Battle of Narvik, crew member of the destroyer Georg Thiele

[Wolf]

Hello gentlemen,

I'm not sure if this is the right group for my question. I'm researching a MaschGefr. August Reith, whom I heard about. He is said to have been in the Kriegsmarine and to have participated in the Battle of Narvik on the destroyer Georg Thiele in 1940.

This is the first time that I am researching a person and so far I have unfortunately not found anything related to the name. I would be interested in whether he really existed and whether he was actually Maschinengefreiter on the Georg Thiele. I hope that the experienced members of our forum can help me. Thanks in advance.

Best regards
Wolf

PS: I would also be happy to receive tips on how to best research people and which sources do you use for this?

[Wolf]

Nobody who can give tips on researching people? What a pity...

[Willmore]

Hi Wolf,

Do you have any more information on the man, like a date of birth/death, place of birth/death, any documents that belonged to him etc etc. The more information we have, the better chance there is that information can be found.

I had a search on the Volksbund website (death records) and there are seven men with the same name listed.

Online grave search

Sorry I can’t help any further.

[Willmore]

Here’s some information on the ship.

Destroyer Z2 Georg Thiele - Feldgrau

[Willmore]

I searched using the term ‘Kriegsmarine august reith’ on google and it looks like his Narvik shield was sold a while ago.

Weitze military antiques and antique books

Ärmelschild "Narvik 1940" für Angehörige der Kriegsmarine Ausführung aus Feinzink, auf blauem Uniformtuch. Aus dem Besitz des MaschGefr. August Reith auf dem Zerstörer Georg Thiele.

Sleeve sign "Narvik 1940" for members of the navy version made of fine zinc, on blue uniform cloth. From the possession of the MaschGefr. August Reith on the destroyer Georg Thiele.

Although this passage shows up on google, there are no pictures. Maybe you could get in contact with weitze and see if they can give you any information, or maybe they can put you in touch with whoever purchased it.

[Wolf]

Thank you, the websites are great. I didn't think there would be so many people with the same name.

I got this photo of an award certificate for August Reith from an acquaintance, but the quality is unfortunately not that good.

[Wolf]

Willmore, it's great that you found the Narvik shield that probably belonged to him. Together with the certificate and the entries on the Volksbund page, that at least proves that he really lived and was there in Narvik. But I am not sure if we can find out more about him with this information.

[Wolf]

Thank you for the help

Best regards
Wolf

[Willmore]

Brilliant! With The copy of the Destroyer Badge Award document and the Narvik shield that belonged to him (sold by weitze), I’m confident he existed and definitely served on the Georg Thiele.

You could look into getting his service records. If you have a look at this link, maybe you could contact one of the organisations.

Finding German Army WW2 Service Records • FamilySearch

*Edit, sorry I was writing the same thing as you at the same time...

[Willmore]

No problem Wolf, I am happy to help. I just wish I could have found more information about this man. Hopefully someone can help or improve on this information.