Scarce Freikorps Militärpass - Flieger

[bolewts58]

Military Passes with Freikorps service are hard to come by. I've managed to accumulate about 25 or so over the last few years.

This one is by far one of the rarest I've picked up.

Militärpass to Flieger Nicolaus Eberg who trained at the flying school at Halle beginning in late 1917, but who never actually saw action in WWI.

He was a volunteer pilot in the Freikorps, first stationed at Halle and later in the Baltic in Artillerie-Flieger-Staffel 101 of the famous Eiserne Flieger-Abteilung 427, part of the Iron Division. The pass includes a list of his campaign service in Riga and an ink stamp and notation of Eberg's air unit. The planes of Eis. Fl-Abt 427 flew mostly recon while the ground troops attacked Riga on May 22, 1919. Then later, they flew cover during the German retreat.

He served in the Riga campaign from May to July 1919 including the Battle of Riga, the Defence of the Düna River and the evacuation and retreat from Riga to Mitau after the Iron Division and the Baltische Landeswehr were forced out of Riga by the Estonians and their Latvian allies.

Eberg most certainly would have been eligible for the Iron Division Medal which was established in 1920.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-12700-0-72106400-1420855003.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-12700-0-93286200-1420855031.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-12700-0-08968500-1420855134.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-12700-0-76324700-1420855144.jpg

Edited January 10, 2015 by bolewts58

[Naxos]

Very nice and scarce!

Thanks for showing

[Chris Boonzaier]

Very nice indeed!

[bolewts58]

Firstly, it seems the original image has disappeared. But, I'll post a new one anyway because after 4 years I've finally reunited the original sleeve badges that were with the pass before the group was broken up and sold separately. It's just dumb luck that they turned up for sale and even better were mislabeled as WWI FFA sleeve badges, which allowed me to pick them up comparatively cheaply.

So, here is the pass again reunited with the sleeve badges for Artillerie-Flieger-Staffel 101 and Eiserne-Flieger-Abteilung 427.

[Claudius]

Wow, what a nice group!

Congratulations on obtaining the missing sleeve badge!

[The Prussian]

Congrats, mate! THAT is a nice group! Chapeau!

[bolewts58]

Thanks for the comments. It's been a good week.

[paul kennedy]

Just wow!

 

[bolewts58]

Some scenes from the Latvian movie, "Die Letze Front: Defenders of Riga" showing the Iron Division planes at their base in Mitau and attacking Riga. This is one of only two full-length feature movies about the Freikorps that I know of.

Edited April 12, 2019 by bolewts58

[VtwinVince]

Very unusual and interesting. My uncle was Staffelfuehrer of the Polizei-Flieger-Staffel Karlshorst at the time of the Kapp Putsch.

[bolewts58]

6 hours ago, VtwinVince said:

Very unusual and interesting. My uncle was Staffelfuehrer of the Polizei-Flieger-Staffel Karlshorst at the time of the Kapp Putsch.

Very interesting. Do you or your family have anything related to his service?

[bolewts58]

Here's another military pass for an Unteroffizier who served in aviation units during the war and went on to volunteer for Freiwillige Fliegerabteilung 425 which was part of Gotthard Sachsenberg's Geschwader Sachsenberg (officially known as Fliegerabteilung Ost with 50 officers and 650 other ranks) based at Wainoden airfield near Riga and fighting Bolsheviks in the Baltic Campaign.

Here are the details:

Unteroffizier Gotthold Adolf Wilhelm Seiffert

2/11/1915 - Flieger (airman)

1/2/1917 – Gefreiter (corporal)

19/6/1917 - Unteroffizier (sergeant)

As an Unteroffizier, he would have been a ground crew section leader in charge of 8-14 men and 2-4 planes (3 ground crew to a plane).

WWI (air service)

20/07/1915 - Fußartillerie-Regiment Generalfeldzeugmeister (Brandenburgishes) Nr. 3.

2/11/1915 - 04/04/1916 - Flieger Ersatz Abteilung 9 Darmstadt

16/04/1916 - 24/11/1918 - Fliegerabteilung 227 (A)

Freikorps (air service)

30/06 -08/08/1919 - Freiwillige Fliegerabteilung 425. FFA425 was equipped with the Halberstadt CL IV.

09/08 -  30/09/1919 - Hauptflugpark Kurland (main airfield Kurland) – (stamped by Kommandeur der Flieger, Oberbefehlshaber Ost)

1/10/1919 – Polizeifliegerstaffel Gotha. Frankfurt – (stamped by königl. preuß. Fliegerabteilung 37). Seiffert asked to continue service in the police air unit. Likely left service in June 1920 when the police flying units were ordered dissolved.

Participated Actions (Mitgemacht Gefechte)

Besetzung und Sicherheitsdienst in Litauen (Occupation and security service in Lithuania)

Signature

Hauptmann Ernst Dörffler (WWII – Generalleutnant, Luftwaffe)

Abteilung-Führer, FFA 425 (03/05 - 17/08/1919)

Führer, Hauptflugpark Kurland (18/08 - 30/09/1919)

Staffel-Fuhrer Polizeifliegerstaffel Gotha (01/10/1919 - 03/06/1920)

Note:

Ernst Dörffler's career in the Freikorps lines up perfectly with the entries in this Militärpass.
Unteroffizier Gotthold Adolf Wilhelm Seiffert followed Dörffler into FFA 425, Hauptflugpark Kurland and finally Polizeifliegerstaffel Gotha on Oct. 1, 1919, which Dörffler commanded after FFA425 was dissolved at the end of Sept. 1919.

Only, the police were allowed to maintain flying units until sometime in June 1920. Having a reference to continued service in a police air unit is quite scarce.

Interestly, Dörffler was an observer and Seiffert a Flieger (airman) in Flieger Ersatz Abteilung 9 at the same time in 1916. Perhaps this is why Seiffert later volunteered to serve in FFA425 after Dörffler became its commander and followed him into the Polizeifliegerstaffel Gotha.

Edited November 11, 2019 by bolewts58

[VtwinVince]

I have a large archive of photos, documents and medals.

[bolewts58]

6 hours ago, VtwinVince said:

I have a large archive of photos, documents and medals.

Care to post some of them? It would be quite interesting and of value.

Edited November 16, 2019 by bolewts58