German Travel Warrant?

[TEW]

Forum,

Browsing through some more of Grandfather's Material I found something I'd not seen before.

He stuck a German, brown greaseproof bag in a scrap book and lo and behold I found this Pink German travel warrant? inside it.

I have no idea what the writing on the brown bag says but I doubt it relates to the travel warrant.

Can anyone give a translation of the Brown bag writing and tell me any more about the rest of the pink form.

I can see it's dated 5/4/1918 and is 3^rd Class to Lille or from Lille to Le Forest.

Not sure of the name….something Rowkring, something Hoffman?? Possibly 2 names or name & rank/position.

And I guess the Wurrtt. Mob. Etapp. Kommandantur No 123 could be 123^rd Wurtembergs?

More info on reverse that mentions 7.4. and 8.4. which I guess are dates.

Interest to me is that I have lots of detail for my Grandfather's 'War' except for Feb-July 1918.

I can place him in April with 'G Training, 62^nd Div' and re-organizing NCO's

but nothing again till July. So I just wonder how he came to have this.

Regards

TEW

Edited 13 November , 2019 by TEW
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[Jack Sheldon]

These are interesting items. I have never seen anything like them before, so this is not a defintiive answer; just a few pointers.

The label on the bag refers to the contents. The instructions are to protect from damp, not to wipe (presumably with a wet cloth) and to hold by the edge only.

The pink document is more than just a warrant for two soldiers, whose names appear to have been Musketiers (i.e Privates) Rond[e? o?]ring? and Hoffmann. I am not sure about the first name. Check with Adrian, who is much better on old handwriting than I am. The first name is underlined, suggesting to me that that individual was in charge of the two men for the journey and perhaps the documents remained tucked away in his pocket subsequently. It gives them third class travel from Roubaix to Leforest(Somme) a section of the railway under military control, serves as a pass, which provides proof that they are legitimately in the rear area and directs them to report to the Information Point at Leforest to receive orders and instructions on how to rejoin their (unspecified) unit. The issuing office was a subsidiary information office at Roubaix, which appears to have been under the authority of Rear Area Headquarters 123 (Wuerttemberg). I do not know if it handled exclusively troops from Wuerttemberg. If Roubaix was a major route centre for reinforcements, returning wounded etc, then it might have done.

The slip is also proof of their entitlement to rations - and proof that they actually received them - for what seems to have been a spectacularly slow journey, by an extraordinary route. On 6 April they were issued one complete day's bread ration (presumably each) of 500 grams at Lille. On 7 April they were issued breakfast by the information and transit office of Group Vimy (The corps headquarters responsible for the sector of the front behind Vimy) The handwritten addition states that the local headquarters at Libercourt issued them with their midday and evening meals on 7 April, together with breakfast for 8 April. It is not clear what happened after that, but the material may have come into your grandfather's possession if it was taken off a prisoner at some point. Given where Libercourt is located, it could have taken them another week to get down to the Somme, though possibly they were held waiting a special troop train heading that way.

Jack

[apwright]

The first name is Kondring.

The writing on the envelope Klarscheiben vor Feuchtigkeit schützen, nicht wischen, nur am Rand anfassen is the same as that used on envelopes holding spare lenses for WW2 (?and maybe earlier?) gasmasks, according to

http://www.germanmilitaria.com/heer/photos/H056862.html

"Protect lenses from moisture, do not wipe, hold by the edge only".

The other side of the envelope should be marked Klarscheibe so einlegen, daß Aufdruck „Innenseite” vom Innern der Maske lesbar ist = "Insert lens so that imprint 'Inside' is readable from inside of mask" (not the "translation" given in the above link!)

Adrian