Tony Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) I'm not too clued up on German awards but think this bloke is wearing a Bavarian badge. Is it a pilots badge or a badge that most officers whether desk bound or not would have received for service in the airforce. Tony Edited December 17, 2009 by Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Some ladies make donkeys look soooo much prettier...... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Hi, an observer... so not to desk bound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Some ladies make donkeys look soooo much prettier...... :-) I think the one on the right is a bloke trying to avoid war service Just noticed the Observer isn't wearing his EKII ribbon. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Just noticed the Observer isn't wearing his EKII ribbon. Tony I wonder what he has on the right side of the tunic? It looks like a breast badge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 I wonder what he has on the right side of the tunic? It looks like a breast badge... Yeah I'm not sure if it's a badge or a mark on the photo. I thought there was some kind of badge on his left sleeve too but after the photo arrived I decided it must be just a blemish on the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schießplatzmeister Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I think the one on the right is a bloke trying to avoid war service Just noticed the Observer isn't wearing his EKII ribbon. Tony Hello: No avoiding war service here. This fellow is a highly decorated combat veteran. He is wearing an EKI. The reason his EKII ribbon isn't visible is because it was not possible to wear buttonhole ribbons on this particular type of tunic. The award on his right side looks like an Austrian air force qualification badge of some sort. The "observer" badge is for obsevation from a two-seater plane. This was a very dangerous job. These Officers usually located and marked enemy targets on a map, or took photos of ground targets. When such a plane was attacked, they also had to utilize whatever rear-facing weapons systems the plane had to keep the enemy plane away (or shoot it down if possible). I can't tell if the Observer's qualification badge is Bavarian or Prussian due to the resolution of the photo. Best regards, "SPM" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I think he means the "bloke" on the right donkey... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deruelle Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Hi, Your Observer Officer seems to be a Saxon officer ( look the porteppe !) Christophe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naxos Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I think he means the "bloke" on the right donkey... ;-) That is Corporal Max Klinger on the poor little animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hi Christophe - the portepee seems to be a generic officer's sword portepee strapped onto a bayonet. It may well be Saxon, but could pretty much be any of the other states as well (except Bavarian). Is that a spot on the photo or does the Observer have a patch on his left arm? Kind of like the one on the Flieger tunic on Kaiser's Bunker. Luc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Thanks for all the replies, especially the ID of Cpl. Max Klinger I'll try to have a better look at the photo with a magnifying glass today but due to its quality, I don't think higher resolution scans will help. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dond Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wonder if the old bag in the middle is the chaparone to ensure no unofficial poling occurs.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wonder if the old bag in the middle is the chaparone to ensure no unofficial poling occurs.......... May just be a matter of taste... but I found her to be cutest of the lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dond Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Perhaps for you Chris, but by the standards of the day I would say the chubby one on the left is the real catch of that trio. Can probably drop a litter and not miss a beat of house/farm work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wonder if they're 3 British POWs who've escaped and have unfortunately come across a couple of German airmen who fancy their chances. It does look like a badge on the right side of his tunic but the blob on his sleeve appears to be just that. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naxos Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I wonder if they're 3 British POWs who've escaped and have unfortunately come across a couple of German airmen who fancy their chances. It does look like a badge on the right side of his tunic but the blob on his sleeve appears to be just that. Tony A plot for a movie Tony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 (edited) The oval on his sleeve appears to be a Feldflieger unit patch. It was not uncommon to see button hole ribbons worn on Blusen. They simply "pretended" there was a button hole and sewed the ribbon on to make it look like there was one. Here being worn by Ldst.Sgt.Otto Plath of the Ldst.Btl.Nr.19, XVII AK (Hessen). Chip Edited December 20, 2009 by Chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naxos Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 The oval on his sleeve appears to be a Feldflieger unit patch. Chip Here is an example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Hardy, Thanks for showing the issue-type patch. I couldn't find the scan of mine. The officer's patterns tended to be privately made like the one in the photo and this one seems to have the abbreviation "Fl." at the beginning. I can't make out the rest. I have photos with officers both with an "Fl." and also with a winged propellar. Chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 I'll be away from home for a while so will try to do a good scan of his sleeve when I get back. If I can manage to do a scan in the meantime I will. The observer badge appears to be the kind with two white squares and two black ones. I don't know if they differed from state to state. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 The best I can do at the moment. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaba1914 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 The best I can do at the moment. Tony I think it's "Fl.A 2XX". One of the Fliegerabteilungen Artillerie 200-285. And those were saxon units: FA A 204, 208, 226, 231, 244, 250, 255, 264, 275 and 278. Sorry but it's impossible to identify this observer. Regards Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Hey it was a patch after all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 Wow Alex! What I thought was a bog standard photo of a couple of Germans with some women(?) has turned out to be something very interesting, even though he can't be ID'd. Thanks Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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