Since I was a child, I have been very interested in the military. Most specifically, WW2 has sparked my curiosity. Since I have been on my own, ironically in the military, I have been collecting items that were brought back by our victorious men and women.

Highlights of my collection are:

Soviet Orders and Medals
East German uniforms and medals
WW2 German uniforms and insignia
WW2 and WW1 German medals

I want to share with you a few items in my ever changing collection.

The first one is for a Col. of the Luftwaffe General Staff.

This next one is for a SSgt in the Luftwaffe Specialtist Leaders corps(Administration). These men did wear uniforms, but they were considered civilians. I would compare them to Civilian Air Force GS workers, with uniforms. They had rankings based upon their education and work experience. There were not too many of these guys.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paulmedic,

Next, is a 2nd Lt, Luftwaffe Air Traffic Control Official

Here is a medical Officer, Major. (Doctor).



By paulr at 2006-07-01

And an Enlisted Corpsman(E1)



and

A German Army Medical Corpsman, Corporal.



and

Luftwaffe Band Leader(2nd Lt) assigned to a Flight unit.

That should be enough for now. If you want to see more or if you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

Regards
Paul

Impressive!

Impressive collection. How did the original owner of the air traffic control uniform earn the silver and black wound badges?

That has got to be the finest collection of German uniforms I've ever seen! You, no doubt, have a fortune invested in them! I can't help but wonder how many required repairs and clean-up?

Thanks for the replies! I really appreciate them

A1CKBurrow,

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Jester1775,

The Air Traffic Control Meister has the WW1 wound badge in silver
(notice the lack of the swastika). Most likely, he might have been a regular infantryman in WW1 and either sustained a very serious injury or was wounded three to five occasions. The second badge is actually a DRL Sports badge in bronze.

AirDefender,

Thank you for your compliments as well. These things are not cheap. I got most of my larger ticket items before I was married! LOL. The four pocket tunics were actually service jackets, so most likely, they would not have seen much action. Some, like the Air Traffic Controller, might have been worn as the uniform of the day. The field uniforms looked like the medical major's tunic. This garment is called a fliegerbluse.

None of mine have been used or abused, so there are no real repairs. The tunic with the most use is the Air Traffic Control Meister.

I have some more that I can share, if there is interest.

Some new additions. The first up is a tunic for an anti aircraft crew member NCO in the Luftwaffe named(on an inside tag) to Uffz. Helmut Maier.





Helmut Maier, 2. I. Fl.Rgt.49
belonged to the second Battery of the first Battalion of the Flak-Regiment 49 - in the summer of 1942 near Stalingrad the first battalion Fl.Rgt.49 was placed under the command of the Stab / Flak-Regiment 37.

The first Battalion, Flak-Regiment 49 fought with distinction beside the 16.Panzer-Division at Stalingrad - there it was lost in the north sector of the Stalingrad cauldron (tractor factory Tschersinsky).

Helmut Maier was born around 1917. The earliest he could have been a Kanonier in the 2. Batterie of Flak-Regiment 49 would have been in early 1938. The I. Abteilung Flak-Regiment 49 was established on Oct.01 1937 in Mannheim. The officer commanding the second battery was apparently a Knight's Cross bearer.
He would have been an Unteroffizier in 1942.

Assuming Maier remained in this unit, he probably left the above tunic at home when the I.Fl.Rgt.49 was transferred from France to the Ukraine.
Maier ,if not KIA (and I couldn't find a Helmut Maier out of the 31 listed on Volksbund Website fitting the above), most likley went missing in Dec 42 or Jan 43.

Paul, if you know someone with a Vermisstenbildliste des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes (MIA picture registry of the German Red Cross) that incl. Flak-Regiment 49 it might be possible to find Maier's picture.

A lot of the Stalingrad MIAs found in the lists of the Red Cross are not listed with the Volksbund.

The last commanding officer of I./49 (the first battalion of the Flak-Regiment 49 was by then part of Flak-Regiment 37) was Major Gaiduß.
On Jan 29. 1943 the entire battalion consisted of only 26 men, according to the diary of a surviving member of I./Flak.Rgt.49

The diary (in German) can be found on line.

http://ol-sbg.at/DADBUCH2.HTM

A field grade ranking tunic for a Luftwaffe Signals Official! This is the first such tunic I have ever seen.

This particular tunic is a private purchase piece(as are all of the Officer Level Officials tunics I have ever handled). The upper pocket flaps are sewn down at the corners.

From everything that I have read, these men worked in Research and Development for "state of the art" transmission equipment, as well as other very specialized roles. Some examples could be developing, perfecting, and operation of navigation systems on remote controlled weapons, radar, codes, and etc.

This tunic is for a Luftwaffe Judicial Official. The secondary color is wine red in color.

It is without it's eagle and in very rough shape due to hard wear and is full of field repairs. The insignia are actually much more worn than the photo illustrates.

This type of tunic was not meant for field use. Also, with this man being an Administrative Official, I can only see a couple of possibilities... It is easy to envision many nights, sleeping outside wearing this jacket for warmth. It was definitely used and abused.

1. This tunic saw a few years in a POW camp.

2. This tunic was part of a long walk home, after the war was lost.

If it could only talk! jumping.gif

It is missing not only the eagle, but the top button as well! To top things off, there are two loops for a nice two space ribbon bar. I think that a basic EK2/HK combo would go perfectly!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paulmedic,

Some new additions. The first up is a tunic for an anti aircraft crew member NCO in the Luftwaffe named(on an inside tag) to Uffz. Helmut Maier.

[IMG]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260

That is an impressive collection of German uniforms. Do you collect WWI militaria as well?

The shoulder boards and collar patches look too new to be authentic on that 2nd tunic for all the wear on it.

quote:

Originally posted by nekron99:
The shoulder boards and collar patches look too new to be authentic on that 2nd tunic for all the wear on it.

Thanks guys for the comments. I really do appreciate them.

As far as WW1 stuff is concerned, I do have a few medal bars from the 1866/71 time period as well as a few from WW1 and the Weimar Republic. I am also into ribbon bars as well.

The second tunic, the Sonderfuhrer has seen very little use as a whole. The insignia is completely matching to the tunic. I dont really see any wear at all. This tunic comes directly from George Petersen, who has had it since the '60s. I would be happy to send you some better photos if you were to shoot me an email:

wehrmachtsanitater@yahoo.com (I will edit this email out in two days).

I can assure you with all confidence that the tunic has not been messed with. Are you are talking about the second one from the top?

What is your focus? Are you a Luft collector as well?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paulmedic,

FANTASTIC LUFTWAFFE COLLECTION! I can tell you've been working hard on this for a long time!