Unusual Tropical Shoulder Straps

[Diane]

These came to me in a recent vet lot. They are Standard Army Tropical GJ / Jager Straps with a machine embroidered Latin "W".




Can anyone tell me what these are supossed to be?



Diane




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[Diane]

Tropical DAK Straps with Cipher?!

IS the image visible to everyone. I got a PM that said it wasn't?

I' d really like to find out what these are.

The Grandson the lot came from said his Grandfather used contract POW labor during WW2 and got this from a German POW captured in Africa in 1943.

According to Schlicht the Latin "W: was used by the Wachtbattalion in Wien (Vienna).

Is this possible?



Diane


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[Lenny W]

i can see the pic although they are horrible i think the W if some sort of gaurd battalion but not possitive

[NZMark]

Diane,
Can we see clearer images of the straps overall, as well as the undersides specifically?
Regards,
Mark

[Diane]

Vienna Guard Battalion Tropical Straps?

I'll try to post better pictures soon.





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[Diane]

Need an ID on these Tropical Straps

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the PM's - but I really would like to ID these straps.

I am in no hurry to sell them.


MfG,

Diane




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[sonderverband]

That's funny that you got assaulted with offers to buy them! Welcome to the shark tank!

[NZMark]

Well,
I'm not one of the pm'ers, but I'd still like to see better images...
Mark

[90th Light]

Very interesting,

"W" on a shoulderboard like that can have a wider meaning than just a guard battalion. The SS used it also for example as did others.

Very hard to say much at all from the one blurry image but the "W" appears to be possibly field applied and in not uniform in size/ even between the two boards.

Will try and rsearch this one, Chris

[MilitaryCollect]

Unusual Tropical Shoulder Straps

Hello,

Neat set. Please refer to page 313 of the Kurtz/Schiffer book. It's described as a chainstitched W for wach (guard regiment or battalion). In this case for rifle regiment or panzergrenadier.

Quite rare I think.

Christopher

[Mark Gibson]

I agree Chris, definitely quite rare and not surprising that Diane has been bombarded with offers. Any original tropical strap with embroidery is rare and this is only the 2nd that I've ever seen. The other being a PzRegt 5 em's panzer set. They would be a nice set to add to any collection.

Looking forward to more pics Diane and thank you also for showing us.

Mark

[MilitaryCollect]

Hello Gents,

Found it: "Wach-Battalion Afrika". Here's a couple sites listing the unit on the DAK's order of battle.

http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=2057

http://www.deutsches-afrikakorps.de/...ead/panzgr.htm

Appears here in the long lists:

Feldgendarmerie-Trupp (mot)
Wach-Bataillon Afrika
Ortskommandant Misurata 615
Ortskommandant Barce 619

Here's Lexikon's info which is pretty neat:

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...chBat766-R.htm

I would also VERY MUCH like to see more photos.

Best Wishes,

Christopher

[Johnny R]

Very nice super rare boards. I thought they would be for a small unit like a Kampfgruppe etc. Congrats Diane, no one else deserves them more

[Admiraal]

But why would they be Gebrigsjeager then? was it a GJ origin unit?

[90th Light]

But why would they be Gebrigsjeager then? was it a GJ origin unit?

Hello Rick,

when it comes to Afrika, one needs a good working knowledge of the various shades of green and who wore what and when combined with an understanding of the supply and logistical challenges that the German troops faced esp regarding shoulder boards.

My pick based on a blurry computer image would be Jager green and quite acceptable for a unit like this to wear that shade in Afrika.

And a big to Christopher (DAKcollector 1) for providing a very interesting link/ info on such units.

Chris