Update of HWIS – S.D. Police Markings

[Don M]

A combination of new information and reconsideration leads me to believe that the Type 3 (1932) markings S.D.I, II, III, IV and VI represented the large Schutzpolizei commands in Essen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Duisburg-Hamborn and Oberhausen, respectively. This augments material in History Writ in Steel, Chapters 4 and 7. The bases for these identifications are as follows:

1. S.D.I is convincingly identified in the book as the Schupo command at either Essen or Düsseldorf. Upon further consideration, I believe it is more likely to be Essen as that city was the location of the headquarters of the police general responsible for the Ruhr region and probably would have been designated by the Roman numeral I. This is however a tentative identification.

2. S.D.II is convincingly identified in the book as Wuppertal (Elberfeld-Barmen prior to 1930).

3. If S.D.I was Essen, S.D.III would have been Düsseldorf. This identification must also be considered tentative.

4. Recent information from Klaus Merzbach has confirmed that S.D.IV was Duisburg-Hamborn http://(http://luger.gunboards.com/s....php?p=115963).

5. S.D.VI very probably was Oberhausen. As indicated in Appendix D of HWIS, there were five large Schupo commands in the Düsseldorf district. Four of these are accounted for above, leaving Oberhausen. Of the three remaining commands, only S.D.VI has recorded property numbers suggestive of a large command (HWIS, Table 7-7).

This leaves the mid-size commands located in Krefeld-Uerdingen and München-Gladbach as S.D.V and VII, although it is not yet possible to say which was which.