German Unit Insignia of WWII - Part I Ground Units, Volume 1
Authors: Waldemar Trojca and John Fedorowicz
Publisher: Model Hobby, Katowice-Speyer-Winnipeg 2006
ISBN: 83-60041-17-2

<p><font size="2" face="Verdana">
<bR><bR>
During World War Two the German armed forces displayed a bewildering variety of unit insignia. Most units went through numerous changes to their unit markings in an attempt to keep the
enemy guessing on unit identities and dispositions. Probably one of the most famous changes to unit markings came with the German attack in 1943 at Kusrk, "Operation Zitadelle", where participating
units were assigned new unit insignia based on a variety of geometric shapes .
<BR><BR>Unit insiginia ranged from simple geometric shapes to more elaborate designs. To add to the confusion many units used designs that were 
very similar in appearance to that used by other units. And quite often units would modify their insignia such as removing or adding borders, adding oak leave wreaths or crossed swords
when the unit leader was awarded these to his Knight's Cross, or by placing the unit insignia inside or merged it with a sub-unit's tactical markings. 
So many units used minor variations on circles, squares, bears, sun wheels, swords, horses, dogs, four leaf clovers and so on, that identifying a vehicle with a unit is near on 
impossible without some form of context as to when and where the photograph was taken, and even then, poor quality of many period photographs make the task even more difficult. 
<BR><BR>
<font size=3><b>The Book</b></font>
<BR><BR>
This volume is a softcover (8.25" x 11.75" / 20.9cm x 30cm), with 80 glossy pages, 26 of which contain colour vehicle profiles and unit insignia and 32 pages with photographs. 
All of the units covered have text 
describing its history and area of operations. 
More famous units, such as the 1. SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" have expansive
entries, while the lesser know units, such as the Flak regiments get only a paragraph or two. One unit, Eisenbahn-Transportschutz-Flak, is missing its write up entirely. Each unit also has
a one line mention on when the insignia were used. Annoyingly these are done as a separate notation and not placed with the with the unit history.
<BR><BR>
Black and white photographs are used to illustrate the unit insignia and their placement on vehicles, but only up to a point. Like the text, the more famous units
 have reasonable photographic coverage, while almost all of the lesser know units get none. The photographs are somewhat disappointing as for the most part they are grainy as a result of being 
 enlarged too much, and on a couple of the Flak unit photos the insignia is so indistinct as to be useless. They are also quite large.
In my opinion, the photographs take up too much space in the book. Some judicious cropping and less enlarging would have allowed for a few more supporting photographs of the other units 
to be included.  
<BR><BR>
I found the colour art work for the vehicles, all of which are beautifully rendered, a bit puzzling. Usually a these are added to a book to pesent information on camouflage and placement
of markings, which for the most part these do, but a few do not. For example there is a Sd.Kfz.7/2 of LSSAH that has no markings at all, and there is a Tiger I Ausf.E of 8/s.SS-Pz.Rgt.2 commanded by
SS-Ostuf. Reninghaus that has a striking Mickey Mouse motif on the front glacis, but the Mickey Mouse does not appear in the insignia art work nor on the decal sheet. The same goes 
for the art work of the Stug III Ausf.B of Michael Whitmann which has a dog's head symbol, which is not in the insignia section nor on the decal sheet.
<br><br>Below is a list of the units covered:
<BR><BR>
<table border>
<tr>
<td align=center>
<b>Armored Divisions</b></td>
<td align=center>
<b>Infantry Divisions</b></td>
<td align=center colspan=4>
<b>Flak Units</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=top><ul>
 <li>1. Panzer-Division</li>
 <li>2. Panzer-Division</li> 
 <li>1. SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"</li>
 <li>2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich"</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td valign=top>
<ul> 
<li>1. Infanterie-Division</li> 
<li>2. Infanterie-Division/2. Infanterie-Division (mot.)</li> 
<li>3. Infanterie-Division/3. Infanterie-Division (mot.)</li> 
<li>4. Infanterie-Division</li> 
<li>5. Infanterie-Division/5. leichte Infanterie-Division/5. J&auml;ger-Division</li> 
<li>6. Infanterie-Division/6. Volks-Grenadier-Division</li> 
<li>7. Infanterie-Division</li> 
<li>8. Infanterie-Division /8. J&auml;ger-Division</li> 
<li>9. Infanterie-Division/9. Volks-Grenadier-Division</li> 
<li>10. Infanterie-Division (mot.)</li> 
<li>11. Infanterie-Division</li> 
<li>12. Infanterie-Division/12. Grenadier-Division/12. Volks-Grenadier-Division</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td valign=top>
<ul>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.22</li>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.47</li>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.55</li>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.22</li>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.(mot.) 614</li>
  <li>Fliegerabwehr-Btl.(mot.) 616</li>
  <li>Heeres-Flakartillerie-Btl.302</li>
  <li>4(Fla.)/Pz.Jg.Abt.332</li>
  <li>Flak-Abt.501</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 6</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 9</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 10</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 13</li>
  </ul>
  </td>
<td valign=top><ul>
  <li>Flak-Division 18</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 19</li>
  <li>Flak-Division 20</li>
  <li>Festungs-Infanterie-Flak-Btl.837
  <li>V. Flakkorps</li>
  <li>Flak-Sturm-Rgt.3</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.4</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.5</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.6</li>
  <li>I/Flak-Rgt.9</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.12</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.18</li>
  <li>I/Flak-Rgt.19</li>
    </ul>
  </td>
<td valign=top><ul>
<li>Flak-Rgt.24</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.26</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.27</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.33</li>
  <li>I/Flak-Rgt.42</li>
  <li>I/Flak-Rgt.47</li>
  <li>I/Flak-Rgt.64</li>
  <li>Stab/Flak-Rgt.135</li>
  <li>Flak-Rgt.201</li>
  <li>gemischte Flak-Abt.295(v)</li>
  <li>gemischte Flak-Abt.614(o)</li>
  <li>Reserve-Flak-Abt.394</li>
      </ul>
  </td>
<td valign=top><ul>
<li>Eisenbahn-Transportschutz-Flak</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.71</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.73</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.75</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.76</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.81</li>
  <li>leichte Flak-Abt.99</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<BR><BR>
<font size=3><b>The Decals</b></font>
<BR><BR>
With the book come three sheets of waterslide decals, two measuring 7"x10" (180mm x 260mm) and one measuring 5"x7" (130mm x 179mm), both of which are smaller than advertised on the book's cover. 

