Erkennungsmarken
The above pictured Erkennungsmarke is the one I wear. It is marked 522 St. Kp. I. J.E.B. G.D. and stamped O on the back. This stands for number 522 on the roll of the origination company, 1st battalion, of the Infantry Ersatz Batalion of Großdeutschland and the O is the blood type. This is believed to be an original, but due to the fact that it is from an elite unit, it could be a fake.
The Erkennungsmarke was issued once you joined your first unit. Your first unit would be a training unit so most likely is would be an Ersatz Battalion (Replacement Battalion). The unit would most likely have a supply of pre-stamped, serialized Erkennungsmarken. When issued the new bearer’s blood type would be stamped on the disc. The blood type, in this case, would most likely be offset or a different size/font. Other Erkennungsmarken would be stamped from blanks and all information, including blood type and serial number, would be typed at the same time.
If you Erkennungsmarke was lost it would be replaced by your current unit and an entry would be made in your Soldbuch to reflect the change.
Example-Your Erkennungsmarke reads 3./Inf.Ers.Btl. 123 A356A and you loose it. Your current unit is 5./ Grenadier Regiment 123. What does you new Erkennungsmarke read? 5./Gren.Rgt. 123 A555A. Your old serial number would be replaced.
What should my Erkennungsmarke have stamped on to it?
The name of your Ersatz unit, the serial number, your blood type. That is all the information that should be recorded there.
What would the name of my Ersatz unit be?
Ersatz units were usually Battalion size formations. Most of their names are derived from the main Regiment that they provide replacements for. Example-If the Inf.Regt. 222 gets replacements from Inf.Ers.Btl. 222.
I’m in 9./Art.Regt.43-does that mean that my Ersatz unit is 9./Art.Ers.Btl. 43?
No, but close. Most Ersatz units were of normal Battalion strength (4 Kompanien) so you would most likely be in Kompanie 1-4. There were some cases when there were reinforced battalions with more than 4 Kompanien.
Common Abbreviations:
Abt.-Abteilung (Section)
Art. –Artillerie (Artillery)
Aufkl.-Aufklärung (Recon)
Bau-Bau (Building)
Btl.-Bataillon (Battalion)
Ers. –Ersatz (Replacement)
Geb.Jäg-Gebirgs Jäger (Mountain Troop)
Gen.-Genessenden (Convalescent)
Gren. –Grenadier
Inf.-Infanterie (Infantry)
Jäg.-Jäger (Hunter)
Kf.-Kraftfahrer (Truck Driving)
mot.-Motorisiert (Motorized)
Pi. –Pionier (Engineer)
Pz.-Panzer (Armoured)
San.-Sanitäts (Medical)
schw.-schwere (heavy)
Stamm-Stamm (trunk, orgination)