Polizisten with no sleeve eagles.

[PBR]

Hello,

I did notice long time ago that on a serie of pictures that I own, related to a famous SS-Pol.Rgt. in action, the Polizisten are not wearing the eagles on theirs tunic's sleeve: just shoulders, Lizten and Polizei helmets.

Do you know the reason why?

Best Regards

[JoeW]

There are some action photos printed in postcard format in circulation that show a police unit in Yugoslavia somewhere. The unit has been identified as the 18th Police Mtn Rgt, but there is some question. It is probably a batallion of Pol Rgt Bozen. These troopers are not wearing the police Hoheitszeichen on their sleeves. I can only surmise that they are volunteer units and not granted the Hoheitszeichen.

[PBR]

Dear Joe,

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I'm talking about that serie.
Actually the unit is not the 18 but the I\SS-Pol.-Rgt."Bozen" during the anti-partisan warfare in Istria (around Abbazia), 1944.

The matter is quite complicated: infact just some of those Bozen guys aren't wearing the patch on the sleeve, while others members of the same unit wear it.

So, standing to the regulation, a Volunteer wasn't granted the Hoheitsabz.?
Do you know the reason why?

Best Regards

[JoeW]

I believe it was Munoz conclusion in his book that the unit was I/PolRgt Bozen, though there is no indentification on those postcards I have from the set. Only the dates on the reverse. I thought that it might have been Freiw. Pol. Btl. Pola, as the unit was operating in the Pola Pennisula and some of the cities shown are there.

[PBR]

I believe it was Munoz conclusion in his book that the unit was I/PolRgt Bozen, though there is no indentification on those postcards I have from the set. Only the dates on the reverse. I thought that it might have been Freiw. Pol. Btl. Pola, as the unit was operating in the Pola Pennisula and some of the cities shown are there.

Hello Joe,

Standing to my research, on few of the pictures of that very same serie are depicted some WSS GJ members (the only WSS GJ unit around the area was the Karstjager division) and a Kriegsmarine combat-unit along with the "unidentified" SS-Pol.-Rgte during an anti-partisan operation: the only anti-partisan Operation with all this units cooperating togheter at once was the Unternehmen Braunschweig, that toke place around Abbazia in the spring of 1944.
The only SS-Polizei Regiment unit present at that operation was of course the I.\SS-Pol.-Rgt."Bozen": infact on the others picture of that very same serie you can see several vehicles belonged to that very same unit, along with around 20 pictures of that serie that I own showing the training and the barracks in the city of Bozen.

As far as I know the Pol.Freiw.Rgt. Pola used war-booty italian uniforms\helmets and not SchuPo ones.

By the way I would love to see the ones you have in your collection, if possible.


Just my two cents.

[JoeW]

Well there must be two sets of photo cards. Mine are dated in August 1944 and show troopers in German police uniforms and helmets but no sleeve eagle, and with Italian weapons and equipment. The license plates of the vehicles are mixed, so Reichsstadthalter Wien, some Dusseldorf, some Berlin and some in the unknown 220 000 range. Perhaps mine is the Freiw. Pol Btl Pola. The city with the coliseum is shown. Yet they are mixed with photos that Regenberg identified as Pol Rgt 18 and Munoz says is Bozen. I also have some of the series of the Pol Rgt Bosen as it is being sworn in. These are shown in Munoz book, but again there are no titles on the cards. I suppose it is the Pol Rgt Bozen because of the senior SS officers there.

[PBR]

Hello Joe,

Standing to Koblenz archives, which held around 1000 picture of this group, there was only one set of pictures, probably taken by the Kriesgberichter Utw. Trainotti of the Stab. I\SS-Pol.-Rgt "Bozen" with a Leika: almost in all those 1000 pictures, some of them duplicates of the ones I have in collection and I think of the ones in your collection, the unit depicted is the Bozen, in few cases along with other units.
The identification with PGJR 18 is then not correct since the 18 wasn't even in the area in august 1944: Regenberg is of course wrong if he has identified the light tankettes as 18, they were Bozen for sure, 18 at the time was far south from Istria (Check the book "Panzers in OZAK" for more details).
Mixed licensed plates and italian weapons would be correct for the Bozen and for most of the Sudtiroler Pol.Rgte like Schlanders and Alpenvorland, since they were second line units: many german polizei regiments used italian war booty weapons and equip but very few times italian uniforms or helmets.
The city with the coliseum is shown on the pictures, along with Abbazia and Veprinac, where around 200 pictures (the ones with the Polizisten marching long a secondary road wearing the camo zeltbahn)of that serie were taken during the Unternehmen Braunschweig in spring 1944.
We need to remember that Abbazia was the I\SS-Pol.-Rgt "Bozen" HQ, so no doubt that the Polizei unit shown is the Bozen on almost all the pictures.
Seems like most of the pictures were taken during the spring-summer 1944, since light tropical-like uniforms are often shown.

Usually on the back you can fin roman numbers like IV and years like 44: the first one is not related to the month but to the serie of the picture.

Since I'm very interested in the subject, there would be any chance to see the scan of your images, in particular the ones in combat, with vehicles and with the "Pola"?

I would really appreciate it.
Best Regards

[JoeW]

T.K. I send you message.

[Zeller]

Hi to all,

being actively researching any information and documentation on bandenkampf in north east of Italy and Slovenia, i would be also very interested in seeing these scans.