after she was 'empty' and going home or if she was 'full' and heading there in the first place. There is a photo of the 2 together somewhere.

The Feldpost Number at the top of the Wound Badge In Black citation indicates...

25869

(Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) 3. Räumbootsflottille,

(2.1.1940-27.4.1940) 3. Räumbootsflottillen-Kommando.

...with information on that particular flotilla here...

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Sicherungsflott/RFlot.htm

Looking at the date on the EK II citation he might of been awarded this for the invasion of Norway in April 1940. During that invasion Kondor was part of the Blucher group which consisted of Blucher, Lutzow, Emden, Kondor, Albatross & Mowe for the landings at Oslo which saw the Blucher sunk by shore batteries. Kondor carried approx 100 soldiers for the operation. Whether he was awarded the medal for something he did or as just part of an allocation to the Kriegsmarine is anybodies guess.

Very nice set - I do like these type of citations for the Destroyer (and Schnellboot) Badges. And a good signature to find on the EK citation - Admiral Lutjens of later Bismarck 'fame'.