ph0ebus Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Hi all, I am trying to make sense of the presence of the following stamped and signe dentry in my grandfather's Soldbuch: Given he was an Artillery man, why would he have a stamp from a telephone division unit in his Soldbuch? What significance, if any, would this stamp have? I also have a photo in his possessions taken of a 'Blinkstation' and wondered if it might have any connection with Armee-Fernsprech Abtlg. Nr. 5? The photo, in case it is helpful: Lastly, where might I look for information on where this unit was located on the dates entered in this entry (i.e., 10th December 1916)? I am getting some confusing results via Google (some suggest it was a Bavarian unit, or that they may have been a similarly-named Bavarian unit?), and I am stumped as to how to proceed. Any guidance and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! -Daniel PS I just noticed the rather conventional lace-up boots in the man in the front row on the left! I wonder what happened to his regular boots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Daniel, One possibility that comes to mind is some form of signalling course. I don't read German, but what are the line headings that refer to the 5th December? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 6 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Daniel, One possibility that comes to mind is some form of signalling course. I don't read German, but what are the line headings that refer to the 5th December? Phil Per one of our fellow pals with a knack for reading the script, if say, at least in part (English translations via Google): Maskengröße: 3 (Mask Size: 3) Tag der ? in Gaskammer (Day ? in gas chamber) Tag des Empfangs der Brief 10.4.?17 (Days of receipt of the letter) I don't know that the handwritten lines have any connection to what is written above, which talks about his transfer to FAR 43...? -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Hello Daniel, Perhaps this simply means he qualified as a signaler, nothing unusual in artillery as far as I know khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Thanks Daniel, I've since found your sterling efforts on Khaki's Soldbuch thread, with only very little help from Egbert and Mick. If he was with FAR 43 before and after, I'm still thinking it suggests a course. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 6 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Thanks Daniel, I've since found your sterling efforts on Khaki's Soldbuch thread, with only very little help from Egbert and Mick. If he was with FAR 43 before and after, I'm still thinking it suggests a course. Phil Thanks, Phil. A few others have been helping too, behind the scenes as it were. Emanuel joined FAR 43 (on the Western Front) from FAR 47 (on the Eastern Front) on 9th of February 1916, so parhaps your and khaki's assessment that it referrs to a course in signalling is correct. Any thoughts about the Blinkstation photo? Any relationship, or just a coincidence? If the photo could be of Armee-Fernsprech Abtlg. Nr. 5, then we would have a date for the photo, more or less, and I can then weave it into the timeline of service. If not, then it will be just one of several nonsequiturs I am following up on when time permits. -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Thanks, Phil. A few others have been helping too, behind the scenes as it were. . Any thoughts about the Blinkstation photo? Any relationship, or just a coincidence? . -Daniel If the signal course is correct, then it would be likely that the photo is of the course members? khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 6 October , 2013 Share Posted 6 October , 2013 Daniel, I take it you have found this page in your Googling. As I read it, Fernsprech-Abteilung equates to a Communication Unit in general, not restricted to telephony only, although it excludes wireless. Which makes the Blinkstation photo a possibility. There is a separate School, at high command level, but I imagine this was reserved for training specialist signals troops, as opposed to those in other units, such as the artillery, who required more rudimentary training in the field. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 7 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2013 Daniel, I take it you have found this page in your Googling. As I read it, Fernsprech-Abteilung equates to a Communication Unit in general, not restricted to telephony only, although it excludes wireless. Which makes the Blinkstation photo a possibility. There is a separate School, at high command level, but I imagine this was reserved for training specialist signals troops, as opposed to those in other units, such as the artillery, who required more rudimentary training in the field. Phil I had, actually, but not in the context of the Soldbuch, but rather a while back in trying to learn more about the photo itself. The plot thickens... -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 7 October , 2013 Share Posted 7 October , 2013 Hello Daniel, I had a quick moment to look at your papers, etc. The items on the right page top indicate his equipment when transferred, Waffenrock - tunic, Mantel - overcoat, the others will take a bit of time to decipher. The lower part of the page shows he went on leave (Urlaub) twice, from 9-18 October 1917 and 12-26 October 1918. His rank is given as Kanonier. The Armee Fernsprech Abteilung 5 is the Army Telephone Detachment 5, the next one is a telephone traffic section or department and what looks like possibly the name of the commander whose unit he was in. The upper left section involves his pay. I should have some time to look over the handwritten section, but, if he was in a telephone section and wounded, it is quite possible he was listed under the unit and not the artillery regiment. Let me take a look. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S. Posted 8 October , 2013 Share Posted 8 October , 2013 Tag des Empfangs der Brief I'm fairly certain that "Brief" is in fact "Leich" and so the full word would be "Leichtatmer" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 8 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 8 October , 2013 Ralph, Ken, thanks for your interest. Ken, your suggestion certainly makes sense contextually. Ralph, I am not sure that he was with the Telephone unit when he was wounded; I have the VL entry for the 1916 event, and he is listed with FAR 43. I am having a heck of a time locating the 1915 GSW entry, though. Would you agree with the views exressed above, i.e., that the Fernsprech entry represents a period of time he was with them for training? I did find a VL entry for a fellow from this exact unit, postwar, listing him as a POW: http://forum.ahnenforschung.net/showthread.php?p=301923 -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 8 October , 2013 Share Posted 8 October , 2013 Tag d. Verpassens d. Gaskammer Tag d. Empfangs d. Leichtatmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 9 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 October , 2013 Aha! Thanks, Mick! Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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