Volkssturm Soldbuch with VG 1-5

[Maxoumilitaria]

Hi guys,

As part of a group, I recently got this Volkssturm Soldbuch and I would like to hear your opinion about it.

If everything is correct, the soldier seems to have received a VG 1-5. Given the rarity of this weapon and the fact that some annotations (including this one) are done with a different ink, I'm not certain what to think and would appreciate your help!

Among other details:

Page 1:
- I'm not sure what was his original rank (logically it should be Volkssturmmann before it seems to be something else). Any idea?
- on the 20th of April 1945 (3 days after the SB was established), he got promoted to Gruppenführer.
- The soldier's number (85) and his dogtag number (7/124/3/85) seem to have been written when he got promoted (the 3 fields are filled with a different pen than the other ones)

Page 2:
- No stamp
- The Soldbuch has been filled for the first time on the 17th of April 1945
- The ink used is consistent with the one from page 1 (original rank, name, Wehrnummer)

Page 4:
- It's indicated that he received a VG 1-5 on the day of his promotion
- The ink is consistent with the page 1 (soldier number, dogtag number and rank after promotion)

Page 5:
- The only piece of equipment listed (apart from the weapon mentioned page 4) is an "VST Armbinde" (Volkssturm armband)
- The ink is consistent with the page 1 (soldier number, dogtag number and rank after promotion)


For now I see two options:
- The Soldbuch has been altered to make it more interesting (Promotion to Gruppenführer, VG 1-5 + VS armband) and all annotations in darker ink are potential not original
- The man really got promoted 3 days after the SB got established and received a better equipment for this occasion.

Thanks a lot in advance for your opinion!!

best,

Max

[HAF]

i think in this case we will never know sure ,just i find if very strange that arm band is listed inside ,never seen something like that in any soldbuch ,but for sure i dont have seen them all .

[naxos]

I share your suspicions.

The Soldbuch is original and the date of April 17 is the correct date when the Volksturm in Schwabach (Batl. 7/124 is from Schwabach south of Nuremberg) was readied to assemble.


The date of April 20 - is too late for the Volkssturm in Schwabach to receive weapons and Armbands (they never received arm bands).

see link: https://www.schwabach.de/images/refe...abach_1945.pdf

The nomenclature VG1-5 was never used by the Germans, it is the American term used after the war for the VG Gustloffwerke. It originated on misreading the Volkssturmgewehr documentation by US intelligence.


I go with option 1: "- The Soldbuch has been altered to make it more interesting (Promotion to Gruppenführer, VG 1-5 + VS armband) and all annotations in darker ink are potential not original"

.

[Lionel H.]

No need to be an expert to simply see the handwriting of this promotion is just not period. Secondly, I must say I never saw or heard the term "VG1-5" in ANY period document, but well nobody knows everything in that matter... The comment of our Friend Naxos is confirming my doubts.

A greedy attempt to make a 70 euros item 5x more expensive, for finally just ruining it

[Gerdan]

page 1

"Beförderung" (promotion). The NS never used to write the date " 20.04

.1945 ". The month has never been abbreviated 04 but only

4. To indicate the date with " 0 " is modern.

Gerdan

[Archi]

Hello !

Very interesting analysis of this Soldbuch !
Thanks to all for explaining all those details .

Best regards,

Archi

[Maxoumilitaria]

Thanks a lot to all of you.
This overall confirms my doubts. It's pretty sad as the Soldbuch came as part of a group with a few nice VS pictures.

Cheers,

Max

[Simon H]

Given the overall condition of this SB and the way it has been completed I have my doubts that any part of it is pre 1945 manufacture. I hope you had better luck with the other items.