Who could this Oberst be?

[GJR100]

Some days ago I picked up this tunic. It seems to be an untouched tunic, just some loose stitching at the eagle and the moths have had their party on the collar.

I hoped to be able to find the former owner of this tunic and may be you could help me out.

It's a tunic for an Oberst serving in the Gebirgsj******228;ger-Regiment 139.

No DKiG nor a Narvik shield. This means he did not take part in this event, probably was transfered after that date to the 139th.

The 5 loops above the left pocket could indicate a WW1 carreer, so the 4 loops on the left pocket might be a WW1 EK 1 and the Spange 1939 to the EK 1.

In the arm cuff a small note was folded with the writing of the address of a Therese Stangl.

The best part turned out to be the two small horn buttons under the collar. The seller did not mention these, so I was not prepared to find these.
My best guess is, this is a Ritterkreuz Tr******228;ger.
Now none of the KC winners in the list of Gebirgsj******228;ger fit this description.

Hopefully anyone can help me find out who this might have been.

[GJR100]

The shoulder strap ...

[GJR100]

The left breast pocket with the loops ...

[GJR100]

Some nice details under the pocket flap ...

[GJR100]

And the buttons under the collar ...

MfG,
Bart

[Simon O.]

From the unanswered pm i sent you the other day.

We can know for sure that he could not have been awarded the RK whilst with GJR 139. All 7 of the regiment's RKT won them at Narvik. An oberst means it has to be one of the regimental\brigade commanders, my list isn't quite complete but it can't be any of the men below.
Oberst Windisch from '38 to late '41
Oberst Philipp from late '41 to Jan.42
Oberst Kräutler March '42 to March '44
Oberstleutnant Beierlein may\june 44 to jul.44
Oberst Schlebrügge from Jul.44 to Feb.45
Major Rohr for a short period up to late April '45
Major Klebe to war's end.

If he had some kind of neck order then there's an alternative to the RK. The Finnish cross of liberty 1st class. Philipp for example had this award but it can't be him based on the medal loops. I thought Kräutler might be a candidate but from what i can tell he had the 2nd class not the 1st.

It could be an officer who was with 139 and was later posted away and promoted or what about Geb.Ersatz Rgt.139, later called Res.GJR 139??

[GJR100]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the reply. Thought you'd be interested in seing the pictures ...

Were there many German Officers awarded with the Finish Cross?

Would the Ersatz units also have the Regimental numbers on the straps? No way to distinguish between those ?

MfG
Bart

[Simon O.]

A lot of Germans were awarded one grade or another of the Finnish cross of liberty but only a few more senior officers (oberst upwards i think) received the 1st class kneck order.

I honestly don't know if they wore the unit numbers in ersatz or reserve regiments. Res.GJR 139 is a little special though as it did become a combat unit itself prior to becoming GJR 904

Here's an example of the Finnish cross of liberty 1st class with swords being worn by Christian Philipp whilst commander of the 6 GD