Hello, all!
I normally don't post here, since I don't generally collect ephemera and I'm also researching for a book on a topic that ties into this thread (Panzeraufklärer--read on!), but a recent "death card" on German Ebay caught my eye. Besides, with Christmas around the corner, I may be getting a bit sentimental...
It is for for Father Alois Dobler. Ordained in August 1937, he joined the German Army in September 1939. He became a motorcycle infantryman (Kradschütze) and fought in France and the Soviet Union, where he was killed on 25 September 1941. He was a recipient of the Iron Cross, Second Class, and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver (although it should have been bronze, but these obituraries are never 100% accurate, so who knows what it actually was?).
Although I saw chaplains on active duty in the US Army who wore combat awards, it was always to those who became chaplains AFTER they had done tours as regular enlisted men or officers. Here, it is the reverse. Very interesting in my mind...
Regards to all and have a wonderful Christmas!
Bob Edwards
I normally don't post here, since I don't generally collect ephemera and I'm also researching for a book on a topic that ties into this thread (Panzeraufklärer--read on!), but a recent "death card" on German Ebay caught my eye. Besides, with Christmas around the corner, I may be getting a bit sentimental...
It is for for Father Alois Dobler. Ordained in August 1937, he joined the German Army in September 1939. He became a motorcycle infantryman (Kradschütze) and fought in France and the Soviet Union, where he was killed on 25 September 1941. He was a recipient of the Iron Cross, Second Class, and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver (although it should have been bronze, but these obituraries are never 100% accurate, so who knows what it actually was?).
Although I saw chaplains on active duty in the US Army who wore combat awards, it was always to those who became chaplains AFTER they had done tours as regular enlisted men or officers. Here, it is the reverse. Very interesting in my mind...
Regards to all and have a wonderful Christmas!
Bob Edwards
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