very nice. I'm sure you weren't crazy enough to pay 451 EUR for it.
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Some Freikorps Unit Badges
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Heimschutz Gross-Hamburg Shield for Reitbrook Quarter in the borough of Bergedorf.
Full-size and label badges.
Heimschutz Gross-Hamburg was an auxilliary police formed sometime after June 1919 from former members of Einwohnerwehr Gross-Hamburg (civil defence).
They were a key force in suppressing the October 23, 1923 uprising in Hamburg by KP Wasserkante, the paramilitary wing of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany).
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I picked up this set of badges that belonged to a member of Freiwilligen Landesschützenkorps and thought that they would make a good example showing the transition from Freikorps to Vorläufige Reichswehr to Übergangsheer.
Freiwilligen Landesschützenkorps was formed in January 1919 in Zossen and saw action in Berlin and Bremen. It was used to form Reichswehr-Brigade 4 in June 1919.
Reichswehr-Brigade 4 merged with Reichswehr-Brigade 25 on Oct 1, 1919 and remained Reichswehr-Brigade 4 of the Übergangsheer until it was disbanded in December 1920 as part of the reduction of the Reichswehr mandated by the Versailles Treaty.
Photos top to bottom:
(1) Cap badge and (2) Cap badge variant worn with a national cockade on the crown of the Feldmütze.
(3) Collar badges.
(4) Chart showing the transition from Freikorps to Provisional Army (Vorläufige Reichswehr) to Transitional Army (Übergangsheer).
In the middle and right on the chart are the 1st pattern Reichswehr oakleaf wreath, first worn with the national cockade (June to Oct., 1919) and then with the 1st pattern Reichswehr eagle (Oct.1, 1919 to sometime in 1925) on the lower portion of the Feldmütze. Many former Freikorps/Vorläufige Reichswehr units, particularly in Bavaria hated the Reichswehr eagle and refused to wear it, continuing to wear the national cockade up to 1921. It was only with the final reorganization of the Reichswehr in 1921 that the eagle was universally adopted.
The Freiwilligen Landesschützenkorps collar badges continued to be worn after it became Reichswehr-Brigade 4, but were disallowed after September 1919.
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Das Abzeichen für das Personal der freiwilligen Minensuchverbände
(Badge for personnel of the Volunteer Minesweeper Association)
Instituted on April 4, 1919 by the commander of the Baltic Naval Station, to include personnel of the North Seas Naval Station, 6000 badges were ordered to be assembled by the Navy Clothing Department in Kiel from existing stores of one-year volunteer service chevrons combined with an upright yellow mine on blue cloth backing.
Officers, NCOs and enlisted men serving in minesweeping duties at the two stations throughout 1919 were authorized 4 badges each to be worn on the left forearm of the short jacket, dress coat, blue shirt and overcoat. There was also a miniature version of the badge issued in pairs to be worn on the collar.
The official badge with a yellow mine was approved by the Admiralty of the Reichsmarine and issued beginning at the end of 1919. However, unofficial badges with red mines were either issued or handmade by some troops for unknown reasons.
By the end of 1919 there were approximately 100 ships of various types that had been tasked with removing 43,289 English and 19,189 German mines.
As the work was extremely dangerous, the Reichsmarine office set up a life insurance policy for personnel involved. There were 15,000 marks for those married. Otherwise 7,500 Marks was paid.
Here are two examples of the official badge with yellow mine and an example of the scarce unofficial badge with red mine.
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Member
- Jul 2011
- 3394
- in the south of the Netherlands (between Venlo and Eindhoven), near the German and Belgium border
Post 116: the silver wreath (second photo from top).
An exact look-a-like was used as Dienstalterabzeichen for Strassenbahn-members. In silver for 10 years of continuous employment and golden for 25,
during the Weimar and Third Reich Period.Last edited by wilhelm Saris; 09-07-2018, 08:48 AM.
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Die Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division
Background
Die Garde-Kavallerie-Division was initially formed in Spring 1918 when it returned from the Eastern front. The new division served in the Champagne and Marne until October 1918.
