Original German WWII Identity Disc Dog Tag – Fallschirm Panzergrenadier Regiment 3 Hermann Göring – No. 186 Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Genuine German Late WWII Hermann Göring Division identity disc (aka; Dog Tag) Erkennungsmarke, used to identify soldiers in the field. These were made of plated steel, aluminum, or zinc, and were designed so that if a soldier died, the bottom half of the tag would be broken off, while the other half remained with their body.

This example is made of stamped zinc and is in very good lightly patinated condition. It is marked as follows on both sides:

210791
186

“186” is the soldier’s ID number, and “210791” is the Luftwaffe Mobilierungs Nummer (Luftwaffe mobilization number) for 12. / Fallschirmjäger Regiment 16 (16th Paratrooper Regiment, 12th Company). This later became 8. / Fallschirm Panzergrenadier Regiment 3, Hermann Göring (3rd Parachute Armored Infantry, 8th Company), which was formed on 24 September 1944 in the area of Radom, Poland. It subsequently was joined with the Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring to form the Fallschirm Panzer Corps Hermann Göring. After heavy fighting against the Soviet Army in Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, and Saxony, the Corps surrendered to Soviet troops on May 8, 1945.

The Fallschirm-Panzerkorps Hermann Göring was activated in early October 1944, and the Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier Division 3 Hermann Göring, along with its sister Panzer division, Hermann Göring Panzer Division, was transferred to the command of the corps. The Panzerkorps was then transferred to the East Prussia–Kurland region to halt the Soviet offensive which had already achieved the isolation of Army Group North in the Kurland Pocket and was now aimed at the capture of East Prussia. The Panzerkorps was involved in heavy defensive fighting near Gumbinnen, and when the Soviet assault petered out in late November, the Panzerkorps set up static defensive lines.

The massive Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive trapped the Hermann Göring Panzerkorps in the Heiligenbeil Pocket along with the rest of the 4th Army. In February, the Heer’s élite Großdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division was attached to the corps.

Despite several breakout attempts, the Panzerkorps had to be evacuated by sea to Swinemünde in Pomerania. Upon landing, it was thrown back into combat, defending the Oder-Neisse line against Soviet attacks through mid-March. To bolster the corps’ strength, the elite Brandenburg Panzergrenadier Division was attached to the unit.

In April, the remnants of the Hermann Göring Panzerkorps was sent to Silesia, and in heavy fighting was slowly pushed back into Saxony. On April 22, the Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring was one of two divisions that broke through the inter-army boundary of the Polish 2nd Army (Polish People’s Army or LWP) and the Soviet 52nd Army, in an action near Bautzen, destroying parts of their communications and logistics trains and severely damaging the Polish (LWP) 5th Infantry Division and 16th Tank Brigade before being stopped two days later.

By early May, the Panzerkorps was positioned near the Saxon capitol of Dresden. The remains of the corps began breakout attempts to the west, in order to surrender to the Americans who were currently halted on the Elbe. Despite valiant breakout attempts, the corps was encircled, and although several small groups successfully made it through to the west, the majority of the corps surrendered to the Soviets on 8 May 1945.