When officers get naked...

[Dedman]

John, thanks a lot! These are great pieces for the whole mozaic

[John P. Moore]

Below are comments from Johann Stahl's letter to me from 16 June 1993 where he mentions how in May 1945 the members of the signals NCO training group at Melnik split into small groups in an effort to make their way to the American lines. Stahl, Ellmenreich and Walter Heimsath were together in one such small group. Stahl begins by explaining how he and Heimsath persuaded Ellmenreich to not carry out the order from the commander of the SS-Signal School in Leitmeritz, SS-Oberführer Ernst Kemper, to form into a 700-man battle group to attack the Russians near Prague. An April 13, 1994 from Walter Heimsath to me confirms that he was in the group with Ellmeinreich and Stahl in May 1945.

John

[MJC]

John,

Thanks for adding your unique and essential insight on these men.

Mike

[Graham G]

Awesome find, and a great thread, despite all of the arguments regarding the title.

[BROBS]

agreed,
very interesting and a wonderful find.

I would like to go to battlefields and pick relics, but here in the US this is illegal (on civil war battlegrounds).
and if I took a trip to Europe or Russia to do this, I fear the vacation would have to be very long and I would probably only find a tube of toothpaste.

[John P. Moore]

Below are photos of the three officers involved in this amazing story. On the right is Reinhard Ellmenreich taken when he was Funkkompanie commander in the "Wiking" Division during 1941-42. Walter Heimsath is on the left. He is wearing a black Panzer wrap as he was adjutant and signal officer of the SS-Panzer Aufklärungs Abteilung "Wiking" in 1943.

[John P. Moore]

The first photo shows Johann Stahl at Melnik in March 1945. The other photo was taken in October 1946 while a French POW and sent home to his wife. He is wearing a Kriegsmarine officer's uniform. I understand that some Kriegsmarine uniform buttons were found with the Ellmenreich Totenkopfring and the other artifacts near Prague.

[John P. Moore]

Here is another story that involves the discovery of a Totenkopfring and Erkennungsmarke belonging to another signal officer. SS-Hauptsturmführer Herbert Forck was a member of the Artillerie Rgt. of the LSSAH from 1941 to the end of August 1944 when he was captured by the British in Normandy, first as a signal officer and later as a battery commander.

In October 2001 his personal Totenkopf ring, Erkennungsmarke and a multitude of other SS insignias was found by the cousin of a French friend of mine in a field between St. Lambert and Chambois at a depth of approximately 20 cm. Forck died the same month that his ring was found so we were not able to discuss the discovery with him.

[John P. Moore]

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[Aqu]

Intresting stuff there. Thanks for sharing.