Die Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division (The Guards Cavalry Rifle Division) (also Division Heuduck des Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Korps) was formed in December 1918 from the Imperial Garde-Kavallerie-Division.
The first major deployment was during the fighting for the Royal Palace in Berlin on December 23, 1918. There, the GKSD suffered heavy casualties with 56 dead in the fight against die Volksmarinedivision (the People's Navy Division) led by Leutnant zur See Heinrich Dorrenbach, who tried to enforce the Communist Council dictatorship by military means. Sporadic fighting continued until the turn of the New Year 1918/19 and went down in Berlin history as "Bloody Christmas".
The GKSD then took part in putting down the Spartacist uprising and workers general strike in January 1919. Hauptmann Waldemar Pabst, chief-of-staff of the unit, coordinated the hunt for the leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht and ordered their murder once they were caught.
The text on the memorials to Liebkneckt and Luxemburg which were erected by the East German government reads:
On the evening of January 15, 1919, Dr. Karl Liebknecht and Dr. Rosa Luxemburg were abused and murdered by soldiers and officers of the Garde-Kavarerie-Schützen Division. Rosa Luxemburg, either mortally wounded or dead, was thrown into the Landwehr Canal near the Lichtenstein Bridge.
The other portion of this memorial, less than one hundred meters to the South, marks this spot.
Karl Liebknecht was shot here, at the spot of this memorial.
The ardent Socialist Karl Liebknecht died in a battle against oppression, militarism and war.
The contempt for life and the brutality against human beings reveals the capacity of mankind for inhumanity. It can not be and must not remain a means of resolving any sort of conflict.
The GKSD saw action again in the 2nd Berlin uprising in March 1919.
It was used to form Reichswehr-Brigade 30, Reichswehr-Brigade 31 and Reichswehr-Brigade 7 in June 1919.
Commanders
Generalleutnant Heinrich von Hofmann
Formed in the area of
Generalkommando des Garde-Korps (Berlin)
Strength
40,000
Order of battle (December 1918 – April 1919)
Kavallerie-Schützen-Kommando 11
- Freiw.Lehr-Inf.Reg
- Freiw.Drag.Schtz.Btl. 8
- Freikorps Lützow
Kavallerie-Schützen-Kommando 14
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl.Hus. 8
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl.Hus. 11
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl. Ulan 5
Kavallerie-Schützen-Kommando 38
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl.Kür 4
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl.Jäger zu Pferde 2
- Freiw.Schtz.Btl.Jäger zu Pferde 6
Brigade Taysen
Freiwilligen Detachement Küntzel
Kampfwagen Abteilung Körting (later Kommand der Kampfwagenabteilungen or Kokampf)
Freikorps Löschebrand
Freikorps Kleiwitz
Freikorps Gentner
Freiw. 3. Garde-Feldart.Rgt.
Freiw.Esk. 1. Garde.Drag. und 2. Garde-Drag.
