7./Fallschirmjäger.Rgt.1 Erkennungsmarke

The overall condition of the dogtag is good. The number 62718 tell us the soldier served in the 7.Kompanie (II.Bataillon) Fallschirmjäger Regiment 1. The II.Bataillon saw its first action in late September during the Poland invasion against a Polish artillerie unit. 
In May during the invasion of Holland the II.Bataillon was dropped near the Moerdijk bridges. In May 1941 the Regiment was used to invaded Kreta. The II.Bataillon landed on the airport of Heraklion and servered heavy losses. In June of that year the Regiment moved back to Germany to refresh, but the II.Bataillon was called again to fight in Russia. It suffered heavy losses and the regiment was pulled back to Germany in December 1941. In April 1942 it moved, as part of the 7.Flieger-Division to Normandie for training en to strenghten. In Oktober the division was send again to Russia to fight in the Orel area.
In June 1943 the regiment was moved to Avignon in Southern France. In Juli 1943 the regiment was moved to Italy to stop the Allied advance. In January 1944 the regiment fought fiercely in Monte Cassino and suffered heavy losses. They retreated in May and saw combat again in Florence, Po-Ebene, Rimini and Imola. They surrendered to the Americans on May 2nd 1945 in Südtirol. 
very interesting dog tag of a unit with a rich history.