20 Gebirgsarmee, Finnland

[mark99995]

Hello,

my new group.....

Hope you like it.........

Mark

[Hank C.]

Great group! I especially like the very last doc posted, the congratulatory message to the KVK 1st class from his comrades.

best
H

[Simon O.]

This is a very interesting group indeed and includes several things i've never come across before. Obviously this group belongs in my colection but congrats anyway.

Nachrichten abteilung 11 was a signals intelligence unit and judging by the KVK2 he was in the long range company, that an obergefreiter got a KVKI is quite unusual and tells me there's something special about this soldier.
Most surprising of all is the SB replacement note. Backamo is in Sweden! And were interned German soldiers were held, most of them deserters, but it seems not Auer.
I've never seen or heard anything like this before, what were they doing there? And ordered to burn their papers too? it seems also there was at least one officer with the group as well.

worthy of further research for sure!

It is just possible that his Wehrpass is in the Norwegian national archives, he also qualified for the Lapplandschild but obviously that wasn't awarded as he was in Sweden/Germany.

[Simon O.]

I only have one grouping to this abteilung, posting it for comparison.

[pauke]

Seems odd that the KVK depicted on the KVK 1 congratulatory doc is a KVK 2. Perhaps a good reason to scamper into Sweden?

[Archi]

Hello !

I agree with the other members, that this is a very nice and outstanding group !

a) Because of the documents itself (KVK 1 and the very special "comrades document", mentioned by Hank)

b) Because of the very special unit (signal intellligence). There were not so many of this type.

c) Finally, because of his special mission after WW II had already ended ! This makes it really special and mysterious !

From what is shown, it seems, that this soldier (and the whole group of men) went from Norway via Sweden
very quickly into American captivity (at Ziegenhain).
(I would assume, that in general, German soldiers came under British control ?!).
As Simon mentioned, certainly worth further research !

Best regards,

Archi

[Simon O.]

Hello !

I agree with the other members, that this is a very nice and outstanding group !

a) Because of the documents itself (KVK 1 and the very special "comrades document", mentioned by Hank)

b) Because of the very special unit (signal intellligence). There were not so many of this type.

c) Finally, because of his special mission after WW II had already ended ! This makes it really special and mysterious !

From what is shown, it seems, that this soldier (and the whole group of men) went from Norway via Sweden
very quickly into American captivity (at Ziegenhain).
(I would assume, that in general, German soldiers came under British control ?!).
As Simon mentioned, certainly worth further research !

Best regards,

Archi

Norway, as you may know, came under British control, with a small American contingent included. Germans held in Sweden at the Backamo camp were, for some reason, mostly sent to the Soviets with a smaller number sent to the Western allied occupied part of Germany.

[Tom B]

Yes I agree, a very nice group ! Tom

[Simon O.]

Bringing this thread back up after acquiring a small group to the same unit and having done some further research into this interesting story.

It turns out Auer was part of a 22 man group specially selected to be sent back to Germany through Sweden for interrogation and to work with the allies on signals intelligence and cryptographic work.

The clips come from US Target Intelligence Committee (TICOM) document I-55 which is a report on the interrogation of NAA 11's commander Hauptmann Schmidt. Auer is mentioned as an expert sigint operator, which helps explain his awarding of the KVKI

[Hank C.]

Bringing this thread back up after acquiring a small group to the same unit and having done some further research into this interesting story.

It turns out Auer was part of a 22 man group specially selected to be sent back to Germany through Sweden for interrogation and to work with the allies on signals intelligence and cryptographic work.

The clips come from US Target Intelligence Committee (TICOM) document I-55 which is a report on the interrogation of NAA 11's commander Hauptmann Schmidt. Auer is mentioned as an expert sigint operator, which helps explain his awarding of the KVKI

Great find Simon! Really lends interesting details for both groups.

Best
H

[Archi]

Hello Simon !

I fully agree with Hank :
Very nice find of such an interesting group and also excellent research going along with it.
Many thanks for digging out and sharing that interesting info !

How often do you get any information on the reasons why a "simple Obergefreiter" was awarded a KVK I ?!
That is truly an exceptional find with the mentioning of OG Auer.
Of course also the after war background story is very interesting.

I was interested in how such a Nachrichten-Fernaufklärungs-Zug was organized :
I could only find a KStN 865 (T78 R392 H1_11) for a Nachr.-Fernaufkl.Kp., but it contains all elements that
are mentioned in the G-2 report, that you presented at the end. Therefore, I would assume the Nachr.zug "N"
was just a scaled down version of such a NFA- Kompanie.

Thanks again for showing and best regards,

Archi