Hey Guys,
Just found this:
Kohler was a volunteer who enlisted through the Nürnberg Wehrmeldeamt (Nuremberg Draftboard) on around 27 August 1936, assigned to the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment 69 at Bad Reichenhall. He was a Gefreiter by October of that year and by October of 1940 had achieved the senior NCO rank of Wachtmeister (a designation used by the Artillery branch). But then, disaster – Kohler did something (wish I knew what!) that resulted in a military tribunal busting him in rank back to Kanonier (Private of Artillery). The opening page of his Wehrpass is marked with a red “X” that in this case does NOT mean the usual “KIA” – instead, the word “degradiert” appears written alongside the “X” in red pencil. This word means “demoted” – reduced in rank - (literally, “degraded”) as a serious form of punishment short of being assigned to a penal battalion. There is an excellent picture of a very stern-faced young Kohler wearing what looks like a Model 1936 pattern tunic. However, nearly every page in the Wehrpaß that has any entries written on it is branded with a red “X”. On the page with his promotions, the word “degradiert” again accompanies the “X”. On page 26 under “Additional Comments” appears the entry: “On the grounds of the verdict of the 17 June 1941 by the 73rd Division’s Tribunal, loss of rank (Rangverlust)”. However, this did not stop Kohler. He worked his way up again, until by 1943 he was once again promoted to Wachtmeister rank. The crossed out entries in his Wehrpaß indicate that he was in Austria in 1938; he served in the Polish campaign, at the Westwall, in France and in Russia. He was trained with several cannon types used by Mountain Troops (Gebirgs-Kanone ? L 75 and Gebirgs-Geschutz 36), as well as the Karabiner 98k rifle and the MG 34. The two or three awards listed in the Wehrpaß are all crossed out. I suspect that the Soldbuch represents a re-issue – a replacement of Kohler’s original Soldbuch and represented his “rehabilitation” – that is, reissued clean at the beginning of his efforts to regain what he had lost – which he did and then some
http://www.therupturedduck.com/WebPa...ments/d202.htm
Thought you might be interested as I have not seen anything like it before!
Anyways enjoy!
Just found this:
Kohler was a volunteer who enlisted through the Nürnberg Wehrmeldeamt (Nuremberg Draftboard) on around 27 August 1936, assigned to the 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment 69 at Bad Reichenhall. He was a Gefreiter by October of that year and by October of 1940 had achieved the senior NCO rank of Wachtmeister (a designation used by the Artillery branch). But then, disaster – Kohler did something (wish I knew what!) that resulted in a military tribunal busting him in rank back to Kanonier (Private of Artillery). The opening page of his Wehrpass is marked with a red “X” that in this case does NOT mean the usual “KIA” – instead, the word “degradiert” appears written alongside the “X” in red pencil. This word means “demoted” – reduced in rank - (literally, “degraded”) as a serious form of punishment short of being assigned to a penal battalion. There is an excellent picture of a very stern-faced young Kohler wearing what looks like a Model 1936 pattern tunic. However, nearly every page in the Wehrpaß that has any entries written on it is branded with a red “X”. On the page with his promotions, the word “degradiert” again accompanies the “X”. On page 26 under “Additional Comments” appears the entry: “On the grounds of the verdict of the 17 June 1941 by the 73rd Division’s Tribunal, loss of rank (Rangverlust)”. However, this did not stop Kohler. He worked his way up again, until by 1943 he was once again promoted to Wachtmeister rank. The crossed out entries in his Wehrpaß indicate that he was in Austria in 1938; he served in the Polish campaign, at the Westwall, in France and in Russia. He was trained with several cannon types used by Mountain Troops (Gebirgs-Kanone ? L 75 and Gebirgs-Geschutz 36), as well as the Karabiner 98k rifle and the MG 34. The two or three awards listed in the Wehrpaß are all crossed out. I suspect that the Soldbuch represents a re-issue – a replacement of Kohler’s original Soldbuch and represented his “rehabilitation” – that is, reissued clean at the beginning of his efforts to regain what he had lost – which he did and then some
http://www.therupturedduck.com/WebPa...ments/d202.htm
Thought you might be interested as I have not seen anything like it before!
Anyways enjoy!