SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

German SS and Waffen-SS 1923-1945.
John P. Moore
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SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by John P. Moore »

Because there appears to be some interest here in the SS-Kriegsberichter Abteilung/Standarte I will post some documents that show the organization and staffing of this unit at various times. Comments from Feldgrau members is very welcome.

This first document is from June 1944

John
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John P. Moore
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

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John P. Moore
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

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6 more pages will follow
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Marc Rikmenspoel
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by Marc Rikmenspoel »

Thanks for posting these, John! I'm surprised by how few names I recognize, but then, photographers were only a small part of the unit.

Jobst Gösling was very active as a photographer, before being assigned to his administrative post in Riga.

Wiking KB platoon commander walter Slapak was a very-active photographer. I believe Willi Altstadt held the post before Slapak, he too was an active photographer.

I'm not familiar with Charly Leh, who was in the Kurt Eggers staff as head of the photography group.
John P. Moore
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

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haen2
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by haen2 »

Thank you John,
As usual great work !
Did in your reasearch you run into the name van Rietschoten ?? He was an SS PK man, supposedly an Ustuf, and was KIA in Russia.
He was a brother of a friend of my wife.
Thanks
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by Foundy »

Hi All

You must mean the Dutch SS Kriegsberichter Gerrit Christian van Rietschote who was born in Amsterdam
in 26.11.1913.

He was a wortberichter with SS KB Zug/Trupp Freiwillige Legion Nederland .
Not sure exactly when he died but it was around the second half of 1943.

If you have any other information i would be most interested.

Regards

Andy Found
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haen2
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by haen2 »

Hi Andy,
No, dazznottim . I was wrong to say that he fell in Russia. ( got the wrong feedback) He was missing in action for some time, but survived the war and died in the late 50's in Holland.
Thanks for your input though.
H.N.
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by Marc Rikmenspoel »

The handwritten name for the Estonian Brigade is Kurbjuhn, for Paul Kurbjuhn. He submitted reports about the Estonians to higher SS authorities, based on his observations. Another Kurbjuhn, a younger man named Ernst Kurbjuhn, was a photographer with Wiking during the spring and summer of 1944. I don't know if the two men were related.
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-michael
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by -michael »

I actually already have a copy of this list, and the SS-Kriegsberichter-Kompanien that where attached to the I., II. and III. SS-Panzer-Korps aren’t listed. I was wondering if there is any information about these three Kompanien?

And sometimes the KB-units that where attached to the Leibstandarte, Das Reich and Totenkopf-Divisionen where mentioned as Kompanien instead of Züge. Particularly in the Feldpost-listing. Has somebody an explanation?
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by Foundy »

Hi Michael

Second time lucky !!, i typed this up the other day but when i came to preview it, i was logged out and it disapeared.

The confusion with the SS KB Zuges and the SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies stems from, what was actually planned, what was actually available to form the various units, and the final composition of the various units due to a lack of resources, losses ,re-assignments etc.

The original SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie was formed with 4 Zuges 1,2,3,& 4 assigned to DR,T,LAH & Polizei divisions.
The original kriegsberichter Kompanie expanded to become the SS Kriegsberichter Abteilung, with the number of numberred Zuges rising to 13 by May 1943.
Besides the various Halb Zuges & Trupps with various Legions, brigades etc and the Kommando, Kampfpropaganda and operation units.

In late May early July 1943 the first three SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies were gradually formed.
By November 1943 these Kompanies had a I Zug and a II Zug.
SS KB Zuges 1,2,3,5 are no longer shown,with these Zuges now becoming the I or II Zuges of the Kompanies.

As the SS Kriegsberichter Abteilung expanded into SS Standarte Kurt Eggers, the 4,5,6,& 7 Kriegsberichter Kompanies began to be formed between December 1943 and April 1944.
By January 1944 only the 4,6,7 numberred SS KB Zuges are shown, besides the various Halb Zuges & Trupps with various Legions, brigades etc and the Kommando, Kampfpropaganda and operation units.

The Kompanies were formed for the various SS Korps , but the composition of the Korps and the attached divisions etc varied so the Kompanies were not always tied with the Korps, and the various divisions sometimes had a Zug or the Kompanie attached.

