Show your Imperial officier' shoulderboards

[Guest Rick Research]

The "V" shaped flecks in German officers' Feldachselst?cke will reveal the home state of the wearer, or his Imperial status:

1) A M1910 Prussian (black "V"s) Leutnant of aviation branch

2) A M1910 Bavarian (blue "V"s) Leutnant of wartime independent Foot Artillery Battery 10

3) Two M1915 Bavarian variations-- on subdued M1915 insignia, with dull yarn in plavce of shing woven silver threads, sometime WHITE was mixed with the pale blue to provide better contrast. These two are from pairs which belong to a Military Max Joseph Knight.

[Guest Rick Research]

The navy used the imperial tricolors (black on one half of each "V" and twisted white and red on the other side of each "V")-- but so did the colonial Schutztruppen.

So how to tell which was which, faced with a white underlay board, which could be common to both services?

In the NAVY, the tricolors alternated : black/white-red, next red-white/black, next black/white-red.

In the colonial forces, the tricolors always remained in the same order: black/white-red, black/white-red, black/white-red

A Korvettenkapit?n zur See and an Oberstleutnant of Schutztruppen from Southwest Africa

[Guest Rick Research]

Here's a closeup from a lower ranking naval officer's shoulder board which more clearly shows the tricolors as used on BOTH navy and colonial forces, but as alternated by the navy.

W?rttemberg ALSO used black and red-- but no white. Every "V" was two strands of black and red for the army of that south German kingdom, as compared with an Imperial navy board of similar but distinctly different design:

[Tony]

Hello Rick,

Can you tell me anything about these? Are they imperial? Are they German?

What does the yellow on the one with the black Vs mean? Is the other from the medical corps or pay corps or something completely different?

Thanks

Tony

[Glenn J]

Tony,

I can't make out the branch colour on the captains's board but the cypher is that of an officer of the Wehrmacht administrative branch of the "Special Troop Service" or Truppensonderdienst. The rank designation is Stabsintendant and the branch was formed from former administrative officials of the intendance and paymaster branches on the 1st of May 1944. The correct piping should be light blue.

Regards

Glenn

[Tony]

Hello Glenn,

So I wasn't far out with my paymaster guess. The underside is a sort of dark blue I'd say and no piping is present.

I picked both of them up (they are pairs) years and years ago on a flea market after I couldn't find anything else I wanted. Don't know why, I just needed to spend my money.

Tony

[Guest Rick Research]

The other one is Third Reich (fire department, customs, border guards, and RAD continued to use "V"s as did the Police) for Reichsbahn personnel equivalent to a Feldwebel.

Here's a comparison between the carmine/radioactive pink of the Feuerwehr (Third Reich) and the traditional color for the (Bavarian here and sadly much worn which is why it looks darker) General Staff!

[Mike Huxley]

A pair of boards to a of leutnant's from the Infanterie-Regiment Markgraf Ludwig Wilhelm (3. Badisches) Nr 111. I picked this pair up some time ago. The crown and scroll work is fantastic.

[Mike Huxley]

Slip on type ... reverse

[Tony]

Any chance of a close up on the crown and scroll Mike?

Have you finally bought yourself a scanner?

Tony

[Mike Huxley]

Any chance of a close up on the crown and scroll Mike?

Have you finally bought yourself a scanner?

Tony

←

Hey Tony, No problems with that, but I'll have to take closer pictures tomorrow ... still haven't splashed out on a scanner yet :speechless-smiley-004:

[Mike Huxley]

Any chance of a close up on the crown and scroll Mike?

Have you finally bought yourself a scanner?

Tony

←

Here's that promised closer shot of the device. Better late than never

[Tony]

Thanks Mike!!

Tony

[Deruelle]

Hi everybody,

I want to start a new thread about officer' shoulderboards.

The first one I want to show you is the Leutnant shoulderboards of 109e Grenadier Regiment of Baden (WW1 era).

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Just for fun, the Litzen

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Leutnant 111. IR of Baden.

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Bavarian Hauptmann of 9 IR

[Deruelle]

Bavarian Leutnant

[Deruelle]

Oberleutnant of Grenadier Regiment Koenig Friedrich III Nr. 11

[Deruelle]

The Litzen

[Deruelle]

Hauptmann of IR Nr. 144

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Leutnant of IR Nr. 95

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Saxon Leutnant IR Nr. 133

Christophe

[Deruelle]

Prussian wartime Hauptmann shoulderboards

Christophe

[Guest Rick Research]

Bavarian J?ger Battalion 4 Leutnant M1915 dress pattern-- there wasn't, after all, any PRE-war battalion of this number to wear the shiny type!

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