Special thanks to Ian for for sending copies of these Soldbuchs of two JG 54 airmen.
Leutnant Alfred Budde
What is a Soldbuch?
A soldbuch (correct translation is payment
book) was the ID card of every German soldier. Inside was marked
the military movement (ie transfers and assignments) of the
soldier. Promotions to higher rank and degradations were also
listed. On page 22 the awards list was placed. This was not a
planned feature because the soldbuchs did not have a place for
awards to be listed. So instead the last page of the
unit-transfer column was used for award listings.
Another function of the soldbuch was as a passport. A soldier
needed to obtain permission, normally from the Stab, to move away
from his unit for a specified period (shown on page 23). This was
recorded in the soldbuch so the soldier could document that his
movements were authorized.
Notes:
Auszeichnungen - top of page 22 is German for Awards.
Feldpostnummer - purple stamp with postnumber inked out. Hiding the postnumber was common practice in case the pilot was shot down an enemy could not identify which unit he belonged to.
Gunther Rosipal pointed out a mistake I made in regards to the authorization of awards. I originally showed Oblt. Haala and Lt. Grollmus authorizing the Operational Flying Clasp for Fighters in Silver. This was wrong. Lt. Grollmus presented the award.
Grund - this line lists the reason for holiday.
Alfred Budde had two holidays longer than 5 day:
15.5.43 - 30.5.43 reconnaisance holiday
17.11.44 - 21.11.44 - special holiday. On the line Grund is the
German word 'notstand' which means emergency. Perhaps there was
trouble at home. This authorization was the Gruppenkommandeur
Hptm Klemm. Gunther also pointed out that Klemm used the
traditional green ink that of a Gruppenkommodeure or
Geschwaderkommodore.
Awards listed - Leutnant Alfred Budde, 12./JG 54 (IV Gruppe)
24.9.1942 Pilots Badge (Nr 108661). The number is a special key in which you could find out which flying school Budde received the badge from. It is NOT the 108,661st pilots badge issued.
30.1.1944 Operational Flying Clasp for Fighters in Bronze authorized by Hptm. Sinner
5.5.1944 Operational Flying Clasp for Fighters in Silver authorized by Hptm. Koall and given by Lt. Helmut Grollmus Knight's Cross, 75 victories
16.7.1944 Iron Cross 2nd Class authorized by Maj. Spaete and given by Oblt. Sigurd Haala German Cross in Gold, 40 victories
5.8.1944 Iron Cross 1st Class authorized by Maj. Spaete and given by Oblt. Sigurd Haala
20.8.1944 Operational Flying Clasp for Fighters in Gold Leave 2 (page 23) authorized by Maj. Spaete
Alfred Budde was posted missing in action on December 12, 1944.