Luftwaffe Flak DKiG Wehrpass
Here is a replacement Wehrpass (issued late 1943) to Hauptmann Hans Bambey who served in numerous Flak units from the time he joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 to wars end. Incidentally even post-war he served in air defence units, being Chef des Stabes in 4. Luftverteidigungsdivision & 4 Luftwaffendivision as an Oberst.
Despite it being a replacement Wehrpass I just couldn't resist grabbing it as I just love the photo that is in it, showing Bambey with his Hauptmann rank pips, collar tabs and wearing his visor cap.
He finished the war serving with 30 Flakdivision which was responsible for railway flak units, however he wasn't assigned to the unit until April 1945 so his stay with them was brief.
He was awarded the DKiG on 28th January 1943 while serving as the Adjutant in Stab/Flak-Rgt 153. I am assuming this date shows the date it was awarded for rather then when it was processed for earlier actions. This date would tie in with when Flak-Rgt 153 was operating in the Don River/Voronesh region and was caught up in the Soviet offensive Operation Little Saturn which had the aim of pushing German forces further away from the Stalingrad pocket and for cutting off German forces in the Caucasus. This offensive was conducted in 2 phases, the first launched on 16th December 1942 and the second on 13th January 1943.
This second phase of the offensive found the Italian 8th Alpini Corps (2nd Tridentina, 3rd Julia, 4th Cuneense & 156th Vicenza Divisions) caught up in its drive and by January 25th only the Tridentina Division was capable of offensive operations (with the others being heavily decimated) and it spearheaded a desperate offensive to regain Axis Lines (Battle of Nikolayevka) which they finally managed to do on 1st February 1943.
Although I am far from certain but considering that the DKiG was awarded for 28th January 1943 and on 16th June 1943 Bambey was also awarded the Ital. Tapferkeitsmedaille (equivalent to an EK II) I am assuming that he won the DKiG while his unit helped the Italians at some point.
The DKiG shows an admin error having originally been entered as Deutsches Gold and while I was originally sceptical and thought this could of been a post-war addition he is a verified DKiG winner so I am more inclined to believe that it was a mistake made during the war and entered sometime after the WP was opened. But, we shall never know the exact details.
What is also interesting is that he won the EK II & I on the same day in April 1941.
Awards:
Sportabzeichen
SA Wehrsportabzeichen
Schiessauszeichnung
EK II – 20th Apr 1941
EK I – 20th Apr 1941
Flakkampfabzeichen – 20th Nov 1941
Bulg. Tapferkeitsauszeichnung – 10th Apr 1942
Erdkampfabzeichen – 24th Dec 1942
Deutsche Kreuz in Gold – 28th Jan 1943
Ital. Tapferkeitsmedaille – 16th Jun 1943
KVK II – 20th Apr 1944
Verwundetenabzeichen in Bronze – 16th Aug 1944
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by sunsetIE
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