Wa.

[Maus]

Gentlemen,

Does anyone have any clue what Wa. stands for on a German Supply chart? The complete line is "Wa. 126 (B)" It also has a little black triangular flag, with two boxes. I am assuming this unit is a battalion, with two companies, but the "Wa." is stumping me. I am thinking it is a "guard battalion", but I am not sure. I have looked through the "Handbook of WWII German Military Symbols & Abbreviations 1943-1945", "German Military Symbols" (produced by the U.S. Military Intelligence Division during WWII) , and Tom Houlihann's excellent "Kriegsprache", and I cannot seem to come up with a decent translation. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks,

Brian Burmeister

[Tom Houlihan]

"Wacht" would seem to make sense.

Thanks for the compliment!

[Maus]

Hi Tom,

You are very welcome for the compliment. I would be completely lost without your book, as there are an infanite number of abbrevations and military terms in the NARA records that make translating this material a challange!

"Wacht" does seem to make the most sense, and in the "German Military Symbols" report published by the U.S. Intelligence Division, Wa. was listed as a "Wacht Battalion".

Regards,

Brian

[Leo Niehorster]

Hi,
A Wachbatallion (B)
(Wach without the extra "t" at the end of the word.)
The (B) indicated that it was a former Labor (Bautruppen) unit and was still equipped with an equipment column.

[Maus]

Hi Dr. Niehorster,

That information brings this full circle, and completely answers my question. It is interesting that they took the labor (Bautruppen) unit and turned them into a Wachbattalion (and that they still remained equipped as a bau batallion!). This is interesting indeed! I was curious what the "B" stood for, and now I know. Thanks again Dr. Niehorster.

Regards,

Brian Burmeister