Gents, There is a German ID disc for sale which says: A312, stab. gen. kdo. 18. AK. Am I right in understanding that this is the staff unit of the 18th Army Corps? Did a Stab Gen Kdo unit only exist out of officers? Can somebody enlighten me what this unit was/how itoperated/it's size, etc. And does anybody have an idea whether or not it is still possible, nowadays, to find out to whom this ID disc was given out. Do these records still exists and if they do, where. BA/MA?? Thanks, Stevin [ 18 June 2002, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Stevin Oudshoorn ]
Hello Stevin, since the email, ive done a bit of checking on that ID. It is an 18th Army general Stab ID Disk. Unfortunately--I dont know enough about the makeups of General Stabs to tell you if this is an Officers, an NCOs, or an Enlisted mans ID. General Stabs had men of all ranks in them from Private to of course the C.G. I remember reading Knappes book when he was assigned to various Stabs, and a Regimental/Brigade Stab could have at least 2 majors--3-4 hauptmanns, several Leut and Oberluets, and a few dozen NCOs and other ranks. All I could find on Stab sizes for an Army Korps was around 250 men of all ranks.
Thanks for both messages, Carl. They are very much appreciated! It is a complete ID disc, In good state, I rec'd a pic of it. When I win this bid, I'll look into the history of this unit. Would be interesting to find out who owned it, so if anybody can tell me if these 'lists' might still be found somewhere, I'll keep myself recommended.
No problem, and I hope you get both of the disks you are wanting. Also, ill write again after I get back from San Antonio and thanks for the wishes--I forgot to mention that in my reply.
Well, im back. There was not much to choose from though I did find a few thinhs in all of San Antonio. I bought a mere War Merit Cross in Bronze(but only because it had the "Austrian tri-fold" to its ribbon. I also picked up a Coors beercan which has a picture(rather drawing) of John Wayne as a Cavalry Officer in one of the classic John Ford Cavalry trilogy movies: "Rio Grande" The other two in that trilogy if interested are: "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, and my favorite of the three: "Fort Apache". I also got four more Harpers Weekly woodcut prints from 1870, 1871, and 1883--which are all Imperial German scenes. Oh and I bought two 12 and 14 place American ribbon bars from an Officer who also recieved the Order of the British Empire award. I did see an overpriced Westwall and Frozen Meat medals. A VERY overpriced and rusted 1914 Ek2, an overpriced 1939 EK2, adn an overpriced black wound badge. Did see a Bronze Panzer Assault badge, in decent price and condition, but let a person who I went with--buy it.
Hi Stevin Working through the 'Wehrpass' website, the translation of your disc is ; ( 'STAB ' isn't listed (!) ) Gen. Kdo = Armeekorps HQ 18. AK = 18 Army Corps. There must be records in Germany to help, for instance, with the graves identification work which has been going on in Russia but I don't know if these are available to the public ?
Thanks, Martin...They must have lists somewhere that says who A312 was....Maybe Freiburg?? Have a good time away from the forums! See if you can go cold turkey... [ 11 July 2002, 03:05 AM: Message edited by: Stevin Oudshoorn ]
I'm fairly certain that the large, single letter near the number on these ID discs ( eg 'A' ) is the individual's Blood Group.
