More thoughts on medals.

Aside from the worn medals visible on OFW H-E Brenger's photographs, his medal bar is something of a tough nut to crack as well. The most obvious hurdle being that the original photographs are of such poor quality (not to mention miniscule size) that I have a hard time discerning whether or it is a two-piece or three-piece medal bar. Thus far I have concluded that it includes a True Dienste award and probably an "Occupation medal" (Die Medaille zur Erinnering an den 1. Oktober 1938) as well. I had my doubts about the latter one for a while, but right now I am fairly certain that my initial (un)educated guess was correct. Only fairly though. As I previously briefly mentioned the 3.Pz.Div was the only Panzer-Division that partook in the annexation and occupation of Czechoslovakia -however they were only active in taking over the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia; in March 1939. The 1. Oktober Medallie was, as its name implies, awarded to those who participated in the initial occupation in October 1938, but also to troops and personell who participated in the creation of Bohemia and Moravia. And this is what took place in March of 1939 and that is the action that the 3.Pz.Div were active in. For those that partook in the latter event a small bronze bar (featuring the Prague castle) was added to the ribbon of the 1. Oktober Medallie. This should make my grandfather a likely candidate for that medal as he served in the 3.Pz.Div up until 1940.

Another candidate medal for the medal bar I have been contemplating is the Ostmedallie. It was introduced on the 26th of May 1942 and served as a reward for soldiers of participated in the first winter of Unternehmen Barbarossa ("Operation Barbarossa); the invasion of Russia in 1941, and bears the legend: Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 ("Winter-battle in the East 1941/42") on the reverse side of the medal. Pz.Abt.z.b.V.40, who were in Finland at the time, could be counted as likely candidates for the award as the Verleihungsgrenze, the easternmost border for being eligible for the award, ran from the Black sea in the south till Barents Sea in the North (roughly along the eastern Finnish border). That they were eligible seems to not be the case though... What causes me grief is the award criteria for the medal and the exact whereabouts of 1./Pz.Abt.z.b.V.40... Personell who operated in the area between the 15th of November 1941 and the 15th of April (April 26 according to some sources) 1942 and:

(1) Spent at least 14 days on combat operations; or
(2) Spent at least 60 days in the area, not necessarily on combat operations; or
(3) Recieved wounds, or frostbite severe enough to warrant a Verwundetabzeichen

-were all eligible as recipients of the award. The crux of the matter? 1./Pz.Abt.z.b.V.40 was ordered to move to Oulu (way west of the Verliehungsgrenze) on October 24, 1942 for rest, refit and stationing in winter quarters. Here they were to remain until reaching the front line in Kuusamo, April 28, 1942 to help stem the Russian counter attack that was launched on April 24. (This is confirmed by a field post letter dated April 29, 1942 bearing the header: Im Felde). This should, by reviewing the facts, effectively put the men of 1. Kompanie out of the race for the Ostmedallie. That is the only conclusion I can come to at the time, and unless I see an award document for the medal, awarded to a man of 1. Kompanie I am just going to have to cross this particular award off my (or my grandfather's) list.

Below is a picture of the Verleihungsgrenze as well as the location of Oulo on a modern map.

All is not confusing guesswork though. I now have confirmation from at least two photographs that OFw Brenger did recieve the Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber ("Tank Combat Badge in Silver"), but it has still become blatantly obvious that without proper confirmation (such as his Soldbuch and/or Wehrpass where his awards would be listed) it is still guesswork. Guesswork limited to ca 1941/42 as well -as that is the approximate time frame of the photographs I have in my possession. Guesswork that will only serve to frustrate and annoy me and have me walking down the same path again and again and again. An authority on the subject of documents recently told me that if WASt did not have anything on what medals and awards my grandfather recieved then no-one will. Not the most comforting of news if taken at face value. If that is true then my options for finding out about his awards are surely extremely limited and odds are that I will never find out... I have a few avenues left to tread, but... if they yield anything remains to be seen. Therefore I must, for the time being, focus on researching something else pertaining to my grandfather, such as his units and their composition and organization. Else I will most likely go mad.

Errata.

When I started this "blog" I had intentions of updating it on a regular basis. At least as regularly as I could. Now, life had other ideas and intervened, but after this prolonged hiatus I am know glad to say that I am back! And the hiatus has not been totally in vain. A few things has surfaced. One of which is the following:

In the "What I knew then -and what I know now" post I made a reference to -and posted a photograph of- OFw H-E Brenger's Verwundetabzeichen in Silber. This was wrong. It is not a "Wound Bagde". As so clairly pointed out by WASt, and myself for that matter, my grandfather was not wounded until July 1944. The photograph is taken in ca 1941/42 so that alone is evidence enough. What I did was to fall prey to an old family "myth"; that the reason my grandfather came to meet my Finnish grandmother was due to being "wounded in battle and transfered to a military hospital in Finland" -a myth I would like to believe to be utterly debunked by now. But having been told the above "myth" from an early age I just assumed that it was a Verwundetabzeichen. And, as we all know, assumption is the mother of all... And for that matter it is also more likely that when he was wounded in 1944 he recieved the Verwundetabzeichen in Schwartz -the first grade of the wound badge.

So, what is it then? There is the slight possibility that it is the DRL Sportsabzeichen; the sports badge awarded for passing various physical tests. There is also the slight possibility that the medal on my grandfather's uniform is something entirely different, but at this point in time I do not want to say anything definite on that. Not until I have checked a few available avenues more thoroughly; as well as consulted a few authorities on the subject at hand.

My hat is off for Björn Leo from Military Antiques Stockholm for correcting me and pointing me in the right direction though.