Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

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Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by 352nd »

I'm currently planning a Kriegsberichter impression for next year and I've run into a bit of a conundrum. Basically when was the Kriegsberichter Des Heeres cuff-title first issued, does anyone know. I've found conflicting reports on the internet and with very little written about this title at all, its rather confusing. I'm planning my impression to be circa 1942, but have read on another forum that this title wasn't issued until 1944. Someone said to me check the Davis book "German Army Uniforms and Insignia 1933-45" which I did and only turned up the Propagandakorps title and the O.K.H Ausbildungsfilm title (issued to army film units), nothing about the Kriegsberichter title. I have seen 1 photograph of the title being worn by Heer personnel but am unsure exactly what date the photo is, so can anyone verify the year of issue for the title please?

Cheers
Martin
Stabsgefreiter Martin Hetch-2nd Panzer Aufklärungs Abteilung, Grossdeutschland.

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Botty
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Botty »

If you are doing 1942 then I would stick to the 'Propagandakompanie' cuff title. I can't give a specific answer to your question about when the 'kriegsberichter' cuff title came into use as I have drawn a blank like you. However the 'PK' title would be in full use in 1942.

If you are planning GD propaganda unit portrayal then remember the army group level propagandakompanie units were not disbanded until mid-1943. I don't think GD had their own unit until that point (but happy to be corrected, I have found little information on this unit in my researches).

Don't forget to use signal yellow waffenfarbe for that time period. The Grey only came into use in 1943.
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by 352nd »

Cheers Mark

From what I've found, a Kreigsberichter Zug was attached to Grossdeutschland from April 1942. So unsure if they'd come under Propagranda corps or as Kriegsberichter. Most of the sources on the web, which are fairly unverified seem to say the cuff-title came in 1941. Planning to have lemon yellow boards on. Another question is do you double cuff-title for impression. It seems to be that these men were attached to Grossdeutschland but were part of the divisional staff and stayed with the division throughout producing items like the "Die Feuerwerk" newsletter, so I'd say they'd be part of the division and would wear divisional insignia. Without much source information, its quite hard to say either way.

Cheers
Martin
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Botty »

GD is not my area of expertise but there is a picture of a GD Beamte wearing the GD cuff title on page 57 of Badges and insignia of the third Reich by Brian L. Davis so divisional support units did appear to do so. Then you have the problem of which title is sewn in which position.

The most comprehensive information source I have so far found is a book: The propaganda warriors by Daniel Uziel ISBN 978-3-03911-532-7. In this it says that the reporting (as opposed to the active propaganda) specialists were pulled out of the PK units starting Feb 1943 and re-organised as reporting platoons. These Heerskriegsberichterzug were given one to each army group and ONE EACH TO GD AND FELDHERRNHALLE divisions. This would imply that GD only had its own dedicated unit after this date.
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by menju »

According the bibliography I have at my disposal, the PK od KBH cufftitles were in use as follows: The change should occured from 25.1.1943 onwards Waffenfarbe for Kriegsbericheter des Heeres was (Mouse) Grey which replaced the previous Lemon Yellow (same as for Signaltruppen). At the same date the cuff-title "Kriegsberichter des Heeres" replaced the original cuff-title "Propagandakompanie" which was introduced in 1940.
So roughly speaking, lemon yellow Waffenfarbe on shoulderboards and soutache with "Propagandakompanie" cuff-title correspond to the first half of the war, until end of January 1943. Afterwards it is mouse grey Waffenfarbe with "Kriegsberichter des Heeres" cuff-title.
Kriegsberichter des Heeres Obfw. Markus Moeschke> http://www.moeschke.estranky.sk/

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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Hannibal Brooks »

