Help to decode this tag.

[R M Militaria]

Hello all,

I have this ID disc but I am having trouble deciphering the abbreviation. It is not something I have come across before so I thought I would ask the collectors, who may have a better idea.

It reads 5.S.K.P J.R.60

I believe the J.R.60 is Infantry Regiment 60, but what does 5th S.K.P mean?

Thanks in advance.

[Stacez]

Hello,

5 S. KP. = 5. Schützen-Kompanie - 5th Rifle Company

[R M Militaria]

Good work, thanks a lot.

[Matt L]

That's an interesting disc for several reasons- firstly the 'S.KP.' isn't at all a common marking- usually only the specialized Kompanien, e.g. 'MG', are denoted with the remainder being understood to be regular rifle Kompanien; second this soldier was serving when the war started- you can tell by the low Stammrolllennummer (there were more than 110 men in a Kompanie, so obviously he was in the 'initial' 5. Kompanie); next the Regiment was only known as Jnfanterie-Regiment 60 for a relatively short time- on 6.8.40 it was redesignated Jnfanterie-Regiment 60 (motorisiert), again demonstrating it's an early one; next the blood group letters mean the soldier was still serving in mid-1941 or later, which is when the practice is thought to have begun; by then they were in southern Russia, so this guy potentially saw action both in France and then again in Russia. And AB is a rare group- only a bit more than 4% of western Europeans have that one.

[R M Militaria]

Matt L, that is great information and it is much appreciated. You are indeed correct about him serving in southern Russia as this disc was dug outside Staligrad, not a throw away story, but actual thruth.

I believe the regiment joined the 16th Panzer division in 1940 and formed part of Army Group South in 1941. It was later destroyed in the Stalingrad pocket in 1943, substantiating the discs origin and the amazing history behind it.

Matt L, are you a collector of German ID discs? If so, please PM me, as I have numerous discs for sale on my online store and in my own collection and I could really do with someone with your expertise.

[Matt L]

No problem and yeah, it's nice to see a clear link like this- from the unit histories alone it's tougher (unless you read German well) since the 16. Infanterie-Division, which was the original Division that Infanterie-Regiment 60 belonged to, was re-created just a few months after it became the 16. Panzer-Division in 1940; so unless one recognizes this, it appears IR60 wasn't at Stalingrad at all but was in the reserve of the 4. Panzerarmee in late 1942 to early 1943. It caught me initially as I scanned just the operations table for 1942/43 at first so didn't see the 'Neuaftsellung' note in 1940