Luftwaffe LW Construction Troop Portrait Photos

[John Burchell]

Hi John,

I have completed the article on the Black piped LW construction troops. The thread is here:

<a href="http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1818...mp;#entry176282" target="_blank">http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1818...mp;#entry176282</a>

Can you please repeat the photos and postings you placed on the thread below onto the above linked thread?

<a href="http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16407&st=20" target="_blank">http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16407&st=20</a>

Regards

Paul

Well, it has taken a while, but here goes!

Here are some photos of a young German who - if my research on this forum is correct and judging from his collar tab Waffenfarbe and insignia (although difficult to be certain of the colour from black & white photos!) - may have belonged to an Engineer Corps or an Air Ministry Construction Unit. I am sure that some verification can be obtained here.

The first picture shows one gull with no bullion tape (rank of Flieger) on what I think to be a black Waffenfarbe background. Given the nice droop-tail eagle breast insignia, this picture would have most likely been taken during or pre-1939.

The next picture shows him with one gull and tape (rank of "Unteroffizier") with the same "Waffenfarbe" background.

Then the third picture (dated 1941) showing three gulls and tape (rank of Feldwebel), same Waffenfarbe.

Photo number four (dated 1942) shows him with a bullion half-wreath and one gull (rank of Fl. Ingenieur Leutnant) on what I believe to be a pink Waffenfarbe background material.

What do you folks think? Hope this makes for an interesting contribution and that this posting is in the right place.

Regards,

John

Comment from "luftguy": Thanks for posting this interesting set of photos. The tabs in the last photo do appear to look like other pink tabs as represented in black and white photos.

Comment from "Paul R": Thank you for posting these great photos!! While the are not members of the Corps of Engineers(These are Construction Troops), they are very interesting!

NB: Two other photos of this same fellow appear in my related posting here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16815

Photo 1.

Edited March 7, 2008 by John Burchell

[John Burchell]

Photo # 2:

[John Burchell]

Photo # 3:

[John Burchell]

Photo # 4:

[John Burchell]

...and while I am at it, here is his 1942 wedding photo.

[John Burchell]

...and another family portrait dated1943 (note his father's rather stylish moustache!).

Edited March 7, 2008 by John Burchell

[John Burchell]

...and one last photo, harking back to 1938 (or earlier) when he was in the RAD. He is shown here with someone else who - I believe - had been in the Reichs Luftsport Verein (RLSV) and then came into the Luftwaffe (see my comments below).

Edited March 8, 2008 by John Burchell

[nesredep]

Hello!

Nice interesting photos,congratulation and thanks for sharing.

All the best

Nesredep

[Scott]

John, great series of photos - thanks for sharing them. Just curious, can you positively date the last photo (in the RAD uniform) to 1938?

Thanks.

Scott

[John Burchell]

Unfortunately, not definitively, Scott. That photo is not dated as such.

However, I have another photo (see below) of the man next to the RAD chap which is dated 1938 in pencil on the reverse, and I thought that both photos may have been taken at or around the same time, although one cannot be certain. Upon close study of the photos, this fellow seems to be wearing the same uniform, hat, shoes and is also wearing the white gloves that he is holding in the other "RAD" photo. However, the cross-strap is not evident, so it may well have been taken in 1938 and the "RAD" one at a quite different time, in fact, a few years earlier.

In examining the photos again under magnification, I believe that the buckle on his belt (in the photo with the RAD man) is not a LW buckle, rather, it appears to be one of the Reichs Luftsport Verein (RLSV) of the type issued from 1933-35. However, he clearly has the early, droop-tail LW breast eagle on his uniform which I believe came into use when the LW became official in 1935.

Although not a subject in this particular forum, I am curious as to the reason for your question.

John

Edited March 8, 2008 by John Burchell

[Paul R]

Fantastic grouping of photos! IT is interesting to see that he changed waffenfarbe. Could someone be in the RAD and the Luftwaffe simultaneously ?