Unidentified Can anyone solve this mystery?

[sharon00]

Hi all,

I've stumbled across your forum and wondered if anyone could lend their expertise. I found the attached photo in my grandmother's house. It depicts my great-grandfather, who I understand lived in what we now call Romania (though I think the borders shifted radically during his lifetime). When he died, around 1941-2, he was a pilot, we think. But we can't make out the country of origin of his uniform - and to make matters more confusing, the writing on the back of the photo seems to be German.

Any ideas what country, let along regiment or role, his insignia represents? I'd be grateful for any guidance at all.

With thanks,

Sharon

[sharon00]

A second photo, showing the writing on the back of the first photo.

Thanks in advance for your help, and apologies for the intrusion.

[arb]

It seems to me he was an Austrian 1st Lieutentant in the air service. I've found a nice English-language site created by fellow GMIC member moderator Glenn J. with additional photos and information, but I am, for some reason, unable to paste any information into this response

Andy

[IrishGunner]

Here's the link to Glenn's site for aviation troops:http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/lft.htm

He could have been Romanian serving in the Austrian Army. It looks Austro-Hungarian to me with the uniform. The rank in the photo looks like Oberstleutnant...but it's difficult to tell gold officer stars from enlisted silver stars in black/white photos.

The "balloon" badge definitely indicates KuK Luftfahrtruppen or aviation troops. Here's a photo from Glenn's site with an aviation officer...note the balloon insignia:

The writing on the back is German: "With friendly memories of your... (I can't make out this word)" I can't read the name that is signed. The bottom: "Field Post Office 510, 10 August 1918" Maybe with the bump, our German reading experts will chime in...

There are also quite a few KuK experts ... hopefully they can jump in too. Maybe someone knows what unit goes with Feldpostamt 510

Edited February 12, 2014 by IrishGunner

[IrishGunner]

The ribbon has me confused. There are no Austro-Hungarian ribbons with even stripes with that color combination (looks like white/red/white). The closest is the Leopold Order, but the outside white stripes are narrower than the center red stripe.

Again, hopefully the Austrian experts will chime in soon...

[IrishGunner]

Here's another KuK aviator (from this Czech site)

Feldwebel Eugen Bönsch; Austria-Hungary in WWI, flew for the Luftwaffe in WW2

Edited February 12, 2014 by IrishGunner

[sharon00]

Thank you everyone for these replies! I just woke up and checked in first thing. I will have a read of Glenn's site to learn more. As ever, grateful for any more thoughts if you have them.

[Ian]

Sharon,

The photo shows your great grandfather as a Korporal serving in an aviation unit (high probability he was not a pilot). The ribbon is fror the Karltruppenkreuz (Carl Troop Cross).

If you have his full name, birth date and place of birth you may well be able to find information on him from the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna.

Regards,

Ian

[sharon00]

That's really helpful Ian, thank you. I will search for him on the Kriegsarchiv. My next 'mission' is to figure out where he ended up fighting (and dying) in WW2 - we know it wasn't on the German side (he was Jewish), but his other living relatives are too old to remember much.