Chip

Christophe, I see what you mean about them being scarce, in that there were not other troops from Waldeck. I once had a wartime enlisted issue cap marked to the 83rd. Like Dave says, your cap could not belong to the same person who owned the boards. Maybe same unit, but not the same man. Paul, Try as I might, I cannot see any colored "v"s in the cords of your officer's board. The "II" and the pips look to be from the period, but the add-on piece at the bottom and the button do not. If it had some colored "darts" I would say it was from a Bekleidungsamt. As it stands, I am not sure what it is. Sorry. Chip

Regarding my J?ger board, could anyone tell me when Ralf von Rango was promoted to Oberst? I think he was an Oberstleutnant when he was the commander of J?ger Rgt. Nr.3. Chip

Chris, Actually, the artwork on the 15.Bayer.Inf.Div. example turns me several shades of green! Chip

Rick, Correct! It belonged to Ralf von Rango, who commanded the J?ger Regiment Nr.3. I have yet to find out why he chose to wear the state colors of Baden, when two of the battalions of the regiment were Bavarian, one was Prussian and the fourth was Prussian/Baden. Perhaps he was a Badener himself. Christophe, Why do you think that the 83.IR boards rare? Chip

Sal, I don't believe that any machine is involved here. The Winker was trained to communicate by positioning a pair of flags in various configurations to represent letters of the alphabet and numbers. It was a line of sight thing and was limited to the distance at which it could be clearly seen by the person on the other end, be it by the naked eye or by binoculars or other some device. Chip

OK, Here is a hint on my officer's board. The commander of this unit wore the Baden colors on his boards, but there was only one Baden battalion in this unit. Chip

Chris, Early, in my estimation. Chip

Rick, What I especially like about your photo is the one year volunteer shoulder cords. Very unusual to see. Overall a photo with a lot of appeal! Chip

Sal, It's a signallers patch. Semaphore, I suspect, to me more precise. It's a private purchase piece. The issue examples had square flags. One myth is that these patches with the swallow tail flags are only for cavalry units (like the tails on a lance pennant). As plainly shown in your picture, they were worn by anyone who could afford one. Chip

Rick, Did you mean Reichswehr, as opposed to Reichsheer? My understanding is that either piping method was used during the imperial period. I'm no expert when it comes to immediate post-war uniforms, but were all of the imperial colored officer's collar tabs continued into this period? I didn't think so. I have pairs officer's tabs from the Garde Foot Artillery Regiment and the Garde Pioneers with piping on three sides. Would these have been made during the postwar times? Chip

Officer's boards were attached in several ways. I like the method used on yours, because it did not damage the cording. The small tab was sewn into the shoulder seam. I also have a strap and a picture of it being worn, but it is a lowly enlisted Minenwerfersoldat. I really like your set (board and photo). A little history can do wonders for an otherwise unremarkable board. My Hessian general's board is a M15 field dress pattern (subdued cording with double color "Vs"). The rank is too high for him to be the regimental commander. The cypher is that of Inf.-Regt. Kaiser Wilhelm (2.Gro?herzogl.Hess.) Nr.116. Chip

No worries with this piece. There is no flood of Flieger straps that I know of. Yes, there are fakes, but most of them are the same, coming from the same source and quite easy to identify. I have not seen any fakes with piping. All the fakes I have seen are unpiped M07/10 examples. The really scarey area is Flieger officer's boards, which are easily assembled with original parts. You can stick an original Flieger insignia on about any kind of board, as many officers continued to wear the boards of the unit that they came from. What I would like to find is an issue example of this strap. I have other Verkehrstruppen enlisted straps that are Feldgrau with light gray piping, but none from the Fliegertruppen. Still looking.... Chip

Paul, The Kragenpatten are for a medical officer. The officer's board, at first glance, looks like a post WWI piece. I would have to see a somewhat closer picture of the top to tell you for sure. Chip

He also appears to have a Winker patch on his right sleeve. Chip

I think it is fine as well. Chip

I would vote Saxon pioneer because of the crossed pick and shovel on his shoulder straps. Chip

Here are some interesting Faden colors. Anyone care to guess who this board belonged to? Red and yellow darts with green strap underlay. Chip

If Tony & Kaiser said this is a bad piece, I have to disagree with them. It is perfectly all right. Everthing that is "wierd" about it is because it is not an issue piece. The material on the inside is papercloth (Papiergarn), commonly used as a stiffener in private purchase examples. I have seen it many times and probably have an example or two in my collection. This piece is 100% good. Chip

Hello all, My first post on this forum. Glad to see some familiar faces and my favorite subject, namely, German shoulder insignia. I have over 700 pieces, so I had to think a while about what to post first. I really like this one. Chip