Little fact i just read!

[Lusche]

This is the only reason for the application of the band that I've read.

A lot of very strange stories of all kinds are floating around the internet.

It doesn't make much sense to me.

A Geschwaderkommodore was not selected by the Geschwader. He was selected by the Luftwaffe High command. If the High Command had at one point suddenly "found out" about a Kommodore's family that would have made him "Wehrunwürdig" (unworthy to do military service), they would simply had removed him from his post. The Geschwader would have no say in this at all.
So it would have been quite absurd to "punish" a whole unit for anything but a units behaviour in front of the enemy or similar things. It would just had created unrest. The usual way was to handle those matters quickly and in silence.

On "Wehrunwürdigkeit": on 8th April 1940 the OHW released a decree to dismiss all men of "mixed blood" as well as those married to a Jewish wife. Until 1942 there were generally exceptions possible, but only with Hitler's consent. All "jüdisch versippte" (=married to full, half or whatever jews) Officers were finally dispelled from the Wehrmacht ranks in 1944.

[Serenity]

I see what you're saying and questioned it myself.   Maybe he used the word differently.    No biggie.   You make a decision yet?

No decision, USMC is not giving me the info I need.

[Motherland]

A lot of very strange stories of all kinds are floating around the internet.

I'm not talking about the internet

'But if Moelders was on the way up, Hans-Juergen von Cramon-Taubadel, Kommodore of JG 53, was on the way out. Having aroused Goering's ire  by marrying  into a family whose Aryan credentials were not quite 100 percent, von Cramon was the only one of the 'Old Guard' Kommodoren not to receive the Knight's Cross, whilst his unit was collectively 'punished' by being ordered at the end of July to overpaint its proud 'Ace of Spades' insignia with a simple red band. The latter is clearly apparent of the Bf 109 of Hauptmann Guenther von Maltzahn, Kommandeur of II./JG 53. The pilot standing in front of the aircraft is Gerhard Michalski, future 73 Experte and Oak Leaves recipient.'
(Photo on the Left)

And when Hauptmann Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke assumed command of III/.JG 53 on 13 August upon the death of Harro Harder, he retaliated against Goering's 'political' order banning the "ace of Spades' by having the Swastika obliterated on all his Gruppe's machines, as witness 'White 5' of 7./JG 53 seen here after being brought down over Kent on 6 September. Finally, on 20 November - the day of JG 53's 500th victory - the order was rescinded, the whole affair conveniently 'forgotten', and the 'Ace of Spades' reappeared to adorn the Geschwader's fighters right up until the war's end!'
(photo of White 5 below)

From Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41 by John Weal.

From Wiki's article on von Cramon-Taubadel, with Prien's book on JG 53 cited as reference;
'Major von Cramon-Taubadel was first married to Viola von Kaufmann-Asse (17 Aug 1912 – 4 November 1997) on 16 November 1933 and secondly to Ilse Wehrs (8 November 1919 – 16 June 1988) on 5 May 1948. Viola von Kaufmann-Asse was of Jewish ancestry, a fact which came to the attention of Hermann Göring during the Battle of France. The consequence was that Göring ordered that the entire JG 53 must remove their Ace of Spades badge (Pik As) and paint a red band around the noses of their aircraft as a mark of shame.'

[fudgums]

it was during the battle of britain, would that have any part in why he wasn't booted?

[Lusche]

it was during the battle of britain, would that have any part in why he wasn't booted?

In my opinion not.
Officers, particularly high ranking ones were sacked for all kinds of reasons, at every point in the war. And remember: If he had a "jewish" (according to the Nuremberg laws) wife, he only could have stayed in the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Britain (see date on OKW declaration in my earlier post) with a special exemption permit by Hitler himself. How probable would have been a "humiliation" of that man and unit by the Luftwaffe then?
This sort of "punishing" a whole Geschwader for the Kommodore's wife's heritage doesn't make any sense at all. Either there is much more to the story than that, or this marking has a completely different, mundane reason.

'But if Moelders was on the way up, Hans-Juergen von Cramon-Taubadel, Kommodore of JG 53, was on the way out. Having aroused Goering's ire  by marrying  into a family whose Aryan credentials were not quite 100 percent, von Cramon was the only one of the 'Old Guard' Kommodoren not to receive the Knight's Cross, whilst his unit was collectively 'punished' by being ordered at the end of July to overpaint its proud 'Ace of Spades' insignia with a simple red band. The latter is clearly apparent of the Bf 109 of Hauptmann Guenther von Maltzahn, Kommandeur of II./JG 53. The pilot standing in front of the aircraft is Gerhard Michalski, future 73 Experte and Oak Leaves recipient.'
(Photo on the Left)

And this indeed indicates that the story is not as simple as just someone having a "Jewish" wife.

