Hi Evgeni, thanks for replying!
I did know that much, but was wondering what the requirements were in order to recieve it?? Like passing "X" amount of proficiency tests using specific guns/turrets or various ammunitions? From researching, i would guess it would have been at the Panzer training course at Putlos? It must not have been extremely easy, as you dont see them being worn as much as you would think IMO.
Im really interested in gaining some info on it, but cant seem to find too much online
Welcome, it is a very interesting topic indeed. Maybe you can start off by researching the regular Schützenschnur of the infantry which surely resemble great deal of similarity.
Here is some more info: German Armed Forces Badge of Marksmanship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Schutzenschnur
I am pretty sure that there should be more training grounds where a person could obtain the award (Bamberg?)
What concerns the photos i surely have a few that show the award in wear most of them are on the regular black panzer uniform. My take is that these awards were usually in wear during the official events as thee were not that "easy to wear in the field".
Here is also a video showing how this training took place in the red army during the war for the artillery unit (unfortunately it is only in Russian, but you can see the images):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHpdgaiEyBc
The piece runs from 12:00 -13:30
One of the veterans (Hero of the Soviet Union) recalls that it was very difficult to hit the target, especially for the new recruits and a natural talent was seen right away. He tells a story that when he was firing his first shot he got the target right away and his captain didn't believe him, so they brought the second target which he got with the second round as well. Than the captain said that he will not give him any rounds as they will run out of targets like this.
I spotted this seemingly not very interesting photo on ebay a couple of weeks ago , but to me as a battle of Narva researcher it's actually very interesting as it shows the German HQ on the North East coast of Estonia at Merekula / Udria in Feb 1944 after the Seaborne assault by Soviet Marines . The attack was repulsed my men of the HQ , Coastal defense Batteries and part of SS Panzer Aufk Abt 11 " Nordland " , in this one night 500 Soviet Marines were Killed , wounded or captured.Never seen a phoot of this before other than ones taken on the beach after the attack !!
The gates of hell were opened and we accepted the invitation to enter" 26/880 Lance Sgt, Edward Dyke. 26th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers , ( 3rd Tyneside Irish )
1st July 1916
Thought shall be the harder , heart the keener,
Courage the greater as our strength faileth.
Here lies our leader ,in the dust of his greatness.
Who leaves him now , be damned forever.
We who are old now shall not leave this Battle,
But lie at his feet , in the dust with our leader
House Carles at the Battle of Hastings
Hi Chaps, I recently picked up this postcard to Unteroffizier Rudolf Klein (taken late 1944, early 1945) along with the docs for the awards he's wearing & a POW discharge slip. He served with Grenadier Regiment 462 / Inf. Div. 262.
The portrait shows him as an Unteroffizier with a quite unusual short tress around the collar.
Is this because the personnel for I.D. 262 were mainly from Austria, being formed in Wien in 1939? Or is there another reason?
Cheers,
Richard.
Last edited by DUJAILAH; 08-27-2012 at 07:33 PM.
Interesting photo and an interesting question!
Collar Tresse in this configuration (= L-shaped, not extending beyond the collar patches) was worn in the Reichswehr era by Unteroffiziersanwärter, i.e. private-ranked NCO candidates who were awaiting their promotion to Unteroffizier after having completed their NCO training course and successfully passed the required tests, while those candidates who had not yet taken their exams wore only a Tresse loop on their shoulder boards.
This practice was abolished as per orders of 5 Feb. 1935; all NCO candidates were now to wear the shoulder board loops only.
If it were a pre-war photo, I would tend to think that what we see here is a freshly-promoted Unteroffizier who has not yet "upgraded" his collar. However, while this type of collar Tresse may well have been worn for a while beyond its official abolishment, it strikes me as highly unlikely that the practice was carried over this late into the war.
If I absolutely had to make a guess, I would attribute it to wartime shortages or camouflage reasons.
In any case, the practice is not unknown. It is even mentioned in Schlicht/Angolia's "Uniforms and Tradtions..." volume on the Heer. I qoute from the German 1996 edition:
"Auf zeitgenössischen Fotografien, so von einem Offiziersanwärterlehrgang im Sommer 1940 in Frankfurt/Oder, bei der 'Siegesparade' 1940 in Paris oder von der Ostfront 1941/42, sind Unteroffiziere mit verkürzten Kragentressen zu sehen, welche am Unterrand nur bis zum Ende der Doppellitzen bzw. Kragenpatten reichen. Die Gründe hierfür sind unbekannt. Mag an der Front die geringere Auffälligkeit maßgeblich gewesen sein, so kann dieser Grund bei einem Lehrgang in der Heimat nicht gelten."
[= "Period photographs, for example of an officer candidate course at Frankfurt/Oder, during the 1940 'victory parade' in Paris or from the eastern front in 1941/42, show NCOs with shortened collar Tresse extending on the lower edge only to the end of the double Litzen, or, respectively, of the collar patches. The reasons for this are unknown. While the lesser visibility may have played a role at the front, this cannot be the reason for a training course in the homeland."]
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