Luftwaffe Lw. Glider pilot

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Here is a pictrue from the personal archive, as Francois is posting some real nice things i thought it is my turn again.

Pictured are 2 brotehrs, the real fun thing in this picture is that 2 oddity's can be vieuwed who are not the norm, name them and lets learn and share knowledge.

Cordial greetings,

[Steve K.]

WOW!

Nice picture of the ultra rare Glider Pilots badge (version with the unusually large eagle)!

Thanks for sharing.

Steve

[Guest Darrell]

Is that a Cholm Shield on that fellows arm?

[Scott]

Nice shot of the 'big-eagle' glider badge and Cholm Shield (without backing) - likely attached to K.G.z.b.V 172 during the battle. Odd pommel on his dagger - doesn't look like a LW dagger pommel to me.

Scott

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Oh well => correct as far as the Glider pilots badge is concerned, this is indeed a Large eagle one in wear.

There is more and it is indeed a Cholmschield on its arm, but waht more can be said about that one

Cordial greetings,

ps: here is a larger scan from the Glider badge, etc ... (not the sharpest but it serves its purpose )

[Jos Le Conté]

Rare pic,nice...

Shield is pinned directly through the sleeve..

Jos.

[Stijn David]

Hello,

It is indeed absolutely corretc that the shield is pinned directly toward sthe sleeve of his uniform, but aren't you guys wondering why it is so shiny? Please explain me why you think is so.

It is a very important reason and this picture (ther eis a serie ) is part of the proof, common => lets get those brains working

Cordial greetings,

[Jos Le Conté]

Maybe his flightsuit/jacket rubbed the shield clean.....,but that's probably too simple,....when saying shiny I think of a mirror, maybe he used it as a signal mirror,something I would do to survive ...

Jos.

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Good theory Jos, but not a correct answer

So it must be something else

Cordial greetings,

[J Temple-West]

Is it that the shield was added to the photo at a later date?

[Stijn David]

Hehehe ...

Another good theory => however thats also not the real reason.

Well as to keep it fun, i will wait one more day and will share the real reason for the shiny shield with you guys when lets say 2 more plausible explanations are given

Cordial greetings,

[J Temple-West]

How about... The photo was taken on the day the shield was awarded, and his brother was at the ceremony. Would the second 'oddity' be that he wears the ground assault badge? Unusual for flight crew.

[Stijn David]

Hi John,

A good remark but not correct as far as the Cholmshield concerns.

The remark on the Lw. ground assault badge is correct, but this is a badge that can be often encountered with Glider related personel. This Soldier was involved in teh Cholm battle as the shield depicts. So most of these guys where involved a multiple ground combat days or the few that did not earn enough days did often get it while they where wounded in that battle.

A Glider crew that was in Cholm and did not earn the ground assualt badge was very late (lets say during the last few days of the battle - 2,3, 4 or 5 may 1942) in flying in - and it is proven at this point that gliders did land in Cholm untill 10 may 1942 !!! (iff you want to read the proof : the check the booklet "Verleihungsurkunden zum Cholmschild .... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9942 " as number of combat days was not sufficient, but then there where multiple other actionfields where he could gather the needed points iff he did survive long enough.

So lets get one more opinion and i will reveal the real reason of the shiny shield !!!

Thank you for making this a fun thread (at least for me)

Edited December 13, 2006 by Stijn David

[Jos Le Conté]

Maybe the shield is a field construction without the usual detail...?

Jos.

[Stijn David]

Hello,

OK, then i must hold my promise. The reason why this shield is so shiny is because it is indeed not the official awarded type (Iron - 3 prongs).

This is the shieldtype with 2 prongs (Buntmetal with heavy plating) that is normally used for Photoalbums and is found in a few legacy's.

This is also the shield that this soldier did wear, so he was offically entitled to wear the Cholmschield but did prefer to wear on his full dress a unofficial shield (read not award piece). Be aware that this picture (or serie) is the only real pictural proof at this point that such shields where also worn.

Cordial greetings,

Edited December 13, 2006 by Stijn David

[Scott]

Any chance of a close-up of the area around his dagger pommel?

Scott

[Stijn David]

Ask and they shall receive .....

Here is the requested close up from the Pommel => looking forward what your findings are about that !!

Cordial greetings,

Edited December 15, 2006 by Stijn David

[J Temple-West]

Looks like an army pommel. Certainly not Luftwaffe.

[Scott]

Thanks for the additional close-up. Probably just the light playing tricks; but from what is visible, it does look a bit odd for a LW dagger.

Scott

Edited December 15, 2006 by Scott

[Larry Lipps]

I'm going to have to say Luftwaffe on the dagger. The Heer dagger doesn't have a "nipple" on the top of the pommel like the Luft does. I think it's just the light.