Flammenwerfer! Flames, skulls and stuff

[denbox14]

Help please identify.. Crown or skull? 

[mchapman]

A bit difficult for me to tell,  but Wehrwolf had a few variants of totenkopf on their buckles.  

[bolewts58]

 

 

Freikorps Caspari carried the Iron Division flag.............

I noticed this photo in an old post from 2010 (#719) wrongly identifying this group as Freikorps Caspari. Freikorps Caspari had nothing to do with the Iron Division or the Baltic. Nor, did they have a veteran's organization of former members as all Freikorps Caspari members either went into Reichswehr Brigade 10 or the Bremen Security Police in June 1919.

This photo is in fact of veterans of the Baltic Landwehr/Deutsche Legion/Iron Division which fell under the umbrella of the Verein Ehemaliger Baltikumkämpfer founded in 1922, which became the Reichsverband Baltikumkämpfer in 1933. The black sword on a white shield was originally the insignia of the Baltic Landwehr and was adopted later by the Deutsche Division and Iron Division during the Riga campaign.

Here is an example of the sleeve badge seen in the photo.

Edited April 13, 2018 by bolewts58

[Bayern]

On 09/06/2009 at 18:50, Robin Lumsden said:

I found this at the Bundesarchiv site................caption says it's a (British?) tank, destroyed by German flamethrower action.

 

(1. Weltkrieg 1914-1918, Westfront, durch deutsche Panzerabwehr mit Flammenwerfer vernichteter (britischer?) Tank; die Besatzung ist erstickt und verbrannt.)

The caption says also that the crew of the tank was suffocated and burned by the flamethrower action

[dond]

I think that direct hit/penetration by a large caliber shell might have had something to do with it. 

[Bayern]

I repeat what the capyion says

[toot]

WOW!! now we finally know where they have all gone!! impressive. 

[Kornel R.]

Very informative info Brian - thank you !   I wasn't on the forum for a while … or a bit longer ..    If we are talking about Freikorps Caspari , I have few pieces from one of his former officers ( I bought them from his son ! )  - they are from WW I and WW II era , nothing from his Freikorps time … I was told he was participating in this particular Freikorps .  His name is Rudolf Sies and he was very interesting man - after his Second World War he was President of the organization of German porcelain makers and one of the highest managers at Huetschenreuther Manufactur .. I'm sorry it's bit off topic .. here you have his few belongings  .. I also have somewhere packed his WW I  officer's shoulder board.

best 

Kornel 

[graham]

www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com/portfolio/img_4794/

[graham]

blog.operationwardiary.org/2015/02/13/the-german-army-during-the-first-world-war/

'King Wilhelm II of Württemberg examining a flamethrower on the Western Front, April 1917.'

Not sure if the man on the far left is standing in the ideal position.

 

[Chris Boonzaier]

part of a group photo ... I know which tunic I would grab......

[Zheleznyi]

Hey, guys.

How do you like this sign?

 

 

[bolewts58]

Sorry, it's a well-known fake.

Notice the ripples in the sail on yours. That's called "Luffing" in sailing. An old sea-dog like Ehrhardt would never have allowed the badge to have "Luffing", if for no other reason than it would indicate that the ship was crossing the wind and slowing down. The Viking ship is in full sail cutting through the waves which would not be possible with a "Luffing" sail. Whoever cut the die for this fake did not understand the fundamentals of sailing and obviously didn't examine real badges. That's a dead give-away that it's fake as well as several other details that are wrong.

 

Here's an original with a Prinzen size. Notice the full sail with no ripples on the surface,  rounded and full of wind as it should be.

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by bolewts58

[Zheleznyi]

Thank you bolewts58!

[Klaus P. Schad]

Der Flammenwerfer Totenkopf or Lazy-S-DH.

Hi Guys,

Last year I watched Doomsday World War I on “YouTube” and found a very interesting trench scene.  The Pionier  looking through the binocular is in my opinion  a member of the G.R.P.R.

