Paul R

Trade Badges Trade badges were worn by EM/NCO rankings who have completed certain qualifications. These were worn on the lower left sleeve, above the cuff. There could be a silver or gold piping around the badge. 1. Luftwaffe signals Blitz 2. Qualified Radio Instructor 3. Air Signals B Class Telephone Operator

Shoulder Straps The Funker Unteroffizier on the left is for an NCO assigned to the Signals School. The NCO board on the right is for an Officer candidate, as noted by the double cord near the base of the board. Possible cyphers: "L" Air Signals Instruction School(Lehr) "NS" Air Signals School "RLM" Air Signals Battalion of the RLM "OL"(superimposed)- Replaced the "RLM" cypher in December1938, for Air Signals Battalion of the RLM.

Thanks for the very rare document. I will be doing an article on the Luftschutz very soon!! Thank you for the kind words! I do have these articles pinned, in a sense, here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18207 It is a directory(like a table of contents) of all of these articles.

Great stuff, Snoopy! Does the post card have any writing on the reverse? Photos of these med evac aircraft are not common! Everyone, data or militaria related to Luftwaffe Medical Corps will be greatly appreciated. This could include: period photos, insignia, uniforms, documents, and stories from actual veterans.

Thank you for the information, Gordon!! It does seem to be a very interesting formation... almost made completely for show? From what I understand, they were very ineffective.

You guys have some nice and early pieces there!

Nice!!!!

Hopefully, things have been getting better there, over the past 17 years. Sounds like a huge mess. I wonder what the men and women hired into the Wasserwirtschaft when they saw what they were up against? Anyone know the size of this organization, manpower wise?

Field Division and Hermann Goering Division Pictured is a LW Field Division single collar tab(unissued) for a signals specialist. Please see the below thread in reference to the LW Field Divisions: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=17457

More collar tabs: Pictured are: Obermusikmeister(attached to a Signals Unit). Please see this thread for more details on the Luftwaffe Music Branch. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=17408 Reserve Leutnant, as noted by the blue secondary piping cord.

Collar Tabs Various collar tabs. Notice how the lt brown waffenfarbe stands out against the golden brown.

Luftwaffe Signals Corps The Signals Branch of the Luftwaffe was one of the original career fields present when the Luftwaffe came out into the open on March 01, 1935. All personnel who were trained in communications and/or related equipment and assigned to Signals units wore this waffenfarbe. The standard waffenfarbe for the Luftwaffe Signals branch was initially Light Brown. On 01Sept1936 when it was changed to Golden Brown. When attached to the Hermann Goering Division and the Luftwaffe Field Division, Signals personnel wore the collar tabs of the said unit, with the signals waffenfarbe present as an outer piping on the collar tabs, shoulderboards, or both(In the case of the LW Field Division). These men wore the standard Luftwaffe uniform patterns, with their specific insignia. Enlisted: Funker- soldat Oberfunker- Oberschutz Funker Gefreiter- Grefeiter Funker Obergefreiter- Obergrefeiter Funker Unteroffizier - Unteroffizier Unterwachtmeister- Unterfeldwebel Funkmeister- Feldwebel Oberfunkmeister- Oberfeldwebel Stabsfunkmeister- Stabsfeldwebel Officer: Leutnant Oberleutnant Hauptmann Major Oberstleutnant Oberst Generalmajor Generalleutnant General der Nachrichtentruppe- Generaloberst/Head of Signals Services

To be quite honest, I had no idea of that number before I started researching this article last week. The ranking range made me scratch my head as well... perhaps the 360 was simply the count of members above the rank of Hauptmann? I have not been able to find any in-depth data on that. I am assuming that the junior roles could assistants to the General Staff Officers... or simply junior interns? Maybe someone else out there will have more information?

What was the cause of most of the pollution? Human and daily waste, nuclear waste, or industrial? Are things looking better there now?

Other insignia Trade Badge And unauthorized Hermann Goering tabs, thought to be special order for a medic attached to an Armor unit. These would have been completely unauthorized, and worn when out of garrison. They appear to have been for a Panzer wrap.

And here is a closeup of the cypher... The next two boards are singles for the ranking of Assistenzarzt and Oberarzt.

And inside... seemingly un-issued

And the visor that came with it.

Tag... seems to be a private tailored uniform. Sorry for the glare. The liner would best be described as some sort of plastic type of material... Maybe some sort of crude artificial silk?

Insignia

Ok... here are the photos.

How many men were in this organization? (stand-by for photos)

I will make some better photos of the insignia and check for internal markings as well. I think that the Wasserschutzpolizei is a different organization than the Wasserwirtschaft ?

Shoulder Boards All medical Officers and Senior Officer Candidates wore the Askulapstab(staff and serpent) cyphers on their shoulder boards/straps. Qualified NCOs and EMs wore the trade badge on the lower Left sleeve. Officials did not wear these insignia. For members assigned to a medical academy as staff wore the "A" cypher on the shoulder boards/straps: a. Enlisted and Junior NCOs- The "A" was embroidered onto the strap in dark blue thread and outlined with light blue thread. b. Senior NCOs- The "A" was a white metal cypher. c. Officers and Officer Candidates- Gold colored "A" superimposed onto the Askulapstab. There was no special designating insignia for Dentists. They wore the uniform of a LW Doctor. The Stabsarzt board below is one of a pair in my collection. The academy board is the first of it's kind that I have seen. I have never seen both the Askulapstab and the "A" cast as a one piece cypher before.

Collar Tabs Here are some examples from my collection.