Wehrpass- Kriegsmarine, WW1 Marine / Seebataillon veteran

2nd edition Wehrpass issued to Hans Warnke, from Hamburg. Born in 1894, he joined the German navy in October 1913, joining one of the 3 marine battalions that existed before WW1 began, a rare and elite German military unit. He served with 2. Kompanie 3. Stammseebataillon from late 1913 to late September 1919. Elements of his battalion served in the German colony in China, but Warnke presumably wasn’t there since he continued to serve until after the war ended. He held the rank of NCO (Unteroffizier). Warnke doesn’t appear to have served during WW2, though he was deemed fit for military service and, unsurprisingly, would have served with the Kriegsmarine (hence the stamp on the front cover of the Wehrpass). Unfortunately most of the Hakenkreuz have been coloured over / denazified. 

Still a rare Wehrpass / ID document for a WW1 Marine veteran, not easy to come by. All stamps and entries have been photographed here.