UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories Police Uniforms Forum Wasserschutzpolizei

..and a close-up.They are on a twill material.

My pair of 'Wachtmeister' shoulder boards .

..and again a close-up . They are also on a twill material .

Here my 'Wachtmeister' shoulder board that has no backing .

This was actual the backside ! Here now the front side .

My two first style visor cap eagle that kept their gilt finish very well !
2 different manufacturer's as you can see .

..and the backside of the 'very' gilt one .
The other one is very similar , except the flat prongs sit lower on it .

Here my 2nd style eagle that has a raised chest and thick/projected wings ;-almost like an Officer's eagle .

Deep cast backside with hmk 'C.D.'.

Very bright gilt EM cap eagle .

Backside has the hmk. for 'Aurich , Dresden'.

Here now my WasserscHutzpolizei Winter Furr Cap . It has a raised gilted Police Officer's eagle on the front .

Gary,

Great pictures of the WSP guys!

Bernd,

Nice insignia!

..and a side view.

,,and with the ear warmer flaps down .

..and again a side view . Note the stitch lines to reinforce the flap .

..and a iside shot also shows reinforcement stitch lines .

Close-up of the 2 dark blue/black ink cancels .

First one is a long box shape with
'R.B.Nr. 0/1200/0747' and hat size '58' and year '1944'.

Second cancel is a round one with an eagle at the center and around it ' Ortsstelle ' at top and " Wasserschutzpolizei' below .

Now the super gilted Police Officer's eagle .

Since the front furr flap is sewn to the cap , I can not look at the backside of the eagle to see if there is a hmk .

..and a close-up . The actual gilt color is even a richer and darker gilt tone as the photos show you !

..and one more , since I like it so much !

Hello - I am not very knowledgeable in the area of uniforms, but have a few uniforms and hats in my collection. One hat is an overseas type (Bordm�tze?), the exact shape/style as the one shown by Gary B. The exterior appears to be dark blue wool and the interior a medium blue rayon. Excellent quality, but it is unmarked.

The only difference is in the the piping and the police style eagle, which are silver. Possibly not WPP, but what?

Thanks, Dan

Also - can anyone identify the type of sidearm being worn by the bewildered looking man on the right of picture #1 by GARY8? Could it be a KS98?

Dan

Dear Dan,

A blue cap with silver piping would be a Feuerwehr (fire department) officer's side cap. Also the photo seems to show slotted bayonet.


Dear Bernd,

Very pretty cap but with what WSP uniform could it possibly be worn? The only "green" WSP tunic was the summer tunic shown by Gary. I suppose a "regular" police cap put into WSP use is a possibility. I have often argued that since the WSP was so small most "gold" nco insignia and buckles really belong to the traffic police. Perhaps that is the case here as well?????

Regards,
Bill Unland

Bill - Thank you for your answers. I have had several opinions on the hat, but none were definate.

Thanks again, Dan

Dear Bill : If I was a WSP Officer and had to go out on a harbour patroll boat in icecold winter weather , I be glad I would have this warm cap on my head !
The cap , like many Officer's items , could be private purchase and he put the cancel in there to have it returned to the 'Ortsstelle der Wasserschutzpolizei' just in case he forgot it somewhere .
Also , the cap shows no wear . So , he could have bought it just if he ever needed it ;--but at the end of the war just layed it away at home .As my Dad had a mint police tunic jacket issued to him with officer's insignia , like the collar tabs and Oblt. shoulder boards on it ,stored in his footlocker at home ;--and the sleeve eagle had not even been sewn to the arm !
The gilted eagle on this cap is the finest , gilted Officer's eagle I have ever seen !
Regards, Bernd .

Dear Bernd,

Of course you are correct. It hadn't even registered in my enfeebled mind that the eagle was an officer's, and you're right a beauty, so obviously NOT traffic police (no officers).

If not for the stamp I would have voted Police General.

In any case beautiful piece. You and your son have cornered the police collecting market it seems

Regards,
Bill Unland

BTT to keep alive

Great thread.

Personally, I only have one WSP related item in my collection and that is a Dienstpass. Some details below;

On 11/8/42, the holder (Karrasch) was posted to the Wasserschutzpolizei training school in Stettin. On completion of training 8/2/43, he was posted to WSchp.Rev. Berdjansk (WSchp Kdo. Asov Sea), were he served until 26/6/43. On 27/6/43, he was transferred to WSchp.Rev. Mariupol (Aussenpost Jalta) until 13/9/43. From 14/9/43 � 1/2/44 with WSchp.Komp.Asov Sea. On 2/2/44, Karrasch was transferred to the East Adriatic. From 2/2/44 � 23/3/44 he served with WSchp Komp. Ost-Adria, conducting anti-partisan operations in Rawme(Rovinj), G�rz and Trieste. From 24/3/44 � 2/5/44, he served with WSchp. Rev.Pola(Pula) for anti-partisan operations in that area.

Graham

pic2

pic3

pic4

Graham : This got to be one of the most interesting police passports I have ever seen !---And very rare , since it is waterpolice !
Any info , what happened to the man at the very end ??? Prison camps and did he get back to Germany ???

Graham : Also , any awards listed ???

Hi Bernd,

Haven't had time to fully research this yet, so I'm afraid I dont know his fate.

Awards page;

Some other postings. Entry 5 being of particular importance.

Karrasch served Sept. 1940 - Aug. 1942 with the Hamburg based Pol.Btl.303.
This Btl. was sent June 1941 to Russia and became notorious for its participations in the killing of Jews.

Pol.Btl.303 was part of Pol.Rgt.S�d., the other two Btl. of this Rgt. were Btl.45 and 314.
Polizei Regiment S�d was active with the Einsatzgruppen.

From some of the daily reports 19/8 - 5/10 1941, we see:
25.Aug. S�d shot 1,324 Jews.
27.Aug. two reports for that day: S�d shot 549 and 914 Jews.
28.Aug. S�d shot 369 Jews.
1.Sept. S�d shot 88 Jews.
2.Sept. S�d shot 45 Jews.
4.Sept. S�d shot 4,144 Jews.
6.Sept. S�d shot 144 Jews.
11.Sept. S�d shot 1,548 Jews.
12.Sept. S�d shot 1,255 Jews.

Pol.Rgt.S�d reported on 12.Sept. 1941 the shooting of 1,255 Jews at Ovruch.
And on 19.Sept. it reported the shooting of 18,000 Jews at Zhitomir.

Sep. 29/30, Sonderkommando 4a, Polizei Regiment S�d with its Battalion 45 and 303, and a company of Waffen-SS were involved in the massive slaughter of Jews at Babi Yar, near Kiev. In the course of two days they murdered 33,771 Jews.

Karrasch's performance during his service with this mass-murderers unit is stated as "very good" !!!

The unit went on with killing Jews.
Some thousands in Berditsjev and Vinnitsa, and
smaller executions in Chorol, Krementsjoeg and Poltava.
10-14 Oct. about 10,000 Jews were killed in Dnepropetrovsk.
End of Jan.1942 they were executing Jews in Charkow.

Seperate combat sheets describe Security and Cleanings operations. Two of the sheets, one with the Fieldpoststamp 38101 = Pol.Btl.303, and the other with stamp 36524 = stab.Pol. Rgt.S�d, shows: 23.9.-14.10.1941, and 23.9.-15.10.1941, Security and Cleaning operations in Kiew.