one the heros of the first world-war

[Christian L]

as the luftwaffe was a new technology - the pilots get to be some kind of heros. and therefor i like to present you a nice pic of one of these guys. (and he did have service in the 2nd ww as well). hope you like the pic.

christian

[derGeneral]

Nice picture Christian! Now I now who gots the picture for this great price.... Is the second cross on the bar a Waldeck cross ?

Edited June 7, 2006 by derGeneral

[Christian L]

yes, its waldeck - from the picture it seems to be a 4th class cross without enamel on the arms.

[Daniel Murphy]

Hmm. Is that an Italian Crown Order at the end? Rick should have no problem identifying him.

Dan Murphy

[Guest Rick Research]

A young pre-war Luftwaffe Oberst should certainly have made General during the war, yet I find nobody to match from Waldeck. The WW1 award rolls from that state are complete, and I find no Luftwaffe General (or known Oberst) who matches.

No match in the Reichsheer, though that does not precluse an "invisible" from the Weimar police.

I suspect therefore that this officer is not wearing a Waldeck award, but the virtually identical (from this angle, center impossible to see) Honor Cross from REUSS-- the award rolls for which have not been published.

He looks very much like Karl von Gerlach (1894-1941), posthumous Luftwaffe Generalmajor BUT von Gerlach somehow seems to have gotten the WW1 Flyers' Commemorative Badge (I do not see how he can possibly have qualified) and is wearing same in his under-decorated Reichsheer portrait in the Biblio series. Von Gerlach had the 1918 Wound Badge, made Luftwaffe Oberst 1.1.39, and would still have held the 18 and 4--as being worn here--until the fall of 1939 when his 25 would have been processed.

There are NO Luftwaffe Rank Lists beyond the partial flying-and-General-Staff-only Hauptleute up of February 1945. The Flowers War Medals and Italian Crown Order would not have been shown, even if there had been pre-war lists.

No clue who this is.

[Daniel Murphy]

Rick should have no problem identifying him.

Thats what I get for opening my big mouth. I jinxed the Rickster.

Dan Murphy

[webr55]

Christian, could you do a real good close-up of the medal bar?

[Christian L]

thanks a lot for the comments and the id try's!

when i saw this, i was really amazed to see the amount of awards and liked.

sadly the quality isn't that good, as it is a rather small pic, so here a try on the medalbar (can do it bigger, but its getting more and more unclear)

christian

[webr55]

Good job!

I think I see faint traces of a cross in the center and the characteristic wreath around it - this should be Waldeck 4th clX.

[Bob Hunter]

That looks like an Italian Crown Order (Officer Class) on the end. Am I correct?

[Christian L]

yes, its a small rosette on the ribbon for the officer class

christian