Alpenkorps Machine Gunner

[Chris Boonzaier]

I like this one :-)

Unfortunately not possible to say if he was part of one othe Gebirgs MG Abteilungen und from one of the Jäger Battalons....

[The Prussian]

Hi Chris!

That´s hard to say...

The MG-Ss-Abt. were under command of the OHL and were detached to the different divisions, corps or armies.

The MG-Ss-Abt.24 was the only MG-Ss-Abt, that was attached directliy  the Alpencorps from 12.2.18-23.9.18

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

indeed, but there were various Gebirgs MG Abteilungen who were part of the alpenkorps.

[The Prussian]

Yes. But did they wear the Sniperbadge???

Edited April 13, 2017 by The Prussian

[Chris Boonzaier]

6 hours ago, The Prussian said:

Yes. But did they wear the Sniperbadge???

Good question.... many people say only MGSSA members did, but I have a couple of Photos somewhere of the Machine Gun Company in a bavarian Reserve Inf Regt and many of the guys are wearing the badge.

[The Prussian]

Maybe they recieved the badges before they came to the other unit?

[Chris Boonzaier]

It is possible. I often wonder if what we usually accept as the purpose of the badge (Members of a MGSSA) was not ignored by certain units and men in some Regiments wore them as long as they had qualified as a machine gunner in one of the machine gun schools (Hammelburg, Beverloo etc) as opposed to unqualified guys carrying ammunition etc..

[The Prussian]

Sometimes the stamp on the postcard could help.

The MG-Scharfschützen-Trupps 1-200 were formed since january 1916. Non-prussia were:

bavarian: 41-446, 87-90, 135-138, 187-193

saxon: 91, 92, 139, 140, 194-197

württ.: 93, 94, 141, 142, 198-200

These Trupps formed since september 1916 the MG-Ss-Abteilungen (3 Trupps = 1 Abteilung)

1-49, 50-52 (saxon), 53-54 (württ.), 55-75, 76 (saxon), 77 (württ.), 78-79, bavarian 1-4

Since february 1916 the Trupps wore the infantry uniform with shoulderstraps with their Trupp-number and a Troddel of a 1st company.

Since august 1916 they had their Abteilungs-number and Troddeln of 1.-3. company

Also, NCOs and enlisted men recieved the MG-Ss-badge. This badge might have been worn only during the war. Officers recieved the badge since august 1917.

The Geb.MG-Abt. were formed in may 1915 (201-210 for the Alpenkorps), since august 1915 N° 211-255, since november 1918 N° 260-264. Those last Abteilungen were built from other Abteilungen. (3 old Abt. = 1 new Abt.).

Here I´ve got an interesting photo with an MG-Ss-badge.

Because of the tunic it could be a post-war photo. Until now I couldn´t explain the shoulder strap. A crown with a gothic L.

These shoulder straps were worn by Inf.Rgt.47 and bav.Inf.Rgt.10. But only officers had metal letters. The Litzen seem to be early Reichswehr. Probably it´s a Freikors unit.

Any ideas???

Edited April 14, 2017 by The Prussian