wwii axis reenactment forum

Hello all!

What would a Wehrmacht staff car driver have on his uniform? Any particular insignia or rank?

Thanks!

Franz

You would need a Driver's Proficiency Badge:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/war_bad ... _badge.htm

franz20 wrote:Hello all!

What would a Wehrmacht staff car driver have on his uniform? Any particular insignia or rank?

Thanks!

Franz

Drivers were awarded the driver badge (see below), this came in three grades (gold, silver
bronze) and was a qualification, ie: tests had to be passed for it to be awarded, also the
driver must be accident free, any breach of this and the qualification was taken away. As far as "staff car drivers", as far as i know any other rank was allowed, i have seen pics of
Feldwebels (Sergeants) and Obergefrieters (Corporals) as a staff car driver, even some pics of
Privates behind the wheel, i think it just comes down to who was available or if a specific
driver was requested, for instance General Rommels driver of his "Greif" half track was a
Leutnant???

Regards Pipes

I know of the driver badges. But I believe those were issued in more of the eastern Europe countries such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.


Thanks for the input

Franz

franz20 wrote:I know of the driver badges. But I believe those were issued in more of the eastern Europe countries such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.


Thanks for the input

Franz

No kamerad these badges were issued in all theatres/campaigns, if you take a look at the
book "Rommels Army In Africa" there is some information in there telling the criteria of the
award etc, also in the colour plates there is some examples taken from POW's.

Good luck, Pipes

The design of the badge was created by a Waffen-SS enlisted man just thought I would ad that an award notification was made in the persons Wehrpass and Soldbuch. The award was aimed at military drivers who distinguished themselves during combat and who took exceptional care in maintaining their vehicles under the most harsh of conditions . The "Kraftfahrbewährungsabzeichen" was instituted in three grades (Bronze, Silver, Gold) on the 23rd of October 1942 and was made retroactive to 01.12.1940.

Award criteria

In the case of a military award the badge was rendered by the unit commanding Office, for civilians the badge was authorized by the Minister of the Interior.

The service areas where strictly described for award of this badge and were as follows,

I) Service from 01.12.1940 in the following areas;

Occupied Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania
Areas to the north of the old Russian border (before the attachment from the Baltic states to the USSR ).
Finland, Norway (north of the Polar circle or in Lappland )
Africa
II) Merit in the above mentioned areas under hard conditions, and these are further specified as follow :

Motorcycle dispatcher : 90 days of service
Drivers from armed vehicles : 120 days of service
Drivers from miscellaneous vehicles : 150 days of service (especially close to the fighting forces such as staff drivers)
Drivers from supply vehicles: 165 days of service
Drivers attached to different commando units of the Wehrmacht: 185 days of service
The following candidates were eligible for the badge :

Drivers attached to the Wehrmacht (any branch)
Drivers (non Wehrmacht personnel) who provided service for the Wehrmacht.
Foreign volunteers could were awarded this badge, but allied troops where excluded. Posthumous awards where not allowed.

With the date of 09.03.1944 the Oberkommando des Heeres added further operational areas to the award criteria as follows,

From 01.06.1943: Sicily
From 01.07.1943: Sardinië and Korsika
From 01.08.1943: The Italian half isle south from the line Ancona - Piombino.
From 09.09.1943: Albania
Another expansion of the operational areas was made by the Oberkommando des Heeres on 16.05.1944;

From 01.02.1944 : al the backwards area's from Heeresgruppe Nord im Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania;
The last expansion was made public on 23.09.1944, again by the OdH

From 01.06.1944 : all the backwards areas on al fronts as been approved by Heeresgruppen Befehl
Exceptions could be made for the required service time providing the nature of the service rendered was exceptional noteworthy or under extremely difficult terrain or climate conditions. Once a person qualified for the badge he was expected to maintain the level of performance, any driving conviction or vehicle neglect would result in the award being withdrawn.

what were the qualification criteria for gold, bronze and silver, time served?

danke

Bronze:a.90days service as dispatch rider
b.120 days service as a front line supply driver.
c.135 days service as a driver of any other military transport vehicle.
The silver and gilt were awarded for periods of longer service.Once awarded the driver was expected to maintain the leval of performance.Any driving conviction or vehicle neglect would result in the award being withdrawn.John

ah danke John....