The thing with cuff titles is do you want to portray a typical PK photographer or do you want to stand out as a PK photographer at an event? The reason I ask is that I have been looking at alot of period photos of PK troops in the past couple of weeks and I have only seen a cuff title in use once - the Kriegsberichter Des Heer title on a W-SS photographer in fact. I have just seen a whole series of photos of a PK unit during the invasion of Russia and none wear a title - none even to be seen in their parade prior to moving to the front (I think it was PK 698) - I'll supply the link in the future (on my work PC so can't right now). So, to be typical, I'd say leave the cuff title off totally, but if you want to stand out, the Propagandakompanie title might be the way to go. Incidentally, I've worn the Kriegsberichter der Luftwaffe title for the past 12 months basically to stand out (and it's a nice title :) ), but I've never seen it in use. The choice is yours! I'll be doing an army based impression next year and won't be using a title - just sticking to signals waffenfarbe. Have fun with it :) .
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by menju »

Some more remarks about wearing or not wearing a PK or KBH cuff-title. In one book written by a former PK-mann he describes the first moments when they got their cuff-titles "Propagandakompanie" it was in summer of 1939. At that time they were garrisoned in Alexander Kaserne in Berlin. They were allowed to spend their free time outside, so they did, mostly going to cafes and alehouses and of course they were wearing their nice currently made uniforms. At the beginning they all wore all also their PK cuff-title, because it looked nice, people did not know what Propagandakompanie really was (moreover in 1939 it was not really a common sight to see a soldier with cuff-title of any sort), so they thought that it must have been some special unit... and thereby it was favored by Berliner girls ;) After a while they felt guilty of this "undeserved" fame, because they still felt more like civilians in uniforms than real battle-proven soldiers. So most of them stopped to wear their cuff-titles.
But I guess that situation changed after they were baptized by fire, many of them already during Polish campaign. I am convinced they very soon put their cuff-titles back on and they were wearing them proudly.
The thing with cuff-titles is that there are not so many pictures of Kriegsberichtern "in action", since they were the people making pictures or shooting shots with camera. So, consequently, there are very few pictures where the cuff-title is to be seen. Also, when Kriegsberichtern wore various camo smocks, or coats, or winter cloths, cuff-titles were of course hidden.
In any case you are right about pictures where one can see Kriegsberichtern - Bildberichtern or Filmberichtern - doing their job and they wear no cuff-title, their only difference is the camera. Only SS-Kriegsberichtern seem to wear their cuff-titles quite regularly. On some pictures with PK-mann wearing a cuff-title one can actually see that it is not sewn to the sleeve, it was in fact only slipped on the sleeve. One could therefore assume that in same cases Kriegsberichtern did prefer not to wear their cuff-titles during action and they only slipped them on the sleeve being in the rear or on a leave. Nonetheless I would still opt to wear the cuff-title while reenacting this particular branch of German armed forces, because such cuff-titles were issued, and they simply belong to that uniform. :P

I will add just a few pictures with Kriegsberichtern der Luftwaffe wearing their cuff-title (most of them are from various internet sites, the last one from Africa is from a book) :arrow:

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Kriegsberichter des Heeres Obfw. Markus Moeschke> http://www.moeschke.estranky.sk/

96. Infanterie Division "Watzmann"
97. Jäger Division "Spielhahnjäger"
90. leichte Afrika-Division
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Hannibal Brooks »

Some good info there, Menju. I have seen a couple with the propaganda title, but they are in the minority. The photos I have seen were largely taken on campaign - I've attached a few (I will get a link to them soon I promise!) in 1940 and 1941 during the build up to and during the Barbarossa campaign. There are quite a few of the cameramen in action. I think at the end of the day there seems to be no right or wrong answer. My inclination is to base an impression on a given photo where possible - most of the ones I have seen have no title, so that's what I think I'll go with. Cheers :)
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by menju »

Thank you Hannibal, so as it seems, to wear or not to wear PK cuff-title will be a question for each individual reenactor to solve according to his personal taste 8)
Sure, you are right, and I know these pictures quite well. Years of 1940 to 1943 were the years of expansion for Propaganda Kompanien, so maybe the HQ, or Goebbels did not insist on wearing cuff-titles too much. Cuff-titles in general are something more typical for the second half of the war, designed to boost the shaken morale of the fighting units. :)

