Raider Kormoran

[compressore]

Dears,

some time ago I was able to aquire a nice collani for a KM mate.
As it is named and came togehter with the "Verpflichtungserklaerung", I could do some research.

Mate Edgar Emmerich, born 1916, joined the KM in 1937
The collani is a very fine private taillored piece made of doeskin with his initials "EE" embroided inside the jacket. A nice hand stitched eagle is applied, all buttons original to the tunic.
As the collani has loops on the right breast side, I assume he received the Spanish Cross at early stage of his duties.
The collani has one additional loop on the left side, so at least one other badge awarded to him.

Emmerich served as "Verwaltungsmaat" on the raider Kormoran, he was responsible for the canteen.

I was lucky to get a copy of his POW files from the Australian National Archives.
Picked up "at sea", transferred to a POW camp. From there he escaped one time !!
I have asked myself: Where the heck he wanted to go...Australia is an island.... I addition the POW documents states: Unable to speak english...

He was repatriated in 1947.

I am happy to have this collani in my collection and I hope you like it too.

Regards
Christian

[compressore]

Name tag..

The name tag and his entry into the KM

[compressore]

Pow

Some extract of the POW files, courtesy of Australian National Archives

[amiklic1]

Great item, and you had a lot of luck to find data about him.

[Martin W]

That is a really nice item and i like the history behind it.

Most of the surviving crewmembers of the HK Kormoran were interned at Murchison POW camp.

I just found Emmerich's name on the Kormoran crewlist.

For interest here is a document to another crewman from the Kormoran who was interned at Murchison,it informs him that he has been awarded the Kriegsabzeichen fur Hilfskreuzer.

Regards,Martin.

[Gran Sasso]

Great items shown, since been for my 1st time to Geraldton and the war memorial at Canberra, I was fascinated by the history of the "Kormoran" and "HMS Sydney"

[Bob Lyons]

GS that would be "HMAS Sydney"

The monument that the crew of the Kormoran built at the old POW Camp 13, Murchison, still exists, it now sits rather forlornly in a cow paddock which was once the camp. The old camp layout can still be seen, several badges, buttons and so on have been found there too. The UK based magazine 'After The Battle' did an excellent article on the camp about 2 years or so back.
For those interested in the crew and their lives after capture, there is also a very good book by the Australian author Barbara Winter, called 'Stalag Australia', and in it she relates some of the escapes from the camp, which I think was done out of pure boredom. One interesting aspect of the history of the camp, the local shopping empire 'Myer' which was owned by a Jewish family, had the contract to supply German uniforms to the camp via the Red Cross, as they could wear their uniforms with all badges until after the war ended, and then the swastika was made illegal.

I do have some photos of the Kormoran memorial but can't post them up as I am no longer paid up.

Best wishes

Bob

[Leroy]

Posting these for Bob. "Here are 3 shots of the old
Kormoran memorial, one wartime, one I took about 25 years back,
and the last one showing the new addition of an iron cross added to the top
of the cairn, this photo from the 'After The Battle' magazine...."

[Leroy]

The third photo from Bob.

[Leroy]

Bob has sent about 40 in all, many from the After the Battle article, but some of his own. I don't want to excite anyone over copyright violation, so I'll just post a couple more from the article . Bob says the monument with eagle was probably just knocked down after the war and is likely still buried under the dirt of the old compund.

[Leroy]

Some relics recently discovered.

[Leroy]

Some views of the area.

[Bob Lyons]

Thanks Leroy !

Cheers

Bob

[-Ray-]

An enjoyed thread and excellent substance. I always have in mind to procure a colani with NCO tresse like your nice example, not an easy find.

-Ray-

[Leroy]

Dug badges and a photo of a model of a Condor made by a prisoner. Bob says the model is in Melbourne today with a private collector.