Heer Feldgendarmerie Wehrpass - Poland, France & Norway

[Gordon Williamson]

This scary looking Dude inhabits the earliest Feldgendarmerie book I've had yet. The bulk of the early drafts into the Feldgendarmerie when it was first formed reputedly came from experienced policemen from the Ordnungspolizei. His profession here is shown as Oberhauptwachtmeister but no indication of which branch of the police.

[Gordon Williamson]

Previous military service with 1. / Esk. K?r. Regt 3 from 1911 right through to 1920 so wasn't demobbed at the end of WW1. He won the EK2 in 1915 with this lot.

Interesting bit is the date he is taken into the Feldgendarmerie - August 1939, before the outbreak of war.

[Gordon Williamson]

He is given top NCO rank as a Stabsfeldwebel der Feldgendarmerie and sees service in all the early campaigns. - West Prussia and the capture of Graudenz, at the crossing of the Narew, Nowogrod, and at Bialystok in East Poland.

Then on the Western Front, mention of both Operationsgebiet but no specific places, as well as Heimatsgebiet.

Norway, starting at Oslo and serving alongside 163, 196 and 181 Infantry Divisions, and ending at Trondheim.

After the end of the campiagn in the West he seems to have been medically downgraded and released from active service in September 1940.

[nesredep]

Hello!

Amazing find.Good eyes for nice item Gordon.

All the best

Nesredep

[Guest Rick Research]

There was no such rank as "Oberhauptwachtmeister" so perhaps the Wehrbezirk where he was processed from will indicate urban or rural Police.

Also note that although this firm admirer of the Kaiser was born in 1893-- his mamma died in 1868....

Clerk was NOT paying attention!

[Gordon Williamson]

There was no such rank as "Oberhauptwachtmeister"

Yes, I guesssed that was just a clerical error and that he was Hauptwachtmeister or more likely a Meister (being the next up from Hauptwachtmeister and maybe what the clerk was trying to convey ?) transferring over to the Fg as Stabsfeldwebel. He was from Kutten, near Angerburg in East Prussia, now part of Poland of course. Small village or town so he was most likely Gendarmerie rather than Schupo.

Rank should really have been entered as .".............der Schutzpolizei" or whatever branch. Interestingly when they inserted his military rank, they did it properly, with both rank and branch, as Stabsfeldwebel der Feldgendarmerie"

[webr55]

Very interesting find! Quite similar to my grandfather's Feldgendarmerie Wehrpass:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21161

He also made Stabsfeldwebel and went into the Feldgendarmerie even earlier, on 4.8.1939. Those were the first units mobilized.