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Real vs. Fake WWII Paratroop Jump Certificate

Ran across a Jump Certificate for a member of Co E 506th Prcht Inf last week.  Knew right away it was fake.  Robert Bloser became a Paratrooper in January of 1943 and was on Jump Status through the end of the year in 1943.  Not sure why someone had to fake a Jump Certificate for this man.  Sad when people try to make money this way as they have a Plumley Jump Certificate that is fake as he was never ever in the 505th Prcht Inf.

If for some reason a Paratrooper is removed from Jump Status it will show up in the Payrolld Records as they lose that $50.00 bump as a Paratrooper.  Went through the Payroll Records for Co E and Pvt Bloser was on Jump Status all the way through at least December 1943.  Here is an example of when a Soldier is removed from Jump Status.  It always ends up on the Payroll Records the next month.

Let’s move on to the Jump Certificate.  First the date November 14, 1943 and the Signature of Captain Sobel wasn’t even the same as the October 1944 one.

Sobel was still a Company Commander for E Co in November of 1943.  He was transferred to Hq & Hq Co in December of 1943 and then became a part of the Jump School in England for the 101st Abn Div.  He is an example of a Real Jump Certificate from October of 1944 and showing Sobel’s Signature which is different than the fake Jump Certificate one.

Looked for an example and found one pretty quickly in the 508th Prcht Inf.  1st Lt Abraham was part of Hq & Hq.  He was promoted to Captain November 2, 1943

The Enlisted Soldiers Payroll Records would be written for November 1 to 30 November 1943.  If someone was promoted for an example it wouldn’t show up until the next month.

The Officers Personnel Roster was different.  Abraham is promoted to Captain November 2, 1943 and that shows up on the 1 November to 30 November 1943 Officers Personnel Roster.  If this was listed the way the Enlisted Soldiers are done it would have shown up in December of 1943 with him being promoted to Captain.

The Officers Personnel Roster is created at the end of every month.  The Payroll Record is created at the start of a month.  So an Officers Personnel Roster is up to date at the end of that month.  The Enlisted Payroll Record is written at the start of the month.

So Sobel wasn’t moved to Hq & Hq Co until December 1943.  He couldn’t have been both the Company Commander of Co E and the Assistant Commandant for the 101st Abn Div Jump School.

Good things always come out of something like this.  The next article will show how a Soldier became a Paratroop in October of 1944.  The training in the England was very different than in the States and just over a week long opposed to 4 weeks at Ft Benning.

 

Brian Siddall
August 19, 2018

 

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