IAB for KM soldier?

[CM Alexander]

Hello everyone,

Please forgive my ignorance but is it common place to find members of the KM receiving the IAB? I have done a little research and can not really find anything that helps.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chrys

[Blued]

Hello everyone,

Please forgive my ignorance but is it common place to find members of the KM receiving the IAB? I have done a little research and can not really find anything that helps.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chrys

Only thing I can see is that they received it when they served in the army first and then transferred to the navy

[CM Alexander]

It was issued to him in 1945...just can't figure out why.

[Marcel Banziger]

Only thing I can see is that they received it when they served in the army first and then transferred to the navy

Which happened more often indeed. And the other way around happened as well, Heer soldiers wearing KM badges because of serving in the Kriegsmarine first before being transferred to the Heer.

If I remember well there is even a thread on here somewhere with many period photos of these. Can't find it so quickly but it's worth the search.

[Marcel Banziger]

It was issued to him in 1945...just can't figure out why.

Isn't it becuse in the end of the war many Kriegsmarine soldiers were send to the frontline for defending the borders? I have read many memoirs where it was told sailors were fighting along the Heer army for defence.

[CM Alexander]

Thanks for chiming in guys...I do appreciate it. I have seen photos like you mentioned...and usually that makes sense. I have a Soldbuch and doc grouping to a man that was in the KM (Soldbuch is KM) but he was issued the IAB on the 29th of November 1944. The prelim document and Soldbuch both have KM stamps on/in them.

If it is worth it I will post scans of the Soldbuch page and the IAB doc.

Thanks again for the opinions...it is much appreciated.

Chrys

[CM Alexander]

Isn't it becuse in the end of the war many Kriegsmarine soldiers were send to the frontline for defending the borders? I have read many memoirs where it was told sailors were fighting along the Heer army for defence.

This makes sense...I just wanted to ask because all the documents have KM stamps on them. This isn't my area of expertise...so I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks again,
Chrys

[Marcel Banziger]

Hello Chrys,

Would be very interesting to see some scans. Thanks in advance for sharing with us!

[CM Alexander]

No problem Marcel...it is very late here so it will have to wait until tomorrow. If I went upstairs and tried to scan something my wife would probably make me eat it!

Chrys

[Marcel Banziger]

Haha, no worries. Better not have problems with the misses

[CM Alexander]

OK...here are a few of the documents in this grouping. Again, this is not my area and all of this may just be normal...it just didn't seem normal to me.

[stewy]

I've seen pics of KM's wearing the ISA before & a doc too if I remember rightly. Although not run of the mill, in the later stages of the war anything was possible. Stewy

[Bjorn S]

Indeed not very common, but you sometimes find documents or Soldbücher for Kriegsmarine personnel who received the ISA.

Mostly for personnel from Marine-Schützen-Bataillone, who where fighting as infantry.

The entries for the ISA that I have seen were all from 1944 and 1945.

[CM Alexander]

Thank you for the information Bjorn...I really do appreciate it. I knew that it was legitimate...but I've done this long enough to know that you always have to look at everything critically.

Chrys

[Bjorn S]

Hi Crys,

Being critical is a good feature, well actually a necessity in our hobby, with all the fakings around.

I now notice the 'Einsatzabteilung Ostland' stamp on the prelim ISA doc.
This is an interesting unit. This unit was part of the 31. Schiffs Stamm Abteilung, which was a Bewährungseinheit (Penal Unit).
It fought, as infantry, at the Brückenkopf of Oranienbaum (Oranienbaum Bridgehead / pocket), Narwafront and Ösel and was disbanded on 05.12.1944. (so only a few days after the prelim doc. was signed).

So I think a very special document to a member of a small unit which fought a the Eastern front.

Could you post more photos of the Soldbuch? I am very curious