German shoulder strap help

**ynot** · 06-23-2015, 04:11 PM

Hello,

Firstly my apologies for asking perhaps a silly question but knowing little to nothing about German WWII militaria is my excuse

I have a shoulder strap with the number 6 attached, is it possible to identify the unit or is it just a generic army strap? All I know is that it belonged to a Feldwebel medic who served the whole war in Germany in the area of Sennelager and towards the end of the war, in a field hospital in Bad Rothenfelde.

Did the Wehrmacht have specific field ambulance units or were medics spread out amongst/attached to the infantry?

I’ve included a couple of pics of men in the unit as well as the strap.

Thanks for any help.
Tony

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 06-23-2015 04:11 PM

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**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-23-2015, 07:51 PM

Pre war "Feldbluse" style shoulder strap. These were not piped in arm of service waffenfarb and were generic for all branches of the Heer.

Cheers, Ade.

**Neil Hever** · 06-23-2015, 07:59 PM

Rank is Oberfeldwebel - an NCO. It is visibly pre-war for the reason stated above and because of the pointed end and dark green color. The silver cloth on the edge is Tresse used to denote someone in the NCO rank. The "pips" were added to denote a higher ranked NCO. Numbers to denote Regiment and other stylized devices were worn. The German Army had a pretty expansive Non Commissioned Officer rank with a number of different responsibilities. We might refer to some of them in the US as Corporals and Sargeants. NH

**ynot** · 06-23-2015, 08:51 PM

Thanks very much to you both for the replies. There're a whole heap of photos, some paperwork and a couple of German rubber stamps (well 1 metal and 1 rubber) in the old cigar box with the strap. I've been through it several times and will go through again looking for signs of the unit he may have been in.

Tony

**Neil Hever** · 06-23-2015, 09:13 PM

Nice photos Tony. The third one shows Der Spiess or spear. You can tell he is the spear because of the "piston ring" insignia on his Feldbluse. Also a nice shot of his specialty patch. NH

**ynot** · 06-23-2015, 09:36 PM

by Neil Hever

Nice photos Tony. The third one shows Der Spiess or spear. You can tell he is the spear because of the "piston ring" insignia on his Feldbluse. Also a nice shot of his specialty patch. NH

Thanks Neil,
Shame I don't know who the Spiess was, the man whose strap I have is the small bloke in the gas mask photos. With a bit of luck I'll find something that points to the No. 6 in the cigar box.

Tony

**ynot** · 06-24-2015, 05:39 PM

Oh well, after going through all the photos and paperwork I didn’t find anything to help decipher which unit the No. 6 belonged to. I did find a photo from 1945 where the owner of the shoulder strap has the two piston rings on his uniform too and a card saying he’s authorised to wear a white armband with red cross however, anything to do with his unit is either stamped or written as Res. Lazarett Bad Rothenfelde or Senne 1.

Tony

**Neil Hever** · 06-24-2015, 06:20 PM

Res. is Reserve. Either a reserve unit or sometimes training unit. Lazarett is the word for hospital - military term as opposed to civilian Krankenhaus. Senne 1 is interesting. It is a rail line that is located in North Rhine-Westphalia. Bad Rothenfelde is just north. A Feldbahn or military train line was opened in the same area in 1942. A major industrial city is nearby - Bielefeld. It is possible the person in question was assigned to some kind of hospital transport group on train. NH

**ynot** · 06-24-2015, 09:27 PM

Neil,

Looking at some of the photos it could indeed be a training unit.
I did some searching online and only found that Senne 1 is part of a larger lazarett Hospitals II | Senne, Senne 1 and Sennelager where I believe some of the photos were taken.

You mention a railway line, there was a list of wounded (I believe it has since gone missing) who were killed on a hospital train when attacked by a fighter just a few km from Bad Rothenfelde. Their names, addresses, list of belongings as well as some letters from the next of kin thanking for the information about the burial of their husbands/sons has also now disappeared. I remember the youngest was a 17 year old pilot.

Tony