Nirostahl (Stainless Steel) Erkennungsmarken

[Matt L]

Ralph's mention of dics on chains in another thread got me thinking: everyone's familiar with the aluminum and zinc types of discs, but fewer know about the other major material used- Nirostahl or stainless steel. It was apparently introduced to address the issue of tank and air crews who might be exposed to fire, which would destroy zinc or aluminum discs on fibre cords. It's the same general design as the other Erkennungsmarken, save that it has rather larger holes for the neck cord- which, although I've never seen one, is suggested to be for a chain instead.

Here are a few examples:


14./Kampfgruppe zbV 1 and SS-Panzer-Ersatz-Regiment


Nachrichten-Batterie leichte Artillerie-Ersatz-Abteilung (mot.) 4 and Stab II. Fallschirm-Ergänzungs-Ausbildungs or Ersatz-und Ausbildungs-Regiment 1


SS-Panzerjäger (Sturmgeschütz) Ausbildungs-und Ersatz-Abteilung 3 and Stammkompanie Panzergrenadier-Ersatz-Bataillon 5


3./Kampfgruppe zbV 108


Just for the sake of completeness, I'll mention too that there was one more form of Erkennungmsarke- the regular steel type; not Nirostahl, although they don't corrode like just plain steel either. They're the same as regular Erkennungsmarken- no extra-large holes- but are heavier and obviously magnetic. I have one example myself:


Grenadier-Ersatz-und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 397

These are strangely uncommon, and this one's also interesting in that it's one of the extremely rare examples where an Ampersand is used in the text.

[rbminis]

Excellant examples Matt!
I notice that some are certainly Panzer related.
Ralph.

[Matt L]

Oh yes Ralph- the Panzerwaffe was my major interest with respect to ground forces; I collected a number of discs, optics, some PanzerIV tracks from Kursk, and main gun rounds from various Panzers over the years.

It is interesting though that several regular ground forces units are present- apparently the Nirostahl discs weren't just issued to tank and air units- just like anything else, supplies went where they were needed sometimes.