In December 1943-january 1944.
SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 1 is in the west with the forming I SS PzKps ,with the I zug in action with LAH in russia, and the II zug in Brussels.

SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 2 is with II SS.Pz Kps in Russia and is mentioned as being in Vinnitsa.
With the zuges with divisions.

SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 3 is shown with Wiking in Korun ,either with the I Zug or the I Zug and the Kompanie with the division?
SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 3 ?? is then at Narwa with III SS.Pz.Kps under the command of Benno Schaeppi.

This is the structure until April 1944, but by June 1944 the SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies are no longer shown, and the SS Kriegsberichter Zuges assigned to the various Divisions, Brigades etc are now named SS Kriegsberichter Zuges.

For example the LAH Zug is now SS-KB-Zug / leibsdandarte Adolf Hitler.
LAH's KB zug was originally the 3rd SS KB Zug, then became the I Zug of the I SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie.

The organisation with the named SS KB Zuges remained until the end of the war,with the named Zuges sometimes becoming Halb-Zug or Trupps due to losses.

Was the re-organisation too simplyfy the organisation of the Standarte, or because of losses or a lack of resources to maintain the structure?

I hope this helps.
Any corrections or new information is most welcome.

thanks

Andy Found
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Re: SS-Kriegsberichter Standarte Organization

Post by Foundy »

Foundy wrote:Hi Michael

Second time lucky !!, i typed this up the other day but when i came to preview it, i was logged out and it disapeared.

The confusion with the SS KB Zuges and the SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies stems from, what was actually planned, what was actually available to form the various units, and the final composition of the various units due to a lack of resources, losses ,re-assignments etc.

The original SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie was formed with 4 Zuges 1,2,3,& 4 assigned to DR,T,LAH & Polizei divisions.
The original kriegsberichter Kompanie expanded to become the SS Kriegsberichter Abteilung, with the number of numberred Zuges rising to 13 by May 1943.
Besides the various Halb Zuges & Trupps with various Legions, brigades etc and the Kommando, Kampfpropaganda and operation units.

In late May early July 1943 the first three SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies were gradually formed.
By November 1943 these Kompanies had a I Zug and a II Zug.
SS KB Zuges 1,2,3,5 are no longer shown,with these Zuges now becoming the I or II Zuges of the Kompanies.

As the SS Kriegsberichter Abteilung expanded into SS Standarte Kurt Eggers, the 4,5,6,& 7 Kriegsberichter Kompanies began to be formed between December 1943 and April 1944.
By January 1944 only the 4,6,7 numberred SS KB Zuges are shown, besides the various Halb Zuges & Trupps with various Legions, brigades etc and the Kommando, Kampfpropaganda and operation units.

The Kompanies were formed for the various SS Korps , but the composition of the Korps and the attached divisions etc varied so the Kompanies were not always tied with the Korps, and the various divisions sometimes had a Zug or the Kompanie attached.

In December 1943-january 1944.
SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 1 is in the west with the forming I SS PzKps ,with the I zug in action with LAH in russia, and the II zug in Brussels.

SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 2 is with II SS.Pz Kps in Russia and is mentioned as being in Vinnitsa.
With the zuges with divisions.

SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 3 is shown with Wiking in Korun ,either with the I Zug or the I Zug and the Kompanie with the division?
Rolf D'Alquen is shown as Fuhrer SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 3 in march 1944.
SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie 3 ?? is then at Narwa with III SS.Pz.Kps under the command of Benno Schaeppi.

This is the structure until April 1944, but by June 1944 the SS Kriegsberichter Kompanies are no longer shown, and the SS Kriegsberichter Zuges assigned to the various Divisions, Brigades etc are now named SS Kriegsberichter Zuges.

For example the LAH Zug is now SS-KB-Zug / leibsdandarte Adolf Hitler.
LAH's KB zug was originally the 3rd SS KB Zug, then became the I Zug of the I SS Kriegsberichter Kompanie.

The organisation with the named SS KB Zuges remained until the end of the war,with the named Zuges sometimes becoming Halb-Zug or Trupps due to losses.

Was the re-organisation too simplyfy the organisation of the Standarte, or because of losses or a lack of resources to maintain the structure?

I hope this helps.
Any corrections or new information is most welcome.

thanks

Andy Found
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