M31 mess tin - Kriegsmarine?????

[Danmark]

Hi all,
I picked up this old mess tin because I saw the engraving in the sellers bad photos ( and I love engraved stuff ) - it was only US$20 + shipping so it was not a bank breaker ...LOL
However, what I thought was a scratched initials 'KM' may well be Kriegsmarine ....... and here is my theory. The other engraving ( personal via bayonet style ) says UFFZ BRANDT on the lid as well as the base and in the middle base the name 'HOURTIN' flanked by a date 1945.

Now, Hourtin is in France near Bordeaux where the big KM base was and the submarine pens. Am I drawing too long a bow to think that Uffz Brandt may have been tied up with that base?
The other thing is the mess tin has never been painted - it hasn't worn off, it was never done ( and marked FWBN 43 ) did the KM get unpainted M31 tins?????

Any ideas fellas???
Dan

[zwerge]

I don`t think they used that rank designation in the Kriegsmarine?...Kriegsmarine Officer's, NCO & EM rank insignia

[Danmark]

Thankyou Zwerge - you are correct, it is NOT a KM rank! UFFZ is Unteroffizier ( I think ) which is a Luftwaffe rank. Maybe this helps from Wikipedia.....

The Seenotdienst (sea rescue service) was a German military organization formed within the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to save downed airmen from emergency water landings. The Seenotdienst operated from 1935 to 1945 and was the first organized air-sea rescue service using Dornier Do24 seaplanes.

As the Allies advanced following the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the Luftwaffe pulled bases back to keep them from being overrun. Units of the Seenotdienst whose areas of operation were threatened by Allied activity were disbanded or reorganized into other groups with safer locations. For instance, in July 1944, surrounded by the U.S. VIII Corps gathering to attack Brest, Seenotstaffel 1 that had been operating there since June 1940, with a southern detachment at Hourtin, was sent to Pillau in the Baltic Sea, then redesignated Seenotstaffel 60 in August.

Maybe Unteroffizier Brandt worked on the flying boats based on the large inland lake at Hourtin servicing the KM base at Bordeaux????????

Dan

[JPhilip]

Thankyou Zwerge - you are correct, it is NOT a KM rank! UFFZ is Unteroffizier ( I think ) which is a Luftwaffe rank.

Hello,
Unteroffizier was also a rank used in the Wehrmacht Heer.
Thanks