What's on this arm patch?

[ErwinZ]

Anyone has an idea what unit? If it helps the soldier is reading a leaflet from Köln (the city).

[OvBacon]

It would be good to see the whole photo so it's easier to assess what branch/time period etc he's from 

 

[ErwinZ]

That was the plan, but something went wrong I guess. Here's the full soldier. 

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

 

looks to be a Minenwerfer guy?

[OvBacon]

Awesome Cris, that's totally what it looks like.

Here is a patch from Rastatt Wehrgeschichtliche Museum.

It does loook like the patch on the photo has a MW and 18 or 118

[OvBacon]

Here are two more examples:

 

[ErwinZ]

Thx. Most likely it is one of the abteilungen which formed the Minenwerfer Kompanie 221. So the number might be 19 or 113. Too bad there's a crease right on the number. 

[GreyC]

As the first letter is neither a "S" nor a "L" for "schwere" or "leichte", it is either Mittlere Minenwerfer Abt. 18 or 118. Maybe Cron has the details. The guy wearing it is an Unteroffizier.

In the photo of Rastatt Wehrgeschichtliche Museum the shoulder borad with MW G 173, the "G" stands for "Gebirgs-" The last photo of OvBacon nicely shows that Pionier Bataillon 15 (Flaps) was responsible for the formation of at least two Minenwerfer units, as all wear the same flaps but different patches denoting the specific Minenwerfer-Einheit.

GreyC

Edited April 28, 2020 by GreyC

[The Prussian]

Hello!

Absolutely right! Minenwerfer.