John R

Information

I am not able to post the document yet, but the relevant information is posted below the signature. I am hoping that a name can be deciphered from the signature, even guesses appreciated. John

Information

I am not able to post the document yet, but the relevant information is posted below the signature. I am hoping that a name can be deciphered from the signature, even guesses appreciated. John

Information

I am not able to post the document yet, but the relevant information is posted below the signature. I am hoping that a name can be deciphered from the signature, even guesses appreciated. John

Information

I am not able to post the document yet, but the relevant information is posted below the signature. I am hoping that a name can be deciphered from the signature, even guesses appreciated. John

Information

I am not able to post the document yet, but the relevant information is posted below the signature. I am hoping that a name can be deciphered from the signature, even guesses appreciated. John

Here is the jacket, owned by Gary Ruhl. The badge is sewn onto the jacket. I am asking for images of any stamps inside. John

I think it is a good one also Martin but I have no image record of it in my files. I see no reason to remove it from the jacket for a reverse shot however. The "feet" of the eagle are quite distinctive and I was hoping that would lead to an image but none match that I have. John

Does anybody have an opinion on the maker of this badge? Reverse shot not possible as it is sewn onto a leather jacket. John

My book arrived a couple days ago and it is indeed quite well done. John

Not much to add from what I have already stated, great original research on your part. Quite refreshing. John

Just ordered and am looking forward to the book. John

Not my badge. I am just trying to close the loop on a post on another forum. I think the more of these one of kind or at least not commonly seen variants that are posted, the better, to help collectors who can't find it for example in Torpedo Los or forum databases, either here, GCA or WAF. It scares them a bit as it should, but that is where we can agree that a particular badge not in a database is in fact period and help assure the collector about his particular item. I know that forums and books mainly provide a baseline for collectors to collect items accepted by the collecting community. They absolutely can't include every single badge and every variant of that badge. They do provide the valuable, maybe invaluable, service of that baseline, that group of badges that we all agree are original to guide the collector through the minefield of TR badges to the new collector. Thanks Nesredep and Gordon. I will relay the information to the owner of that badge. John

Reverse. Catch is Mayer like, again, better images to come. John

Front and back images of what looks to me as a Mayer variant. Note the flag is down, but I think it is bent. The eagle head does not look like a Mayer, but maybe just the shot, it is close though. The reverse is not a Mayer reverse, but maybe a variant setup. When I say the eagle is off, the cut of the mouth on the beak and the eye do not look like a usual Mayer, but it might be just very worn. Better images forthcoming. Both of these images are the same badge, we are working on getting better images of this one. Opinions welcome. John

Martin, The "T" denotes technical rating. In English usage rate=rank and rating=specialty. John

The "S" means deck. The engraving just reflects he had a sent of numbers to hit into the reverse of the badge where the "S" and other parts similar where "punched" into the reverse with a punch set and hammer IMO. John

Now here is a badge sold by Detlev yesterday and it has the enlistment serial number hand stamped into the reverse vice the stammrollen number. Looks like he was the 23rd sailor enlisted (deck) in 1936 from "O" Navy Station Baltic (Ost=O) John

The attached image show the enlistment number that stayed with the sailor. The first letter, in this case an "O" means Navy Station Baltic (Ost=O), the following numbers represent which sailor in order joined in numerical order. The last letter, in this case a T, stands for Technical Rating and the numbers at the bottom the year enlisted. The other last letter on the first line could by a "S" which mean deck. So the 1198th sailor joined in 1936, technical speciality, Navy Station Baltic. I have blocked out his name which is below. So with your badge, it is either "O" for Ost or it is a zero just put in front of the stammrollen number. John

Dan, The Kriegsmarine did not refer to their HSK vessels by their nominal name--in this case Orion. Orion was HSK 1 or Schiff 36 or Raider A--not Orion. So, it makes no sense to lable a badge that would link that badge or its wearer to any ship or unit. The destroyers were not prefixed with anything as I have shown. You have a good Juncker badge, it is very interesting due to the number, but I would not read too much more into it than that. All that said, as I have tried to make clear above, my opinion of what the numbers stand for is just that, my opinion and as far as I know, Gordon might be right when he sees a letter in front of a series of numbers. That does not explain though the more common incidence, I think, of numbers without letters and this applies across service lines, like Heer and LW. John

I believe that the number, in this case 0365, means the 365th sailor assigned to a particular unit or vessel. Which means you will not be able to discover the ship since each unit or vessel had their own stammrollen numbers. I do not think the O means anything in this case, just a digit. Take a look at the reverse of my destroyer example. I believe this is the same situation, he was the 325th person to be assigned to this destroyer. It does not mean the ship had 325 men or 675 men, it just means, I think, the 325th sailor assigned in chronological order of reporting aboard. This is not the same number as a permanent enlistment number so if this sailor went to another unit, he would get another number for the rolls of that ship. A series of numbers were assigned to personnel but the stammrollen number, as I understand it, was a permanent record of every man assigned to a unit for that unit's history and was distinct from a permanent identification number that honestly I have a hard time finding in personnel documents, but there must have been one. John