Added to the order of battle from April 1919
Marine-Division von Lettow-Vorbeck
1. Marine-Brigade (Emmo von Roden) (1. und 2. Marine-Regiment)
2. Marine-Brigade (Korvettenkapitän Hermann Ehrhardt) (3. und 4. Marine-Regiment)
3. Marine-Brigade (Korvettenkapitän Wilfried von Loewenfeld) (5. und 6. Marine-RegimentSturm-Bataillon „von Arnauld de la Perière“ (Marine-Sturmbataillon)
Schutztruppen-Brigade „von Schleinitz“
Schutztruppen-Regiment Nr. 1 „Lettow-Vorbeck“
Freiwilligen-Feldartillerie-Regiment „Osiander“
Freiwilligen-Brigade „Grautoff“
Sturm-Bataillon „Schmidt“
Freiwilligen-MG-Scharfschützen-Abteilung „Frey“
Freiwilligen-Minenwerfer-Sturm-Detachement „Heuschkel“ (2 Batterien, 2 Minenwerfer-Kompanien)
Notable members of GKSD
Generalleutnant Karl Angerstein (Luftwaffe)
SS-Brigadeführer Dr. Curd Brand
SS-Oberführer Otto Brass
SS-Standartenführer Erich Buchmann
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (served as liaison officer)
Reichsgesundheitsführer & SS-Obergruppenführer Dr Leonardo Conti
SS-Untersturmführer Kurt Eggers (Poet and war correspondent, the unit SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was named for him after his death in 1943)
Generalleutnant Konrad Goltz (Luftwaffe)
Generaloberst Ulrich Grauert (Luftwaffe)
Generalleutnant Walter von Hippel (Luftwaffe)
General der Flieger Otto Hoffmann von Waldau (Luftwaffe)
Generaloberst Erwin Jaenecke
SS-Brigadeführer Hans Kehrl
General der Flieger Ulrich Kessler
SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Dr Heinrich Lankenau
Reichstag deputy Reinhard Neubert
Waldemar Pabst (later chief-of-staff of the Austrian Heimwehr, a group silimar to the German Freikorps)
SS-Brigadeführer & Generalmajor der Polizei Curt Pohlmeyer
SS-Oberführer Erich Schrage
SS-Oberführer Otto Teetzmann
(the ranks are the highest ranks reached in the Third Reich era)
Collar Badge
Collar badges were die struck silvered tombac. Rather than wear collar badges that were mirror images with the helmet facing forward, the badge was struck as a single with it being worn on the left collar with the helmet facing forward and right collar with the helmet facing backward.
It was explained to me years ago that this was due to economics, as two dies necessary for striking mirror image badges was too costly. This theory doesn’t hold up in light of the fact that there are several variations of the badge from different dies and with different styles of attachment.
The first pair shown is the type with wedge-shaped prongs on the back.
The second pair is actually slightly different singles both with the same style text that differs from the first pair. However, the one on the left has a slightly smaller helmet. Both have different shaped stars than the first pair. The prongs on both of these are flat and square, but slightly different from each other. Although slightly different, I view the second pair as a worn pair as that's how they came to me. They likely had boxes of these delivered to stores and soldiers merely grabbed a couple to put on their uniform without that close of a scrutiny.
Variations exist with either the space between the wreath and star solid or cut out as shown in these examples.Last edited by Brian L.; 10-12-2018, 02:47 AM.
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Selbstschutzbataillon Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg / Verband Hindenburg
Selbstschutzbataillon Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg was one of several Selbstschutz (self-defense) batallions formed in Spring 1921 in the response to the 3rd Polish Uprising in Upper Silesia which began on May 2 and lasted until July 1921 when the British and French forces arrived and ended hostilities. Commanded by Major von Waldow, "Bataillon Hindenburg" was stationed near Konstadt in May 1921 and was engaged in heavy fighting on June 7, 1921 around Zembowitz (Zembowitz was in Kreis Rosenberg in Oberschlesien).
Shown is a hand-embroidered cuff-title worn by Selbstschutzbataillon Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg.
Verband Hindenburg was the successor of Selbstschutzbataillon Generalfeldmarschall von Hindenburg. It's not clear when the name change occurred. But, it was likely immediately after the ceasefire in Silesia.
Shown is a contemporary postcard and the armshield of Verband Hindenburg. The central part of the shield shows the Hindenburg family coat of arms. The slogan says, "Loyalty is the mark of honor". This is actually quite a scarce badge, as probably 90% of those on the market are fake, including in my opinion the one illustrated in Haarcke. Original badges were silvered zinc alloy, noticeably vaulted with a reverse stamping which is quite deep and detailed. It is a light but strong badge.
In contrast, fakes are made of some sort of gray metal meant to simulate polished zinc without any finish. They are quite flat overall with the reverse details showing very light, shallow stamping. The fakes often flex like a spring as they are cold-stamped, not die-struck and tempered as this original is.Last edited by Brian L.; 10-27-2018, 07:10 AM.
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