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Everything posted by Odulf
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Not many portraits around of MAA Officers wearing the field grey uniform, but I picked up this very nice and crisp studio photo of a Korvettenkapitän, signed "Hannsel (pet name for Johannes / Hans) Helgoland 1941/1942". At first sight his picture could be mistaken for another Army officer, but the buttons show anchors and the breast and cap eagles are gold, as are the Navy style laurels surrounding the cockarde at the front of his cap. The chin strap of silver as are the officer's style collarpatches. On the major style shoulder boards the flaming granade in yellow metal. The photographer had his shop in Nordseebad Borkum. I wonder if he can be identified.
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Lovely picture. 20 mm Flak (AA-Quick Fire gun) this was the basic light artillery for all the Wehrmacht, Army, Air-Force and Navy. On the ships these were all over the decks. All the ship's complement were assigned to defening the ship, cooks, writers, stores accountants, administrative crews and other supporting personnel in the ship had to carry out duties in defending the ship. Thus, many ship mates had to follow courses and advanced training in managing A.A. guns (signified by Sonderabzeichen), but the main Artillery was left to the specialists, as were torpedoes, asdic, radar, engines management and other operational branches. War ships did not carry passengers, only complement - men with a military duty.
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On parade and on leave the Soldiers of the Marine-Artillerie-Abteilungen and Schiffsstammabteitungen had to wear their blue uniforms, for duty in barracks and as field dress they had the grey-green uniform. So their lockers were filled with both grey-gree nand blue clothing. A post 1939 "Hemden-Mützen" or "Budenzauber" picture, appearently in private quarters, of Kriegsmarine room mates mixing both items of clothing in a play for camera (these are snap shots to be found in any private photo album.)
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Beautiful photo Morten, excellent quality, is it originally a press photo? Obviuosly it is not on taken on board of a U-Boot, in the mid-30s the Unterseebootschule in Kiel comprised the Schulverband (for U-Boot practice) with 6 older submarines as training boats: U1 , U2, U3, U4, U5, U6 (these are manifold pictured in postcards). To this flottilla was also attaced a surface ship for security and to collect the torpedoes. The photo was taken on board this support ship. In 1935 this was the old Torpedoboat "T158", later to be replaced by the old Minesweeper "M136". I think the latter is the stage for this picture.
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A pleasant meeting/fare well scene with beer at the train station in the war years. The WW1 veteran Hauptgefreiter (right) is wearing a new field grey uniform with the ribbons of the Iron Cross 2nd Class (1914) & Hindenburg Cross, and the seldom seen in wear Verwundeten-Abzeichen (Wound Badge) of the German Imperial Navy (instituted June 1918). Between them, a greenish Kleidersack/Sesack (kit bag), on top not a cel phone but a wooden label holding details of the owner. The Gefreiter (left) is wearing a very short blue Überzieher (Jacket), when issued the lower seam would be at the length of the sleeve, but it was fashionable to shorten the lower seam (and alter the side pockets).
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Studio portrait of a Obermaat (Petty Officer) wearing shoulder straps without a device. The picture was taken by a photo studio in the city of Utrecht (Netherlands), later in the war when the German Naval HQ had been transfered from Scheveningen (a fishing port near The Hague) further inland. He was almost certainly in the Staff of the Commanding Admiral of the Kriegsmarine in the Netherlands. His decorations indicate that he was on active war service before being transferred to staff duties.
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Many insignia of the Reichsmarine (1920-1935) were continued to be worn in the Kriegsmarine (1935-1945), so it is not always easy to distinguish exactly the period for certain badges and patches. To me collecting photos of uniformed men and women is like collecting pieces of a puzzle, with the objective to complete the story of development of uniforms and insignia. One of these pieces I received recently, this studio portrait dated 4 March 1929. We see a Torpedo-Obermaschinistenanwarter / Torpedo-Oberheizern (Leading Torpedo-Maschinist) wearing the branch badge of a Maschinist/Heizer (a cog wheel) above the chevron indicating his rate, and below the specialty badge of Torpedo-Mechaniker. In the Kaiserliche Marine (Inperial Navy) the Torpedo branch was a separate branch, as Engineers, Paymasters, etc. The lower ranks were to be recognized by a red piping round the upper rim of the cap. Arming, repairing and firing torpedoes was a specialist job, because the torpedoes were electrical, so torpedo-mechanics also received electro-technical training. Later in time (before 1938), the Torpedo-Mechaniker was no longer considered a skill, but a special branch in the Navy. The former specialty badge (with the cog wheel and vertical torpedo) became the branch badge (the cog wheel with horizontal torpedo), as shown in the second photo dating post 1939. But this first photo (and detail) shows that in 1929 the Torpedo-Mechaniker specialty badge was still used.