Need help identifying German unit on wooden target/tropy c.1936

**larryl** · 07-13-2018, 04:49 PM

Hello- I'm new to the forum. I'm looking for any info on the military unit named on a 1936 German target/trophy. The top right corner is marked " 1. komp. E. Batl. 26 ". It is also dated "15.7.36. ". There are several dozen bullet holes...each with the participant's name printed next to them. The highest rank I could find was a major. I'm guessing it's from the 26th Infantry. The "1. komp. E. " has me a bit confused. Any details you can provide about this particular unit would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Need help identifying German unit on wooden target/tropy c.1936

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 07-13-2018 04:49 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**MAP** · 07-13-2018, 05:09 PM

There are some here who can provide info on the unit. (Not me

) but in the meantime you could try the Lexicon der Wehrmacht website

Nice piece!

**larryl** · 07-13-2018, 06:18 PM

Thank you. I tried researching it myself- which led me to this forum. I was very impressed with the amount of knowledge the members here possess. I hope someone will be able to provide some history concerning the unit. I think if it was post-1939 I might have found what I was looking for on my own. Apparently many of these early units were altered/consolidated when the war began. Again- I appreciate your response.

**Watchdog** · 07-13-2018, 06:50 PM

Welcome to the forum. You will not go far wrong here (other forums are available!!).

Firstly the E stands for "Ersatz" which is German for "replacement" or in English Battle Casualty Replacement (BCR in modern parlance). Then Btl is short for Battalion. So this is 1st Company (Kompanie) of Ersatz (replacement) Battalion 26. This would be a training/depot/ reserve or pool of troops trained up ready to feed into the field formations as required. The numerical title of 26th suggests that this formation would primarily support Infanterie Regiment 26 but several other unints would have drawn their replacements from it as well. These were a kind of feeder or reservoir that produced manpower "top ups" with trained personnel because of course field units can do nothing with raw recruits from civilian life. It is similar to the British system of Regimental Depots and I am sure other armies have / do operate a similar system. Of couse this is the principle but in the case of the Wehrmacht towards the end a battalion was a battalion and may have been deployed as such in the field army.

I hope this gives you an idea of what you are looking at. I am sure other members here may be better able to explain the system but I think this should give you the gist of it.

Regards

Mark

**MAP** · 07-13-2018, 07:40 PM

by Watchdog

Welcome to the forum. You will not go far wrong here (other forums are available!!).

Firstly the E stands for "Ersatz" which is German for "replacement" or in English Battle Casualty Replacement (BCR in modern parlance). Then Btl is short for Battalion. So this is 1st Company (Kompanie) of Ersatz (replacement) Battalion 26. This would be a training/depot/ reserve or pool of troops trained up ready to feed into the field formations as required. The numerical title of 26th suggests that this formation would primarily support Infanterie Regiment 26 but several other unints would have drawn their replacements from it as well. These were a kind of feeder or reservoir that produced manpower "top ups" with trained personnel because of course field units can do nothing with raw recruits from civilian life. It is similar to the British system of Regimental Depots and I am sure other armies have / do operate a similar system. Of couse this is the principle but in the case of the Wehrmacht towards the end a battalion was a battalion and may have been deployed as such in the field army.

I hope this gives you an idea of what you are looking at. I am sure other members here may be better able to explain the system but I think this should give you the gist of it.

Regards

Mark

I immediately thought Ersatz as well Mark....but given the '36 date (pre-war) I was questioning if that is what it meant...(or if it is even an "E".

My knowledge of how all this works is of course limited.

**HPL2008** · 07-13-2018, 08:06 PM

It's Ergänzungs-Bataillon 26, raised in 1935 in Heilbronn (Wehrkreis V).

In 1935/36, these training-/replacement units were numbered consecutively from 1 to 58 across the Reich. Initially, they were practically independent battalions. It was only in the summer/autumn of 1936 that they were attached to specific infantry regiments, with their numbers/designations now corresponding to the respective regiment.

Thus, the Ergänzungs-Bataillon 26 became Ergänzungs-Bataillon/Infanterie-Regiment 34 in the autumn of 1936.

**Watchdog** · 07-13-2018, 10:21 PM

by HPL2008

It's Ergänzungs-Bataillon 26, raised in 1935 in Heilbronn (Wehrkreis V).

In 1935/36, these training-/replacement units were numbered consecutively from 1 to 58 across the Reich. Initially, they were practically independent battalions. It was only in the summer/autumn of 1936 that they were attached to specific infantry regiments, with their numbers/designations now corresponding to the respective regiment.

Thus, the Ergänzungs-Bataillon 26 became Ergänzungs-Bataillon/Infanterie-Regiment 34 in the autumn of 1936.

Thanks Andreas, excellent extra info as ever!
So, given that this is a training / replacement unit does the nomenclature "Ersatz" Bataillon in fact refer to something different? I ask because I am familiar with the term Ersatz Bataillon but not Ergaenzungs Bataillon. Did the former term replace the later as the war progessed and requirements changed?

Regards

Mark

**HPL2008** · 07-13-2018, 11:38 PM

As I understand it (and I will gladly stand corrected if I got this wrong as this is all quite complicated), the peacetime Ergänzungsbataillone were integrated into the newly-raised "4th wave" divisions (losing their former designations in the process) and deployed at the time of mobilization in 1939, with the role of training fresh replacements taken over by the newly-raised Ersatzbataillone.

Ergänzung means replenishment, complement, expansion, supplementation etc., while Ersatz means replacement. Speaking from a purely semantic perspective, the former term does imply a build-up, whereas the latter implies replacing losses to maintain the status.

**larryl** · 07-13-2018, 11:50 PM

Wow. Thank you Watchdog, HPL 2008, and MAP! I'm sorry I didn't start my research here instead of trying to figure it out on my own. It took me awhile just to figure out that "Feldw." was an abbreviation for Feldwebel. I'm confident that the letter is an "E". It's identical to the first letter on the words on the upper left, "Ehren-Scheibe", which apparently is the name typically used for these round wooden targets. I guess if I had a wish list of some details I'd like to know it would be: Whether they were part of the 26th Infantry. Where they might have been stationed at the time (I think I read along the way that the 26th was part of the force used to remilitarize the Rhineland). And what might have became of them. Of course I'd welcome any other info as well. Not sure if any of these questions can be answered. But I have to let you know, either way, that you've all been a great help. And it's truly appreciated.

**HPL2008** · 07-14-2018, 09:04 AM

Getting back to what I wrote in post # 8, here's a timeline:

Ergänzungs-Bataillon 26 was raised in 1935 in Heilbronn, Wehrkreis V.

In October 1936, it became Ergänzungsbataillon/Infanterieregiment 34.

At mobilization in 1939, it became the I. Bataillon of the newly-raised Infanterie-Regiment 470.

The new replacement unit for the 35. Infanterie-Division, which included Infanterieregiment 34, was Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 34, raised on 26 August 1939 in the Schlieffen-Kaserne in Heilbronn.