An artillery observer?

[IrishGunner]

I need a little help understanding this photo post card I received today. I bought it because of it's caption: "Artillerie-Beobachtungsposten mit der Batterie in telefonischer Verbindung" = "Artillery Observation Post connected to the Battery by telephone"

I thought it an interesting shot of how an observer might communicate with his battery. Upon receipt, I was able to recognize that the objects on top of the dug-out are two shakos. Of course, this made me go "huh?" Then I could see closer the shoulder strap and it looks nothing like the expected artillery strap.

So, what do you all make of this...especially does anyone recognize the shoulder strap? Is this artillery observer supporting Jagers or Schutzen because of the shakos? Anyone able to give me the nomenclature for the telephone?

BTW: the back is blank except that it was printed in Berlin.

[IrishGunner]

Closer view of the shoulder strap:

[Chip]

Well, it appears that the shoulder strap is that of the Telegraphentruppen. It has a red "Blitzbundel" with the battalion roman numeral underneath. Of course, the shako was worn by the Telegrapentruppen too. This is a well-known photo card that was distributed as part of a general series of wartime photo postcards. The wording means that the post was connected to the artillery battery via telephone.

The handset is call Armeefernsprecher a.A., which is connected to, I beleive, a Sprechbatterie a.A..

Chip

[Chip]

Here is an example pair of the shoulder strap.

Chip

[IrishGunner]

Thanks, Chip. I thought you might have some insight to the shoulder strap. I knew this was probably a post-war series - a lot of those type cards floating around.

Hmm, Telegraphentruppen, huh? So, despite the caption, possibly nothing to do with artillery at all. Guess now I have to read about the Telegraphentruppen.

[Chip]

IG,

He could be working with the artillery, but there is no way to know from the photo. Normally, the artillery had their own observers and communications.

Chip

[IrishGunner]

Chip, you are correct; the artillery had its own observers and commo - that's why I expected to see an artillery shoulder strap. Surely this is a posed photo; it doesn't look like he could "observe" much from this position. So, I wasn't really expecting a great story. C'est la guerre; c'est la vie. It still is a good card because it's caused me to "study" some more. And that's what it's all about for me at this point.