UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories The Honor Ring Forum Near Miss!

Here is another skull 'near miss' on a SS man.. More than likely a skull & snakes ring..

and my last for now.. A woman in some type of service of the 3rd reich [maybe train ].. again,, a skull, 'near miss'....

Heres another from an old auction..

Its a skull ring but just not clear enough to use..........

Hello,

maybe these pictures will fit in here.

They are photos of my grandfather. He was East Prussian, born in 1914. Since he was a professional soldier since 1934, he had to change his surname. “Bronkowski” sounded too Polish, apparently it would have gotten in the way of his career. He was initially in the 4. (H) Luftwaffen Aufklärungsgruppe10 “Tannenberg”. Before this unit was destroyed in Stalingrad, he was probably transferred. In any case, he was later with the "Stabsbildabteilung beim Panzerarmee Oberkommando 3". Later photos show him as a Hauptfeldwebel (Spieß). He was captured by the British in 1945.

I still have some pictures of him, unfortunately very small ones. He is wearing rings in two of his photos. He himself described the first picture as unsuccessful. On the back it says: “Eine mißlungene Aufnahme aus Rußland als Gruß. Papi." (An unsuccessful shot from Russia as a greeting. Dad.)

Here he is wearing a wider ring over his wedding ring. The ring in the second photo may still exist.

In any case, I own two of his rings. One ring was made from a French coin. You can still see remnants of the embossing on the inside. The initials stand for the (changed) name Paul Berger. He had the second ring made of silver in occupied France. It is supposed to be a ruby, but I never had it tested because it doesn't matter.
When my grandfather died in 1980, his son-in-law (my father) unfortunately had the ring made bigger. Maybe that's why the ring has no silver hallmark. This “ruby ring” could be the ring in the second photo. That is not certain...

Best regards,
Dierk

Hi Dierk,
Welcome to the GDC Ring Forum. Those are great photos of your grandfather. Interesting rings too. Great mementos. Thanks for posting.
Stephen

Dierk,, yes welcome here! There are many back pages to see so please have a look and enjoy..

Thanks for posting... Your Grandfather was a ring man for sure.. Some people never wear one and some wear more than one.. Fantastic they survived and you still have the 2 rings.... Yes while not really clear that looks like the 'ruby' ring in the photos.. A very interesting design to it. The coin ring also a mini work of art.. A fine family history you have and glad your Grandfather survived the war... Thanks again for posting. ,Gaspare

Hello!

Thank you very much for your answers. I've been here in the forum for many years, but I mostly just read along. My English is just too bad.

Yes, my grandfather obviously had many rings in use and he wore them on both hands. I looked at his photos again with a magnifying glass and found a few more pictures with rings in them.
Unfortunately, there are no rings in the pictures with the more interesting motifs.

In the last picture (May 22, 1943, Russia) I think I recognize the graduated “coin ring” which is in my possession. In the picture he is already a Oberfeldwebel, perhaps already a “Spieß”.

Regards,
Dierk

Great photos! Yes I think you are right that looks like the coin ring..... So he appears he was in a Flak unit. His dress uniform shots are excellent! What is the cuff title he is wearing?

,,, your English is fine,,,please post whenever you like!

Hello Gaspare,

no, he was not in an anti-aircraft unit. Above I wrote what I know about his military career.
He was initially in the 4th (H) Luftwaffen Aufklärungsgruppe10 “Tannenberg”. Before this unit was destroyed in Stalingrad, he was probably transferred. Perhaps because he was declared unfit to fly due to the onset of high blood pressure. I received a copy of the medical certificate from the "Wehrmachtauskunftstelle" WASt in Berlin.
This is why he wears the cuff title “Tannenberg” on his sleeve, a very rare piece. I am glad to have gotten such a piece two years ago.

He was later with the "Stabsbildabteilung beim Panzerarmee Oberkommando 3"
There he was busy processing photos that had previously been taken by aerial reconnaissance.
After the war, he always developed all private photos himself.

Greetings,
Dierk

Dierk,, yes here too after the war and into the 60s many people developed their own photos..

From the photo it looked like the color of his collar tab is red which is usually for flack. Very hard to tell though from photos... Great you have some of his records... Your a lucky man to have a Tannenberg cufftitle..

Hello Gaspare,

the black and white pictures are probably deceptive. At the beginning of the war he was probably still in the 1st (Heeres) Staffel of the Lw.-Aufkl. Staffel 10. Later he must have been in the 4th (army) squadron of the same unit. Many of the surviving photos bear the “tactical mark” of the 4th Squadron on aircraft and vehicles. He also photographed a door plate with the corresponding field post number.

Below are three photos as an example, and the important page from the reply letter from the WASt.

The translation of this letter:

Personal research: Your request from 11.03.2016

Attachments: 2

Dear Ms...

After extensive examination of the documents available here, I would like to inform you that your father's identity papers (military record book, military roll, military pass) are not available. They have presumably been lost as a result of the war.

Only a medical examination certificate was found - see copies.
In addition, the following information is available:

Berger, Paul, born 05.07.1914 in Lyck

Date of entry into service: not recorded

Identification tag: -108- Aufkl. St. 1 H.10

Home address: Burgdorf/Hannover, Schloßstr. 4

Units:
It. Report from 03.09.1939
1. ( H.) Aufklärungs- Gruppe 10; Tannenberg

from 19.07.1942
until 03.08.1945

Stabsbild- Abteilung beim Panzer Armee- Oberkommando 3

Rank: according to report from 18.08.1943 Oberfeldwebel

Hospital reports:

not recorded

Prisoner of war: no records. Registered with a British discharge office on 03.08.1945 registered.

Is of course a little further away from the subject of “finger rings”, I apologize for that.

Regards,
Dierk

Very nice you have this historical information. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Bud

Even though much of his information is missing you still did pretty good with getting info from WASt.. The photos are excellent. The 4th Squadron design is really nice!

Thanks for the translation, all very interesting and a treat for us here! , Thanks , Gaspare

Hello Dierk ,

First of all, welcome !!

Having a trench ring, with initials of your family, is something not many people can say .
I think it is very special in your collection.

Thanks for your info .

Benten