Fallschirm-Artillerie Kretaspringer group

[Prosper Keating]

I posted this group in the Fallschirmjäger Forum but I know that some of you don't go there often and it does fall into your area of interest too. Some of you will immediately know what's particularly special about this group but let's see if the others can work it out. Clue: look at the photo of Forkel.

The Jump Badge document is not to scale. It's the earlier A4 size but I reduced it to fit the forum width.

Prosper Keating

[François SAEZ]

Merci Prosper

[Prosper Keating]

Thanks François! I guess nobody else was interested. Strange...I thought this forum was about award documents.



PK

[Angel Farré]

I followed this topic in the FJ forum and I found it very interesting, but I must admit my ignorance regarding FJ pieces. Two things jump into my mind when I see this group, one is the Kreta award, it's truly rare to find a hand filled one and more in this way, looks like a provisional one made waiting to have time for a more formal one, I have seen several hand filled citations and usually are more elaborated, but alos I have a IAB one that is filled in the same way that this. The other is the late award date for the Ostmedaille, I think for lack of time or confusion with regulations that takes with them some delays in the paperwork.

The last thing is not a feeling, but a fact. Usually we take dates of introduction of an order as the starting point of its implement, but Erdkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe was introduced by an order dated March 31st, 1.942 and this medal substitute the General, Infantry and Panzer badges awarded to LW members and here we have an award of the General Assault badge in Jume 28th, 1.942 almost two months after this type of award was forbidden. I wonder if this man received the Erdkampfabzeichen in substitution of it or as a new award, I think we never know it.

Angel

[Prosper Keating]

¡Angel! ¡Bravo! Good point about the dates. The award of the Sturmabzeichen to paratroopers was very rare. Your English is now very, very good, by the way! You are almost to the point in written English where it would not be possible to know if you are not a native English speaker.

PK

[Angel Farré]

Thanks Prosper, a lot of years reading in English and speaking with almost all ex USSR nacionalities ended in this (as part of my business I rented cargo aircrafts in the former USSR and english is the aeronautical language and I'm the only only in the company who knows some English so you guest who contacted the companies and close relationships with the aircrews?)

Do you have something more from this soldier?

Thanks again and sorry for my ortographic mistakes, usually I think faster than write and this ended in a lot of mistakes.

Angel

[Akira Takiguchi]

Hello,

<i>Erdkampfabzeichen</i> document is interesting to me for a couple of features.
<ol>
<li>Erwin and Forkel seem to be misplaced. With a comma in name one would expect <i>Oberj&auml;ger Forkel, Erwin</i>.
<li>Use of <i>Abteilung number</i> (roman I) in the unit designation, where one would normally expect a company number. The clerk uses lowercase L for all "1"s throughout, so this is not likely a mistake.
<li>Use of lowercase O for zero. Interestingly this feature is shared also on <i>Fallschirmsch&uuml;tzen</i> document.
</ol>
Considering the high standard of our FJ forum, I believe somebody can offer us a document which was issued on the same date, which would be similarly featured? (but about the order of his name I think it is just a mistake on the clerk's side...)

[Prosper Keating]

Good observations, Akira. Some typewriters use the same lowercase 'L' figure for 1 and the small form of 'L'. Some typists have a habit of using lowercase 'L' for 1 too.

The order of the family and first names on the Erdkampfabzeichen document is clearly an error. But on the Fallschirmschützenabzeichen document, although it is hard to see, the '0' of 1940 is actually the same size as the 1 in "1 November".

Some very interesting responses, gentlemen. Thanks! I was just thinking of the fact that it is so rare to see Sturmabzeichen and Ostmedaille documents to Fallschirmjäger. It never occurred to me that the award of the Sturmabzeichen was forbidden before Forkel received it.

Prosper