Luftwaffe Soldbuch - Rifle Numbers don't match?

[Uwe]

Hi,

I've nearly completed transcribing a Luftwaffe Soldbuch that belonged to a friend's father. I worked through every page and accounted for every entry, but I'm now left with a couple of mysteries (to me). I'm confident that I'll be able to figure out most of them, but this particular one has me baffled.

There are two pages that register the rifle (Gewehr) and bayonet (Seitengewehr) that was issued to the man (he started off as a FLAK gunner, later attended flight school, and ended the war in a Fallschirmjäger regiment). Both pages list the "Nummer" of the rifle and bayonet, which I assumed should be each weapon's serial number. The manufacturer's code appears in a different column on page 8a.

The problem is that the serial numbers for the rifles (the one he was originally issued was replaced), and the bayonet do not match between the two pages. How is that possible?

When he began flight school the weapons were stricken from his Soldbuch, and oddly enough, no new weapon was entered when he was transferred from a Reserve unit to the Fallschirmjäger regiment.

Here are photos to illustrate what I'm asking about.


On page 8a:
1. This should be the serial number for the original Karabiner 98 Kurz that he was issued on 19-Jan-1942: 8828
2. This should be the serial number for the replacement 98K that he was issued on 28-May-1942: 4449
3. This should be the serial number for the bayonet he was issued: 4130c

Conversely, on page 14:
1. The original 98K serial number is listed as being: 4951
2. The replacement 98K serial number is listed as being: 2823K. Even the date of the replacement is different: 29-May-1943 (this is based on ink colour)
3. The bayonet number doesn't match either: 40868
4. The purple ink - undated - strikes all issued weapons.



I have theories, but I would never pass on speculation to my friend in place of research. I'm wondering if different numbers were used for the same weapon? Or are we looking at four different rifles - those on page 14 being different than those on page 8a?

I hope that someone has had experience with this apparent anomaly and can lay this frustrating mystery to rest.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[hucks216]

I would say that you are looking at 4 different rifle issues. Here is another example taken from a single Soldbuch.

[Uwe]

Thanks for the reply.

If it was four rifles, the next question would be why were two recorded on page 8a, and two on page 14? There was clearly room for four entries on page 8a - or in the case of your example - the rifle entries on 8a were continued (logically) on 8c.

I also wonder why four rifles would need to be issued. Do we know what the practice was when it came to such things? If someone was sent back to a reserve unit - or admitted to a hospital (this man was wounded three times, hospitalized twice, awarded the Wound Badge in Silver) - would they relinquish their rifle every time? I'll have to cross reference unit assignments and see if the two dated issues match those dates.

[hucks216]

You're trying to second guess an admin clerk or an armourer from 75+ years ago. Maybe he just made a mistake or was told to put it on page 14. But each one is for a different rifle.