TRANSLATION OF PHOTO - KvK2 AWARD DOC WITH PHOTO & SPANGE

[DUJAILAH]

Hi Chaps, I'm after some help to translate the back of the postcard. Hopefully it's to do with Erich Reibers promotion which would be logical. The award doc came with the photo & the ribbon bar he's wearing in the photo.

The award doc is signed by the ‘Generalleutnant’ (later: ‘General der Artillerie’) Eduard Wagner (01/04/1894 to 23/07/1944) who acted as ‘Generalquartier meister’ (quartermaster general) from 1941 until his death in 1944 (Wagner was involved in the failed conspiracy against Adolf Hitler on 20th July 1944 and committed suicide a couple of days later).

Erich Reiber served with '1./Kw.Trsp.Abt.z.b.V.987’. Is this an unusual unit? Does anybody have any info.?
I understand the abbreviation: ‘z.b.V.’ stands for: ‘zur besonderen Verwendung’ ie. ‘for special tasks’.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Cheers,

Richard.

[Paul D]

Richard the back of the photo says that the date is his first day as a Leutnant whcih fits with the officers photo , the place i cannot read !!

[DUJAILAH]

Thanks Paul E, I hoped it would be that, cheers, Richard.

[Paul D]

The unit is 1 Kompanie /Kraftwagen-Transport-Abteilung z.b.V. 987 which is an Army level and above Transport unit used for Special missions allocated by the relevant HQ !!

[DUJAILAH]

The unit is 1 Kompanie /Kraftwagen-Transport-Abteilung z.b.V. 987 which is an Army level and above Transport unit used for Special missions allocated by the relevant HQ !!

Thanks Paul E, that sounds interesting. I wonder what they got up to? Cheers, Richard.

[hucks216]

Thanks Paul E, that sounds interesting. I wonder what they got up to? Cheers, Richard.

When the use of 'Special missions' is used to describe the term z.b.V it can be a bit confusing as while that is the case for the Brandenburgers it wasn't so for the more common use of the abbreviation. Think of it more along the lines of 'Special use' rather than some sort of special forces term. It is hard to describe but it is a designation that could be used for units that were set up to fulfill a specific task/job whether that was a specific transport/supply task or a headquarters set up to take command of other units.

[DUJAILAH]

When the use of 'Special missions' is used to describe the term z.b.V it can be a bit confusing as while that is the case for the Brandenburgers it wasn't so for the more common use of the abbreviation. Think of it more along the lines of 'Special use' rather than some sort of special forces term. It is hard to describe but it is a designation that could be used for units that were set up to fulfill a specific task/job whether that was a specific transport/supply task or a headquarters set up to take command of other units.

Thanks hucks216, I see what you mean. A better phrase I suppose would be miscellaneous duties, Cheers, Richard.

[HPL2008]

Richard the back of the photo says that the date is his first day as a Leutnant whcih fits with the officers photo , the place i cannot read !!

I am not 100% certain; but it could be "Otwock". (There is a place with that name in Poland, see: Otwock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

[DUJAILAH]

Hi HPL2008, great work as usual. It looks like it to me. Interesting history on the Wiki page as well, Cheers, Richard.