He’s wearing  the Garde Pionier uniform with Litzen and black shoulder boards

I think I can make out a death’s head at the right upper  holster lid . Unfortunately, the picture is very blurry and therefore  hard to identify.

The trench scene is staged and easy to recognize by the “training hand grenade” worn on the belt by the soldier to the right of the Pionier.

I  corresponded  with the Berlin Film Archive and found with their help the same trench scene in two more documentation films, however, in a shorter variation.  Other than that, they were unable to furnish a clear and crisp picture.

Doomsday, WWI/extra long documentary

Doomsday, the Battle of  Nations, by Peter Hartl.

Stellungskrieg im Westen (1937), EFG 1914 european film gateway.

If anyone of the membership has a Flammenwerfer photo with a “Death’s Head” on the holster, would you please share it ? Maybe a portrait or a grouping picture ?.It would be highly  appreciated.

Thank you,

Klaus

[dond]

I don't see anything on the holster.

[Klaus P. Schad]

The Lazy-S-DH

Hi Guys,

many pictures and films were made by “BUFA” for training and propaganda purposes all the way up to the end of WW1, according to contemporary regimental history books of Sturm Btl. 1,3 and 5.

The many “week-end-movies” to entertain the “higher-up-dignitaries” at the training ground of Doncourt/France were rather unpopular, according to members of St.Btl.(5) Rohr.

Please see page 37-39 Doncourt. Koenigl. preuss. Sturm Bataillon Nr.5(Rohr) by

 Graf Eberhard von Schwerin.

Please check also  “ Brandenburgisches Jaeger Bataillon Nr.3”by Friedrich Mueller, page 109

Rueckzugskaempfe im Verband der 3. Armee.

By October 07, 1918, Major von Schenckendorff received the order by the “OHL” (Army HQ) to have his exemplary training exercises filmed with the help of a cinematographic film troop!!!

Please note : That’s only 4-5 weeks before the end of WW1.

Thanks Klaus

[Gilles]

On 30/11/2022 at 20:04, Klaus P. Schad said:

Hi Klaus,

The Pionier  looking through the binocular is in my opinion  a member of the G.R.P.R.

He’s wearing  the Garde Pionier uniform with Litzen and black shoulder boards

 

I'd rather say Garde-Schütze because of the three buttons and the "waves"

 

[Klaus P. Schad]

Hello Gilles,

thanks for your reply. The Garde Schuetzen didn't have black shoulder boards, no death's head insignias and didn't make any Bufa-Films according to the regimental history book. Please see "here is some of my treasure" in Deutsches Kaiserreich.

I've been trying in vain to get a better picture of the Lazy-S-DH on the holster but w/o any success so far. 

 

Best regards,

Klaus

 

 

 

 

[Hartmann Lo]

Did anyone have this photo in full resolution?

[Klaus P. Schad]

Hi Hartmann Lo, 

nice picture but no Totenkopf.

Thanks anyway,

Klaus

[Gilles]

Hi Klaus,

To your picture posted on November 30, 2022: According to me, the black shoulder board is only the shadow of a feldgrau shoulder board because due to the position of the arms holding the field-glasses.

Best regards

Gilles

[Klaus P. Schad]

Hello Gilles,

thanks for your reply. I'm trying in vain to get a better picture but to no avail. I even found another movie on YouTube called  "WW1 Footage" with the same trench scene but with the same miserable quality. The shadow could be the black underlay of the shoulder board. Please do me a favor and check the left arm just above the 3 buttons and Litzen. There might be another insignia.

Best regards,

Klaus

[all1knew]

On 10/06/2011 at 16:55, Robin Lumsden said:

 

 

 

 

I just found this from my files .............. looks a bit similar.

 

I actually have one of these skulls which is very similar. Has this type been seen in a period photo?

 

William Kramer

 

 

 

Edited November 6 by all1knew

[bolewts58]

It's Italian