history1 wrote: ↑02 Feb 2019, 23:02
B Hellqvist wrote: ↑02 Feb 2019, 20:29
history1 wrote: ↑02 Feb 2019, 15:30
Doesn´t make sense to run around with RAD patches as those three belonged to the Wehrmacht at this time and an additional benefit was that thus they were portected due to the Geneve Conventions and the Hague Land Warfare Convention.
RAD wasn't a part of the Wehrmacht
per se, but an auxilary organization. You see that they still have their RAD cap badges. The sleeve badges should be on their greatcoats.
[...]
They were part of the Wehrmacht by wearing the armband "Deutsche Wehrmacht"!
And feel free to point out the text pasage which says that the Reicharbeitsdient was meant as auxilary for the Wehrmacht:
https://tinyurl.com/yc5bqyes
First off, I must correct myself: the RAD units supporting the Wehrmacht didn't wear their unit patches; only their cap badges and belt buckles showed that they were part of the RAD, the "Deutsche Wehrmacht" armbands showing their affilation. That being said, I have a photo of RAD men inspecting a knocked out Soviet tank, wearing regular RAD insignia and no Wehrmacht armbands.
It's one thing what the founding document says, another what became practice as the war began.
The RAD was classed as Wehrmachtgefolge (lit. Defence Force Following). Auxiliary forces with this status, while not a part of the Armed Forces themselves, provided such vital support that they were given protection by the Geneva Convention. Some, including the RAD, were militarised.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Labour_Service#War
Also:
Contrary to common assumption though, the RAD was not, in fact, a part of the German Armed Forces, but as stated earlier, an independent state organization. The confusion regarding the RAD resulted largely from a move in 1938 in which the Reichsarbeitdienst and the Organization Todt (another labor organization) were directed to support the Wehrmacht in various auxiliary tasks - a task they would perform throughout WWII. In fact, the Reichsarbeitdienst was actually known as a Wehrmachtsgefolge, or armed forces auxiliary. What this meant was that the RAD was deemed an important auxiliary organization to the smooth operations of the regular armed forces. Although later in WWII they were even allowed to carry weapons, they were never actually a part of the official armed forces, a status reserved exclusively for the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, and tactically, the Waffen-SS.
https://www.feldgrau.com/WW2-German-Nat ... eitsdienst