[oakranger]

Do you really think that the Nazi Governmaent where that good at not letting such of thing like this happen?  I have read of accounts of German solders having family of a jewish decedent, even some Jews that fought in the war for Germany.  It dose not surprise me that people have slip through the system and nothing was done about it. 

Despit Nazi Laws and being the dominate race, they have non-German race fighting for them.  Hence, the SS had the largest singel ethnic group enlisted.  Slavic Ukrainians of 100,000 (that is my backround ), follow by 50,000 "aryan" Dutch.  Then there are the three Division of Bosnian Muslims and Croatian Christians.  Germany ideal of a perfect race in the SS really did follow that rule.   

In the Normandy Invasion, Allies have capture three or four German solders that they could not understand their language.  Come to found out that these German solders where Koreans that their lives stared in the 1930s when they where fighting the Japs.  They where capture, re-rout to fight for the Jap against the Russians.  Capture, re-rout to fight for the Russian against the Germans.  Capture and re-rout to fight for the Germans against the allies.  Then finally capture and remain POW. 

IMPO, this story with JG-53.  I truly believe in it. 

[fudgums]

Hopefully those koreans wouldn't rob a bank. They would have no way of not being caught.

[oakranger]

Hopefully those koreans wouldn't rob a bank. They would have no way of not being caught.

lol

[Ack-Ack]

In the Normandy Invasion, Allies have capture three or four German solders that they could not understand their language.  Come to found out that these German solders where Koreans that their lives stared in the 1930s when they where fighting the Japs.  They where capture, re-rout to fight for the Jap against the Russians.  Capture, re-rout to fight for the Russian against the Germans.  Capture and re-rout to fight for the Germans against the allies.  Then finally capture and remain POW.  

"The name of the soldier in this photo is Kyoungjong Yang who was born in Shin Euijoo, Northwestern Korea on March 3, 1920. He was conscripted to the Kwantung army in 1938 and captured by the Soviets in Nomonhan and captured again by Germans in Ukraine in the summer of 1943, maybe in the battle of Kharkov, and captured finally by Americans in Utah beach, Normandy on June 6, 1944.

He was freed from a POW camp in Britain on May, 1945 and moved and settled in America in 1947. He lived near the Northwestern Univ. in Illinois until he died on April 7, 1992. He lived as an ordinary US citizen without telling his unbelievable life story even to his two sons and one daughter."

Sadly though, the other Koreans didn't share his same fate after being captured by the US.  From what I've read, the other Koreans soldiers were handed over to the Soviets after the war in exchange for US POWs liberated by the Soviets and never survived to return home to Korea.


ack-ack

[oakranger]

There you go, ack-ack, for correcting me a little.  Thx.  I did not know there was a photo of him just read about it a while back. 

[Ack-Ack]

There you go, ack-ack, for correcting me a little.  Thx.  I did not know there was a photo of him just read about it a while back. 

Honestly, I didn't even know there were any Koreans that served with the Wehrmacht until you mentioned it.  Did a search on the a WW2 forum and found the story behind it all.  Turns out the Wehrmacht is rather multicultural with Vietnamese, Mongolian, Indonesian, Japanese, Turks and even a large number of black African soldiers in addition to the numerous European/Slavic soldiers.

ack-ack

[oakranger]

Honestly, I didn't even know there were any Koreans that served with the Wehrmacht until you mentioned it.  Did a search on the a WW2 forum and found the story behind it all.  Turns out the Wehrmacht is rather multicultural with Vietnamese, Mongolian, Indonesian, Japanese, Turks and even a large number of black African soldiers in addition to the numerous European/Slavic soldiers.

ack-ack

Ha, so much for being a "Aryan race" when you have a diversity of people in the Wehrmacht.  Good job for getting that info on him and the photo. 
I am sure it really surprise the U.S. when they capture that guy.  Just look at that poor SOB.  I bet he is thinking, "Not this sh*t again."

With all this info and going back to JG-53, i think that the Nazi where not as hardcore with being a "Aryan race" and just did not mess with small things like Hans-Juergen von Cramon-Taubadel when they have a war going on.