Original Item: Only One Available. This a fantastic USGI Signed Bring Back multi-piece construction German WWII Balkenkreuz (Beam Cross) identification flag, as used for Panzer tanks and other vehicles. It measures approximately 39 x 77 inches and has the rarer WWI style "Balkan Cross" insignia dyed onto a circular white field. This was then sewn onto the red cotton body of the flag. It shows only minor wear, so we assume it was captured without being deployed on a vehicle for very long.

This flag features multi-piece construction and is single sided with plated steel grommets located in each corner. These grommets were secured to tension lines that secured the flag to the back of the tank laying flat. Thereby the flag was only visible to persons located above the vehicle. Generally these flags were intended to be seen by German airplanes so as not to be struck by friendly fire. Most German tanks were destroyed during combat, so very few of these flags remained at the end of the war and most known examples were directly removed from tanks by USGIs in the field, such as this fine example.

Even better, it was then and signed by these same USGIs, some of which we have been able to locate service information on! The signatures listed as as follows:

WILLIAM A. KROFT
234 S. QUEEN ST.
YORK, PA.

Kroft (ASN 33499138) was born in 1922 and enlisted in Harrisburg, PA on 1/29/1943.

JAMES STITES
1122 N 45 ST
EAST SAINT LOUIS, ILL.

Stites was born in 1922 and enlisted in Peoria, Il on 1/4/1942.

John McCARBLE
1420 GRAND AVE
BEAUMONT, TEX.

We have identified McCarble as a member of the 563rd Signals Air Warning Battalion, which was stationed in Europe, and believe that the rest of the people on the flag were most likely in this unit. It was assigned to the XIX Tactical Air command, part of the 9th Army. It saw service in the following campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace (Battle of the Bulge), Rhineland, & Central Europe.

Ed Korzelius
615 E. North St
Buffalo N.Y.

Edward G. Korzelius (ASN 32739500) of Erie County NY enlisted in Buffalo NY on 1/22/1943.

Richard C. VeLo
1502 So. 5TH St.
Tacoma, Wash.

Mac McKean
Aberdeen
Washington

Thomas Kassick
Bos 265-A Humboldt
Hazleton, Pa.

HENRY HEIKEN
673 HAWTHORNE ST.
BROOKLYN 3
NEW YORK

Art Mendoza
1157 W Street
Los Angeles
California

Really some fantastic research potential here! The names are written in various directions with multiple different penmanship styles. The S.A.W. battalions were generally made up of more educated personnel due to the type of work they had to do. They were equipped with radar, radio, telephone, teletype and encryption equipment that was “state of the art” at the time. The systems they used to track and communicate with fighters were the forerunners of today's air traffic control systems, and the radar weather maps seen in TV weather reports. The flag comes with a printed out logo of the 563 S.A.W. Battalion.

A fantastic historical piece, ready to research and display!