dante Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I have the chance of a WW1 Bavarian pass to Grenzschutzbataillon Heiss and Grenzschutzkommando Schönsee, cannot find any details on these units, welcome any thoughts, information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolewts58 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 (edited) 9 hours ago, dante said: I have the chance of a WW1 Bavarian pass to Grenzschutzbataillon Heiss and Grenzschutzkommando Schönsee, cannot find any details on these units, welcome any thoughts, information Grenzschutzkommando Schönsee was the district headquarters of the border defense forces in Bavaria near the Czechoslovakian border from December 1918 until June 1919. Grenzschutzbataillon Heiss was commanded by Hauptmann Adolf Heiss, who joined the Bavarian Army in 1903, served in WWII and was made commander of Grenzschutzbataillon Heiss in December 1918. Grenzschutzbataillon Heiss became part of the Reichswehr in June 1919 and was garrisoned in Nürnberg as "Heimatschutzbataillon Heiss" as a security force when workers demonstrated on March 17, 1920 during the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. On October 11, 1920, Hauptmann Heiss transformed Heimatschutzbataillon Heiss into the paramilitary group, "Wehrverband Reichsflagge", which eventually reached a strength of 20,000. Heiss was pensioned from the Reichswehr in 1923. Heiss merged Wehrverband Reichsflagge with the Stahlhelm in 1927, when he was reactivated as a Major in the Reichswehr. Heiss was promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1939 and to Oberst in 1942. He was MIA on the Eastern front near Posen in January 1945. Edited October 21, 2016 by bolewts58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Excellent and many thanks, I have also confirm his service on the Bavarian state archives on Ancestry, guess my question is, would you class these units as "Freikorps" or traditional "Border Guards" given their location on the Czech border Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolewts58 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, dante said: Excellent and many thanks, I have also confirm his service on the Bavarian state archives on Ancestry, guess my question is, would you class these units as "Freikorps" or traditional "Border Guards" given their location on the Czech border Strictly speaking, it's not a Freikorps as it wasn't formed by Heiss, himself, but by the Reichswehr Oberkommando in Bavaria, with Heiss as an army captain being given its command. But, as it served during the Freikorps period, it falls into the realm of Freikorps and Freikorps collecting, much in the same way that Einwohnerwehren (Civil Defense Militias) fall under the umbrella of the Freikorps period, even though they were mostly government organized units. Edited October 21, 2016 by bolewts58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Many thanks, some scans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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