Recieved this photo in a ww2 lot. At first I dismissed these men as Jagers until I saw the cap insignias. After some searching I "think" I have found what this is.....but would like some help. the man on the left looks to be a medic (sanitater) and have what I think is called the "Karpathien badge"?? But the man on the right looks to only have half of a "karpathien badge". The collar states they are from what Im guessing is IR17 if that helps. Sorry if this is something very common, but I do not normally collect/study Imperial photos and was interested in the cap insignias. Thanks in advance for any help or reassurance guys
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These are Landsturm men from the 17.Battalion of the XXI. Army Corps. The cap insignia is call the Karpathenkorps Abzeichen (or simply "Karpathenabzeichen") and it was an official badge given to the men of the various units that participated in the battles of that mountainous region, during the specific time period August 1916-July1917. One had to serve a minimum of two months in the corps to be eligible for the badge. The 1st and 200th divisions made up the bulk of the troops. These Landsturm men were not in either division, so I am not sure what their affiliation was.
The badges were prong backed for the most part and easily snagged. Many were broken and so were eventually sewn down so they would not protrude.
It's interesting that they have leather knee reinforcing on their trousers, which is normally a sign of a mountain or assault unit.
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Ahhh, so it just a broken Karpathenabzeichen on the second man. Thank you for your input....I have never seen this insignia/badge before and couldnt find information on it....just pictures....so I wasnt even positive about the ID. haha
Again, I appreciate the solid info on this. Very interestingComment
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Jens,
I notice that this piece has "silber" stamped on the back. I think this is the first officer's version that I have seen outside of a period photograph. I am somewhat surprised that the reverse is so crude, as it looks more like an issue enlisted man's version. Thanks for showing this.
ChipComment
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Thank you very much Jens for posting that. A beautiful badge I must say, and it looks great on caps tooComment
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