Erkennungsmärken (Wehrmacht personnel identity disks)

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Wim Boffin
Regiment General Göring
Wed Dec 26 15:58:56 2001


On 12 May 1940 , 3 German soldiers were killed in action at St-Trond / Belgium. The unit of these soldiers was ( Ref : Wast Berlin ) :
* 5.Batterie , 1 Regiment General Göring ( 2 soldiers )
* 5. / Flak-regiment General Göring ( 1 soldier )

Who can give me more info about this regiment ?
What does these designations mean ?

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Jim Steuard
Regiment Hermann Göring
Wed Dec 26 20:50:38 2001


I am assuming that these death references came from one half of the Erkennungsmärken (identity disks) that were taken from the bodies and then forwarded to higher headquarters for recording. These identity disks only show the initial unit that a soldier (or airman) joined on entering the military. In the cases you mentioned, these soldiers joined the 5 Batterie of Regiment Geeral Göring. Unlike other armies of the world, German soldiers did not have "serial numbers" b ut instead were always identified by a "muster number" in combination with a listing of the initial unit that they joined. This information was stamped on their identity disks as well as printed in their identification booklets (Soldbücher)
.
Regiment General Göring was formed in 1937-38, mainly as a Flak unit in the beginning. In 1940, it consisted of three battalions, each with three anti-aircraft gun batteries, plus administrative and support units. As you mentioned, it participated in the 1940 Western campaign, supporting attacks through Belgium. After the Western Campaign, the regiment's composition began to change to include other combat elements. And, by 1943, the regiment had expanded into a Fallschirdivision (or Airborne Division)

Best regards,
Jim

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

D.Harrison
please help!
Mon Jul 22 03:26:36 2002
206.172.186.122

I have a luftwaffe "I.D" disc which i don't have a clue to read.If anyone can help me i would be very much in your dept.Here is the info.

o 98
12. /III. /FI. R. 33


Thanks again for your help.

Regards
D.Harrison

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Jörg Wurdack
Re: please help!
Mon Jul 22 19:00:56 2002
62.104.219.85

12. Kompanie
III. Bataillon
Flieger-Regiment 33.

This was a training-unit.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

D.Harrison
a training unit for what???
Mon Jul 22 22:33:48 2002
216.209.114.40

Was this a antiaircraft unit or a flight unit?The reason i ask is because i have a set of id tags and a soldbuch from a man who just recently passed away and i am trying to find out more of his past.

Thanks in Advance
D. Harrison

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Jörg Wurdack
Flieger-Regiment 33
Tue Jul 23 16:27:21 2002
172.178.11.89

Fliegerregiment 33 was a basic-training-unit for flight crews and ground crew soldiers, but not for anti-aircraft or signal personell.
The regiment was formed in April 1939 in Ingolstadt / Bavaria from the former Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 33.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Radiomonitor
ID-Erkennungsmarke
Tue Jul 23 08:00:09 2002
80.33.178.189

02.07.23-0647z--The ID(=Erkennungsmarke) was given to the new soldiers/Rekruten, as soon as the commenced service in a ground-training unit. All soldiers commenced in the ground-training units, whether drafted soldiers, voluntary soldiers, contract soldiers on 4 to 12 years contracts.

So all men, non-commissioned officers, officers of any rank had their ID(=Erkennungsmarke) which they had received when entering the Luftwaffe. Therefore the ID(=Erkennungsmarke) for a highgrade pilot officer could mention a simple training-regiment. The reason for the ID(=Erkennungsmarke) was to be able to identify a dead soldier who would not be identifyable at sight. The ID(=Erkennungsmarke) was registered with a centralized register in the RLM(=Reichluftfahrtsministerium) in Berlin. Whenever a soldier died in action or in hospital, the ID(=Erkennungsmarke) was broken in two halves. One half stayed with the dead soldier when buried, and the other half was sent to the Luftwaffe register--KAL+

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Andreas Brekken
when would You receive a new Erkennungsmarke ?
Tue Jul 23 08:31:41 2002
129.240.8.184

Hi, again, mr. Radiomonitor.

Do You know the practice for when a soldier/pilot/crew member rceived a new Erkennungsmarke?

As You mention (and as I have seen in several reports from the WASt) You will often find the name of an Fl.Ausb.Rgt or whatever training unit or a ground unit the person was first with on the Erkennungsmarke of a pilot or crew member. But You will also find lots where the front/first line unit is identified on the Erkennungsmarke (in my case I often see the Gruppe/Geschwader combination).

How did the unit issue these, and when?

Grateful for any clarification.

Regards,

Andreas

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Radiomonitor
Erkennungsmarke
Tue Jul 23 09:21:30 2002
80.33.178.189

02.07.23-0806z--In the German armed forces anything could happen. In spite of rules and regulations - and there were many - the armed forces consisted in one long endless number of improvisations, in which local commanders made quite independent decisions. -- Luftwaffe was a very large organisation. There were many different procedures even for similar activities. -- The change of Erkennungsmarke can have had importance by frontline-fighting units quite from the beginning of the war, or have been introduced later between 1939 and 1945 -- I had my Erkennungsmarke issued in Klagenfurt in 1942, and I kept the same Erkennungsmarke up to 5th May 1945 - even I had shifted from a Waffen-SS training unit in Klagenfurt to a Waffen-SS artillery unit on the Russian front, to a Waffen-SS radio-training unit in Prag, to a Luftwaffe pilot-school in Straubing, a Recon-Group (NAG3) in East Preussia, a Skorzeny-unit in Grafenwöhr (Panzerbridage 150 - Ardennen-Offensive) and finally to a Gypsy-crew making irregular transportation flights till end of the war.--KAL+