Dienstzeitauszeichnung IV. Klasse Award Doc – Infanterie-Regiment 65 – 22. Infanterie-Division, 1936

Original Dienstzeitauszeichnung IV. Klasse certificate awarded to Feldwebel Karl Schmidt, of the 13.(M.W.) Kompanie/ Infanterie-Regiment 65, for four years of faithful service in the Wehrmacht. The certificate was issued in Bremen on 2 October 1936 and is an attractive early pre-war Wehrmacht document, headed „Im Namen des Führers und Reichskanzlers“. It bears the original unit service stamp of Infanterie-Regiment 65 and is signed/authenticated by Generalleutnant Georg von Rodenstern, then Kommandeur der 22. Infanterie-Division, with his original signature clearly visible at the bottom of the certificate.

The document is particularly interesting because it represents the pre-war Wehrmacht and predates the outbreak of the Second World War by almost three years. Karl Schmidt is recorded as a Feldwebel, demonstrating that he had already accumulated four years of qualifying military service by October 1936. The unit designation 13.(M.W.) Kompanie is also of interest to collectors of regimentally identified Wehrmacht material, providing a specific company-level connection rather than merely identifying the recipient with the regiment.

The 22. Infanterie-Division had been established in Bremen on 15 October 1935, and its early organization included Infanterie-Regiment 65. The division would later become particularly notable for its participation in the 1940 Western Campaign, including its airborne operations in the Netherlands, with elements of Infanterie-Regiment 65 involved in the fighting around Ypenburg.

Condition: Very good original condition for a nearly 90-year-old document, with light overall age toning, scattered small foxing/storage marks and minor handling wear. The original printing, unit stamp and period signatures remain clearly visible.