Doc-Group 44. ID

[peterm]

Hi guys!

Small doc-group, only consisting in 2 citations:

- EK II
- Wound badge in gold

This (young) man sadly lost one leg early in the war.

Kind regards, Peter

[Brian R]

The Germans suffered a lot of casualties on June 5th, the first day of Fall Rot. The French were surprisingly effective after the defeats and setbacks they suffered over the previous weeks. The majority of wound docs I have seen from the French campaign have this date.

Interesting but sad set.

[Hank C.]

That is a very early gold wound award! Don't think I've seen any earlier than that. And a majority are for multiple woundings, although we do see the occasional single wound.

As Brian says, interesting but sad.

best
Hank

[Tom Yanacek]

Nice document grouping, Peter.

I like the Friedrich Siebert signature on the EK2 document.

Best regards,
Tom

[peterm]

I like the Friedrich Siebert signature on the EK2 document.

Best regards,
Tom

Thanks a lot guys, it was also for me the earliest gold-doc I've seen. I also like it, because it's the "basic" unit of the "Hoch- und Deutschmeister"-Division: 1. Company of IR 134 of 44. ID.

And Tom: Ii seems, that Siebert spent a lot of time signing EK-docs because of the complicated ink-signature...

Kind regards, Peter

[Simon O.]

It's also the earliest gold vwa I can recall.

If he survived, then I'd say he was lucky. For the price of a leg he avoided the horrors of the eastern front and a very high chance of a much worse fate.

[Lionel H.]

Very interesting, congrats. The fact that a severe Wound like this one - an amputation - brought the the VWA Gold was by far not a rule. I own a Group with an amputation (43 on the eastern front) which was only awarded with a BWB attributed by the responsible Wehrkreis after the liberation of service !! So this is also the very first time I see a GWB attributed after one Wound back in 1940. Really intresting "Klein aber fein"
By the Way, another Example for Young collectors that a document grouping don't need to cost several thousand of euros to be interesting ! Thanks for showing ! Lionel.

[peterm]

It's also the earliest gold vwa I can recall.

If he survived, then I'd say he was lucky. For the price of a leg he avoided the horrors of the eastern front and a very high chance of a much worse fate.

Hi Simon!
Yes, he survived the war, but I don't think that he was very happy to loose the WHOLE leg (up to the body) at the age 20...

Kind regards, Peter

[peterm]

Very interesting, congrats. The fact that a severe Wound like this one - an amputation - brought the the VWA Gold was by far not a rule. I own a Group with an amputation (43 on the eastern front) which was only awarded with a BWB attributed by the responsible Wehrkreis after the liberation of service !! So this is also the very first time I see a GWB attributed after one Lionel.

Hi Lionel!
This is just per regulation: amputation downside elbow or knee: silver, amputation above elbow or knee: gold.
I'm also sure, this was not always the case in reality, as You wrote, but for the soldiers I personnally knew it for sure was.

Kind regards, Peter

[Simon O.]

Hi Simon!
Yes, he survived the war, but I don't think that he was very happy to loose the WHOLE leg (up to the body) at the age 20...

Kind regards, Peter

I'm sure he wasn't happy, but given the division's later history, especially Stalingrad, i think his chances of surviving, given he was an infantryman, would have been low indeed.