St-Kp/Fla.Ers.Btl.103 (SF) EKM (Ardennes)

The dog tag or 'Erkennungsmarke' shows signs of wear. The bataillon was formed in May 1940 in Postdam as Fla.Ersatz Kompanie 103. In September 1941 it became Fliegerabwehr Ersatz Bataillon 103 (Sf). Sf stands for 'Selbstfahrlafette' which means that the 2cm and 3.7cm Flak guns where mounted on halftracks. In March 1943 both the Ersatz and the Ausbildungs where put together and the unit was named Fla-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 103. It consisted out 2 companies both with single 2cm Flak guns and 1 company with 2cm-Flakvierling. In July 1943 the bataillon moved to the Elsenborn in the Eifel. In October of that year the bataillon was refitted with 3.7cm Flak guns. In October 1944 the bataillon became part of the Wehrmacht Heer and war renamed into Heeres-Fla-Bataillon 103, which consisted out of Abteilung I and II. In December 1944 the bataillon was used to refit Fla-MG-Bataillone 958 (I./103) und 959 (II./103). Both units where parts of Heeresgruppe B and fought during the Ardennes Offensive and in 1945 in the Ruhrkessel.
A Stammkompanie was a unit that trained the soldiers. Often the soldiers of this kompanie were soldiers who had frontline experience, but no longer were fully usable on the front due to injuries. Of course this changed later in the war and they also where put into action as there was a shortage of (front)soldiers.