Ranked shoulder straps?

[ViscountessNivlac]

Hello. I’ve lurked here for a while but after doing a lot of lockdown reading I found a question so pressing to me that I thought I’d register to ask. I was browsing a website that has labelled pictures of various Imperial German shoulder boards, shoulder straps, and epaulettes. It was all stuff I’d seen before (in broad strokes, anyway) until I got towards the bottom. There I found this picture.

Now, I’d head about the NCO chevrons on the M1915 feldbluse, but this is new to me. Does anybody know anything about this system or have some better pictures? For the life of me I can’t see anything distinct between the three rank-ranges.

[The Prussian]

Hello!

The descriptions are absolute nonsense.

Those straps are for Offizier-Stellvertreter. The Entente armies didn´t have a rank like this, so I don´t know the right translation.

Maybe "Officer-Deputy"?

These were Vizefeldwebel or Feldwebel, who were subsitutes for Lieutenants for a certain period of time. It was not a rank like the others, but a position of service.

The first strap is Inf.Rgt.136 for the peace-time tunic. Probably worn in an Ersatz-Bataillon in Germany.

The second one is  a fieldgrey strap of Inf.Rgt.136

The third one is "Fußartillerie-Regiment 7" (Footartillery or heavy artillery) of the M15 tunic ("Bluse")

The forth one is Festungsbau, like written.

Here we have  Offizier-Stellvertreter of Fieldartillery Regiment 405 and Landwehr-Inf.Rgt.5

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by The Prussian

[ViscountessNivlac]

Ahhhhhhh. Thanks for the response. This is going to seem embarrassing, but I already knew what an offizierstellvertreter is, to the point of having a folder on my desktop that’s full of various pictures of them. Alongside feldwebel-leutnant it’s probably my favourite rank. I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together about these, probably just because they claimed it was something else.

[The Prussian]

In Germany we say:

you can't see the forest for the trees...

?

By the way, here is a Feldwebelleutnant

Edited May 17, 2020 by The Prussian

[ViscountessNivlac]

Did they not wear the cuff braid as a matter of routine or is there an explanation for his lack of it?

[The Prussian]

Normally yes. But there are a lot photos without the cuff braids

[Bayern]

Viscount and The Prussian , In the Film the Great Illusion directed by Jean Renoir whose action takes place in German POWs Camps , the Executive of the first Camp is Arthur a Feldwebelleutnat . Viscount ,as a rule regarding Imperial German SBs ,the metallic number or Cypher on it denotes a rank of Vizefeldwebel or more high .

[ViscountessNivlac]

10 hours ago, Bayern said:

Viscount and The Prussian , In the Film the Great Illusion directed by Jean Renoir whose action takes place in German POWs Camps , the Executive of the first Camp is Arthur a Feldwebelleutnat . Viscount ,as a rule regarding Imperial German SBs ,the metallic number or Cypher on it denotes a rank of Vizefeldwebel or more high .

Ah. You’re always learning more. Shoulder strap insignia have always done my head i  with how complex they could be so I’ve really just ignored them for the most part. This place has been teaching me how neat they are! So, as well as not carrying a sword, a sergeant would have an embroidered number?

[The Prussian]

Yes. BUT, if he was a Offizier-Stellvertreter he could have a metal number, because of the braid the number would be invisible...

But it wss very rare, that a Sergeant became an O.S.

[ViscountessNivlac]

1 hour ago, The Prussian said:

Yes. BUT, if he was a Offizier-Stellvertreter he could have a metal number, because of the braid the number would be invisible...

But it wss very rare, that a Sergeant became an O.S.

What fun. Was there any indication of their substantive rank left or did the appointment entitle them to a sword regardless?

[The Prussian]

That was just temporary. Maybe a few days.

[Bayern]

Hello ,I suscribe what The Prussian says . I think that was rather uncommon a Sargeant promoted to the Service position of Offizierstellvertreter .due to the fact that the regulations  determines the rank of Vizefeldwebel with four years in the post as eligible for Offizierstellvertreter .Service position and not Service Rank .