Posted 15 years ago
stepback_a…
(363 items)
This is a rare grouping that belonged to Leonhard Wagner, a crew member of the U 874. The faded red U on the face page of the pay book, denotes that he was in the U boat force. It consists of his pay book, his glider pilot I.D. book, and two flight log books. He first learned to fly gliders, and then moved up to various aircraft. The type of aircraft, and the times he flew them are logged into the two flight logs. He also learned to fly the Focke-Angelis fa 330A Bachstelze which was a rotary kite that was teathered by a cable to a moving u boat. This allowed the pilot to observe targets up to 33 miles away while at 220 meters high. He would then telephone down to the U boat where the potential target was located. Only a few U boats carried these kites, stored below the decks. A U boat paybook is very rare in itself, but to have this crewman's flight logs as well was a real find. This man survived the war, and was a POW for a short time.
Stepback, There is something similar at a local store. It belonged to a German Soilder, I believe Wehrmacht. It has his military idenifcation book, With a date of 1942, A picture of him, his girlfriend and a letter from her. They are all original, He wants $150, What do you think about something like that? That solider died on the battlefield, The vet that brought it back read him his last rights.
In todays market $150.00 seems a little high for an ordinary paybook, even with the letter. The exceptions are if the soldier was a member of an elite division such as Grossdeutschland, or an SS Division. Also if the soldier won an award such as a Knights Cross, German Cross, etc. Awards are usually listed on page 23 of the paybook. Is the book a soldbuch or wehrpass? I hope this helps.