Translation Help

[Perry Floyd]

This is a unit marking inside a gasmask can. Can someone be so kind as to translate?
Thanks in advance..

[Kai-Steffen M.]

maybe its just me, but this name tag looks very suspicious to me, from genneral apperance and the fact that marschkompanie is written wrong (without the c) which is a common mistake made by english-speaking people.... are you convinced of its originality?
as i said its a nametag of Obergefreiter Paul Wolf of II A ?Marschkompanie, Panzer Ersatz Battaillon 14 which im not familiar with.

Gruß,
KSM

[Perry Floyd]

Well it's in a well used gasmask can so to fake it would be a surprise to me but not impossible I guess...looks period going from the aged appearance and gut feeling...

[John Hodgin]

Hello Kai,

Here in the US, those without higher educations do not spell every word correctly or speak with perfect grammer. Would this not be possible in Germany also, or is Marsch a word everyone would and should know correctly?

Regards,
John

[Akira Takiguchi]

But no such thing as Pz.Ers.Btl.14 after 1939 (even if it existed it should say Pz.Ers.<b>Abt.</b>14)... Maybe pre-39 thing? (I don't have pre-39 Tessin, can anybody check it to see if it is a valid number?).

[Perry Floyd]

Hmmm, this is interesting. I'll post photo's of the whole piece and how the marking looks in relation to everything..

[Akira Takiguchi]

P.S. not only people cannot write correctly, but also cannot read correctly... wherever, whenever. 7-8 years ago we always lamented to see incorrectly written internet softwares from US, saying "<i>Americans can't read RFC (request for comments, internet standards, of course written in English language)</i>"... And similarly, I have to cope with the complaints from our customers due to imperfect Japanese explanations we made...

[Perry Floyd]

Here's the canister..

[Perry Floyd]

2

[Ian Jewison]

Is it Pz. or Pi.Ers.Btl. 14?

[Gary T]

I read it as Pi. Howver why would someone mark their gas mask with their marsch unit? Their training unit, yes, their dog tag number, yes, their stammrollen number, yes. But a unit he was travelling with on the way to the front?
I suppose he could have been a permanent member of the replacement unit travelling with the recruits but even such personnel only remained there until they had recovered from their wound or were discharged.

[Perry Floyd]

I see, and on the flip side why would someone fake it?

[Ian Jewison]

Why bother faking it as I don't think it would add anything to the price, however having a "named" gasmask might make it more sellable if the item has been hanging around for a while!

Bit of an oddity thought this one!

[Kai-Steffen M.]

or is Marsch a word everyone would and should know correctly

the problem is not about the absolute correct writing or grammar- on this particular case i think the problem is that in german the letter combination "sh" does not exist- it is only and always "sch" so i dont think that someone would misspell this one- also "Marsch" is a very very common word... especially in the germany of the 30s

Gruß,
KSM

[Gary T]

Well, it wouldn't add too much to the price that's true but may shift it...after all collectors like things they think they can put a name to...like helmets with names in. The collector faced with two gasmasks - one with a 'name' and the other without is going to choose the former. He might even pay a fiver more for it.

And of course it would cost the faker absolutely nothing. Personally the gasmask canisters I have seen with numbers on (and they always seem to be the stammrollen number) have always had them painted on.

I've seen some bizarre reasons for faking...like the EK1 winner Detlev had a while back...someone had put a fake KVK2 entry (amongst others) in it? Why for God's sake?