Stamm.Kp.Gren.Ers.Btl.454 Erkennungsmarke

The dog tag or 'Erkennungsmarke' shows normal signs of wear. The Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 454 was formed in the summer of 1939 as Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 454. It supplied soldiers for 254.Infanterie-Division. In November 1942 the bataillon was renamed in to Grenadier Ersatz Bataillon 454 and was stationed in Dusseldorf. On the 20th of July 1944 the bataillon was renamed in to Grenadier Ersatz und Ausbildungs Bataillon 454. In September 1944 the bataillon was mobilized and became Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 454 and was planned to become part of the 526.Infanterie-Division but  this never happened. In October the bataillon became I.Bataillon 347.Infanterie-Division.
It fought in Raum Germersheim and was destroyed.
A Stammkompanie was a kompanie that trained the soldiers. Often the soldier of this kompanie were soldiers who had frontline experience and/or were no longer fully usable at the front due to injuries. Of course this changed later in the war as there was a shortage of soldiers).