The images on the sheets come in four distinct size ranges. My guess is that they are ostensibly for 1/35, 1/48, 1/72(1/76) &amp; 1/144 scales. I would venture that all 
but the largest images would have some use in 1/72 scale, the modeller choosing the appropriate sized decal for the intended vehicle. As far as I can tell, all units 
in the book have at least two decal images for each insignia presented in the book, in each of the four sizes. The images 
do not have numbers associating them back to the book so the modeller is forced to refer back to the color pages as to which image is for which unit.  
Also, further reference sources will be needed for the actual location of the decals on a vehicle. 
<BR><BR>
As with the text, the more famous units have a lot of decals. Using 1. SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" again as an example, there are 13 different variants of this unit's
very famous key insignia. On the other hand, many of the lesser units usually have but one variant of their insignia.
<BR><BR>
The printing is spot on for register. Each image is printed separately on very thin carrier film. Opacity looks to be good but this can only be verified with use.
<BR><BR>
<font size=3><b>Accurracy</b></font><BR><BR>
There has been a lot of study over the years regarding the plethora of German unit insignia used througout World War II. The more famous units have been well covered and their insignia are
well known and documented, and in the case of this set, the decals for these units are nice to have but most of their insignia can be had from other manufacturers. Where this book appears to 
excel is in the presentation of some lesser known Flak units. There are quite a few of these presented that I have not seen before.
<br><br>
<font size=3><b>Conclusion</b></font>
<br>
I find this set to be a mixed bag. The book is somewhat indifferent though it has good basic information of the divisions and their insignia, but it lacks 
details on the location of the insignias and what vehicles they were used on. The best part has to be the decals. The sheets are very useful covering different scale sizes and have a good 
coverage of numerous Flak units which are not as well served by other decal offerings.
<BR><BR>

<b>References</b><BR><BR>
[1] Wehrmacht Divisional Signs 1938-1945, Theodor Harmann, Almark Publishing, London 1970 ISBN: 0-85524-007-5<BR>
[2] Panzertruppen: German armored troups 1939-1945, Francois de Lannoy &amp; Josef Charita, Editionas Heimdal, Bayeux 2001 ISBN: 2-84048-151-0<BR>
[3] <a href="http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/emblems/emblemsmain.htm" target="_blank">www.wwiidaybyday.com</a><br>
[4] <a href="http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=81014" target="_blank">forum.axishistory.com</a><br>
[5] <a href="http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103481&highlight=dice" target="_blank">www.wehrmacht-awards.com</a><br>
[6] <a href="http://did.panzer.pagesperso-orange.fr/Phares-MARQUAGES-Koursk.html" target="_blank">Pleins Phares</a>

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www.jjfpub.mb.ca
www.modelhobby.pl

ISBN-10: 8360041172
ISBN-13: 978-8360041178