Kriegsmarine Crews that used the Edelweiss emblem ?

[Jesse]

Hallo Gents,

I'm doing a bit of research on a sidecap I have that has the edelweiss emblem on the side. I'm trying to tie the cap to the owner who had the initails sewn inside the cap - "W.D." I know of 4 boats that I think used this emblem; U-124, 515, 524 and 597. I've looked into some crewlists from Uboatwaffe.net but havn't found a match. I've asked the moderator there if the lists are complete and am waiting a response.

The cap was bought by a member from Thomas Huss and then I purchased it. I contacted Thomas for some history on it. He stated the following:

Dear Jesse, I got the cap from a man how cleans old houses?.I got the cap and a hand full medal and badges ( U-Boat badge, Iron cross?.. ) from him!

Sorry but I don't have more information for you about the cap!

Mit freundlichen Gr?ssen

Dipl. Ing.

Thomas Huss

German-Historica

Another idea might be to research receipteants of the above medels. Does anyone know of any way to research receipteants names of the badges and where they served. Its a bit of a stretch but they may have been found together.

He said the combination is original on the cap. My question is does anyone know of other U-boats that used the Edelweiss? And is it possible that a surface crew would have used it aswell?

Thanks for your comments and any input. I'm hoping to find out some personal history about the owner of the piece and the Boat that the he served on. Someday I'd like to then also bring together some of the original items of that boat if possible. - Jesse

Edited January 7, 2009 by Jesse

[Gordon Williamson]

These are the only four boats which are listed by Georg H?gel as using the Edelweiss. The H?gel book however, excellent though it is, does not give 100% complete coverage. There are lots of examples in the U-Boot Archiv of crew members of various boats wearing tradition badges which are not included in H?gel's book.

So, there may well have been other boats which used the Edelweiss. Additionally, crews of Deastroyers which were sunk or scuttled at Narvik, and who found themselves on land fighting as Infantry alongside the Mountain Troops, are known to have worn the Edelweiss as a commemorative emblem. How long this was permitted isn't known, but it certainly happened.

There may also have been some of the smaller surface ships ( Minesweepers, VP Boats etc ) which could have worn the Edelweiss ( especially those which served from Norwegian ports) and I'm afraid there are no specific reference works available on the Traditional Badges worn by these units.

If the cap was found in a house clearance ( I know Thomas gets a lot of stuff this way) along with a U-Boat Badge then it certainly suggests the guy was on submarines rather than surface ships, but again, I would be reluctant to place 100% faith in the available crew lists.

I have had irrefutable documentation to men on certain boats who don't show up in the known crew lists.