Can anyone help identify this uniform - thought to be German naval commando WW2?

[heinz karl]

Is anyone able to identify this uniform? Thought to be German naval commando WW2. Personnel known to be in Latvia mid-1941 to Aug 1944.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

He is a regular Kriegsmarine Officer.

Cheers, Ade.

[heinz karl]

thanks for the info. he is wearing a dagger/sword, any idea of rank?

[HPL2008]

Actually, he is not a Commissioned Officer [Offizier], but a Senior Petty Officer [Unteroffizier mit Portepee].

Rank insignia on the blue uniform were sleeve stripes for officers and (as seen here) shoulder boards for Senior Petty Officers, who also wore the dagger.

We cannot tell his precise rank, though, because this would require a clear view of his shoulder boards.

[heinz karl]

can anyone identify this officer? his name is heinz but i don,t have his surname, the building behind him is thought to be part of the kiel naval base 1941/42. it appears that he may be my father.

[heinz karl]

Does anyone recognise these WW2 Kreigsmarine military ribbons? Any help greatly appreciated.

[HPL2008]

They are, from left to right:

• Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse [Iron Cross 2nd Class] (1914 issue), Prussia
• unidentified, but definitely another Imperial-era decoration from one of the German States or Austria
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer [Honor Cross for Front Fighters], Third Reich (but for WWI service as a combatant)
• Kriegserinnerungsmedaille mit Schwertern [War Commemorative Medal with Swords], Austria (for WWI service as a combatant)
• not identified with certainty, but very likely the Magyar Háborús Emlékérem [Hungarian War Commemorative Medal], Hungary (for WWI servcie as a combatant)
• unidentified, but could be the Медаль за участие в Европейской войне [War Commemorative Medal], Bulgaria (for WWI service as a combatant)

These decorations tell us that the man was a World War I veteran whose service in the Great War was in some kind of combatant role. No German WW2-era decorations are worn.

The absence of any long service awards combined with the timeframe when the photograph was taken and the man's age imply that he was a reservist.

This a junior petty officer ranked Obermaat, serving with the Kriegsmarine's Marineartillerie [Naval Artillery] branch. He is wearing the feldgraue Marineuniform [field grey navy uniform].