Chip

The owner of that photo has his web name under the shield (DrakeGoodman). I suspect it was lifted from Flickr. I've heard that he has removed many of his best photos due to them showing up on many other sites on the Internet.

Hello Newbee,

There were 649 pioneer companies by the end of the war, so I would not say they are not rare by any means. Of course, they are not as numerous as infantry or artillery examples, but still, they are quite common. Just as an example, I have forty eight of them in my collection, not counting trench mortar (Minenwerfer) units, which were also part of the pioneers.

Chip

Hello,

These are enlisted man's shoulder straps from the Prussian Reserve Pioneer Company Nr.81. It was identified as part of the 79.Reserve Division in 1917-18. The division spent that entire time on the Western Front. These straps are the 1915 pattern, which was introduced with the new (Bluse) field uniform in September of 1915. 

4 hours ago, Skarp said:

The Germans did not have a specific uniform for their Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) in WWI.

I think this depends on what you mean. If you mean specific from every other German soldier, I disagree. As part of the Verkehrstruppen, they were supposed to wear the uniform of that branch. Of course, that was not the case in most instances, particularly for officers (during the war).  Perhaps you meant that officer's wore just about anything they liked.

Enlisted men wore the uniform of the branch with the insignia of the Fliegertruppen. Mechanics also had a special black or dark blue work suit.

Karel,

It sort of looks like the hooks were added later on this one. It may have been converted at some point during the period?

Officer's covers were normally form-fitted types with a "pouch" on the front and back that slipped over the visors. There was an elastic section on each side of the cover that would expand for easier installation and then would tighten back when the visors were covered. I'm not aware of officer's wearing the hooked type, but, of course, officers could do what they wanted.

Other than the Zeltbahn, I don't think there was any special rain gear for enlisted men before 1916. Kraus mentions that a raincoat (of Zeltbahntuch) was introduced for Macedonian front use in 1916. A waterproof Umhang was introduced in the winter of 1916/17. This was the one similar to the Radfahrerumhang, only shorter. The Radfahrerunhang (again, according to Kraus) was made of a waterproof "Manteltuch" and had a Capote (hood) built in under the collar. Manteltuch, says wool to me. The Radfahrerumhang had been around since 1911.

Eric,

I don't understand your skepticism, as the piece looks fine to me. There was a Radfahrerumhang, and a Regen-Umhang, the difference being that the latter was 20cm shorter than the Radfahrer pattern. Certainly, they were not issued widely (originally only 5% of the troops) and thus the reason you seldom see them in photos. As the war went on, more were ordered and their use became more widespread.

The one shown on the officer is the same general type of garment, but the officer model had a wool collar and has other attributes that enlisted ones lack. Here are some rather poor photos of my example.

Chip

Here are four caps from my collection. Three are Hechtgrau and one is feldgrau felt. The first three are still in the collection.The last one was traded away. Brian is well familiar with them, as I photographed them for both of his books.

Chip

Chris,

Sorry you didn't get it, but I am happy to see that they have gone up in value. I paid about $300 for one back in 1992 and I thought at the time that maybe I paid too much.

Expensive boots.

Chris,

Just a fun reference to what he paid for them.

I imagine your woman gets a little nervous too.

Andreas,

The collar and cuffs you have shown in your photo are an earlier pattern for Bavarian generals. "Das Deutsche Heer" shows the style in your photo. This book supposedly covers the blue uniforms up to 1914. The insignia for the M1910 feldgrau Waffenrock was that shown above.

Chip

Andreas,

The first one is a Bavarian general's collar insignia. The specific general rank would be denoted by the shoulder boards. Officially, this pattern was used by the Bavarians until, during the war, they were supposed to change to the Prussian pattern.

Nice! I only have a single.

I thought the ones with the holes were WWII? Also, you could sew that on with a carpet needle (3/8ths circle) without ever going inside or through the stiffening of the band. Just saying.....

One of the more beautiful awards. I have two signed photos of Carl Degelow wearing this newly won award. He went on to be the last winner of the Pour le Merite.

I like the quality!

Chip 

Chris,

Even though it is not obvious in this photo, I believe this is one of the cyphered regiments. The crown just sticks out because of the material it is made from. The darker Kurbelstickerei is just not showing up very well.

I don't believe that there is any way that this could be a M07 Inf. Leib Rgt. strap with such a small crown in that particular location.

Interesting private purchase version of the M16 shoulder strap with small crown. Interesting in that it is simplified with no piping. Can't say I have ever seen that before. On the large crown simplified M07s, yes, but not on an M16.

Chip

Just goes to show you what officer's could do in wartime. If I had seen this board without the numbers, I would have said it was Major of one of the technical branches with that light gray underlay. I have seen officer's boards from time to time with feldgrau underlay and it must have been just a matter of choice. There seems to be no consistent pattern as to the type of officer that wore their boards this way.

Chip

Some miscellaneous regimental insignia. Two prewar type collars, one enlisted, one NCO and a pair of overcoat Kragenpatten. The second photo has a prewar type overcoat (removable) shoulder strap and a piece of collar with the simplified (shortened) M1907/15 Litzen.

Chris,

Very nice portraits! In the first photo, the M1907 pattern shoulder straps are being worn. They were not sewn to the tunic at all, but rather were affixed to the tunic with a tongue and loop and the shoulder strap button. The second photo has the same pattern shoulder strap, only a private purchase version that is sewn directly into the shoulder seam. The NCO has either had the collar and straps replaced on an issue tunic or the entire tunic may be a private purchase piece. 

Andy,

I'm not saying this is not true, but do we have any proof either way on that? The only thing I have seen is the ID made by the museum at Sonthofen. They may well be wrong in attributing it to WWI, but I have seen no proof of postwar manufacture either.