On this occasion I will just allow myself to post some pictures from my KBH activities - for inspiration :arrow:

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Kriegsberichter des Heeres Obfw. Markus Moeschke> http://www.moeschke.estranky.sk/

96. Infanterie Division "Watzmann"
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90. leichte Afrika-Division
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Peterth PK »

this is very good point - on photos i have seen only just little PK cuffs in wearing (clearly visible 6x, maybe 4x)

cufftitles in these units are very interesting topic, some dates of introduction from my sources just for overview:

* "Propagandakompanie" - worn before and in 1941, mainly 1. 9. 1939 - 25. 6. 1940
* "Kriegsberichter des Heeres" - sometimes todays presented as worn from 1941 ?, but officially replaced "Propagandakompanie" on 25. 1. 1943...
* "Kriegsberichter der Luftwaffe" - established on 20. 11. 1940, but even it was officiall established, this wasn´t by units before january 1941
* "SS - Kriegsberichter - Kp." (unofficial, in gothic style, handembroidered with chainstitch) - established in 1940
* "SS - Kriegsberichter" (handembroidered, RZM, BEVO) - worn in the same time as above from 1940, early in gothic style, then replaced with writing in latin, probably worn by SS-KBs attached direct to front units
* "SS - KB - Abt." (RZM) - august 1941 - december 1943, probably for non-fronted KBs, serving by Abt.
* "Kurt Eggers" (BEVO, RZM) - from december 1943 - 1945, but were in those time still worn 2 cuffs despite prohibition ! (SS-KB + divisional cufftitle - maybe because of pride of home unit ?, using of 2 cuffs was first prohibited in beggining of 1944...)
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Botty »

That was an intriguing point about the cuff title often being slipped on rather than sewn on. Maybe that explains the fact that original photos show the title being worn on either sleeve. The title was just slipped onto the easiest arm for the wearer. Presumably that will differ for left and right handed people?

I have decided to take mine off my field tunic and keep it in the pocket as a slip on but keep it on my M36 'behind the lines' tunic.
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by menju »

Yeah, cuff-title slipped on a sleeve is a possibility (great idea Botty, I wish I had so many tunics to spare). I am posting two pictures where the cuff-title seems to be worn this way, but perhaps I am wrong, maybe the cuff-title is only badly sewn, or something of sorts (especially on the first picture, I have less doubts concerning the second, the cuff-title is clearly not in a straight position, as it should be). Please tell me your opinion. :arrow:

Image Image

Image Image
Kriegsberichter des Heeres Obfw. Markus Moeschke> http://www.moeschke.estranky.sk/

96. Infanterie Division "Watzmann"
97. Jäger Division "Spielhahnjäger"
90. leichte Afrika-Division
Brigade Ramcke
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Botty »

Both of those do seem to have parts of the cuff title 'sagging' away from the sleeve. At the top at the hand edge nearest the body on the top photo and underneath the arm in the lower photo.
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Hannibal Brooks »

2013 could be the season of the removable title then :D
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Re: Kriegsberichter Cuff-Title Question

Post by Jooooonas »

Peterth PK wrote: * "Propagandakompanie" - worn before and in 1941, mainly 1. 9. 1939 - 25. 6. 1940
* "Kriegsberichter des Heeres" - sometimes todays presented as worn from 1941 ?, but officially replaced "Propagandakompanie" on 25. 1. 1943...
Where did you find this information that ,,Kriegsberichter des Heeres" officially replaced ,,Propagandakompanie" only in 1943? Personaly, I found that it was replaced in 1941. So I did my uniform like this: Waffenfarbe-lemon yellow and ,,Kriegsberichter des Heeres" cuff title on the right hand.

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And also one for SS-Kriegsbericher (lemon yellow waffenfarbe and SS-Kriegsberichter cuff title on the left hand).
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