My First ID Disc!

[ddumont771]

I picked this up about a month or so ago and have been researching it and the unit it represented (of course not always the easiest thing to do when your not exactly sure what it says). I think it is ww2. I've done some looking on here and I think I understand that the 768 is the number assigned to the person, Ers. means replacement, and Batl. means battallion. The "A" is the bloodtype. What I'm not so sure of is the Schtz. I'm guessing Schtuzen? My other problem is putting it all together so I can research what ever info I might be able to find out about the unit the soldier was assigned to. The guy I got it from thought maybe sometype of panzer or motorized rifleman type soldier or something along those lines. Any ideas? He also said one things he looks for when determing real or repro is for is wear on the insides of the top two holes where the rope would have been fed through. Is that something to consider when looking at these? Any information is appreciated. Thanks.

[Matt L]

Welcome to the forum and that's a very nice first acquisition- it's 2. Kompanie Schützen-Ersatz-Bataillon 6 (so armoured infantry- the infantry of armoured divisions), you're right that 786 was this soldier's roll number and A was his blood group. You can find SEB6 on the Lexikon der Wehrmacht site, in the 'Schnelle Truppen' section. It'll just give you that replacement unit's basic information and potentially what field units it supplied- that'll be as close as you'll get though to knowing where he may have fought.

The wear on the neck cord holes isn't a terribly useful 'authentication' detail really since it can and is faked easily enough. It being present doesn't mean anything significant save that the disc was worn for a long time since it's not a fast process. It being absent may simply mean the disc wasn't worn for a long time, or was otherwise prevented from rubbing on its cord excessively (kept in a Brustbeutel or something, for example). But not really anything more. Myself, I see it as a nice ancillary detail- if everything else looks good and it's there and also looks good, that's, well, good LOL It's a neat little feature unique to this kind of disc - but that's all.