Shoulder Board Fun

[Guardian 5]

Team - In the spring time, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of badging up that derelict tunic...

Yes, I realize that I've used that corny line before, but there's no denying a bunch of us are trying to get some longstanding "badge up" projects complete.

But how does one go about completing the project if one doesn't know what board to slide on the epaulette?

To assist in this forum wide craze, I've taken some crappy photos of BW Heer shoulders boards in an effort to help get things sorted.

It is up to our friends in the Fatherland to help their NATO allies in North America to see the error of our ways so we can finally get the tunics, shirts, and great coats out of the closets and onto the mannequins where they rightfully belong.

In this first crappy photo, I lined up some shoulder boards with the oldest on the right and the newest on the left. I already know this is wrong, because the second from the right board should switch with its neighbor on the right.

What else have I got wrong? What board goes on what garment?

Thanks - TJ

[Guardian 5]

Rear view.

[Guardian 5]

Officer types.

[Guardian 5]

Rear view. The Hauptman boards feature the screw-on type fixture.

The new issue boards, still sewn together, do not have this feature.

[Guardian 5]

A selection of old school boards.

[Guardian 5]

These were the "newest" boards I had, but we now know that even newer boards are on the way.

All the best - TJ

[Gordon Craig]

Team - In the spring time, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of badging up that derelict tunic...

Yes, I realize that I've used that corny line before, but there's no denying a bunch of us are trying to get some longstanding "badge up" projects complete.

But how does one go about completing the project if one doesn't know what board to slide on the epaulette?

To assist in this forum wide craze, I've taken some crappy photos of BW Heer shoulders boards in an effort to help get things sorted.

It is up to our friends in the Fatherland to help their NATO allies in North America to see the error of our ways so we can finally get the tunics, shirts, and great coats out of the closets and onto the mannequins where they rightfully belong.

In this first crappy photo, I lined up some shoulder boards with the oldest on the right and the newest on the left. I already know this is wrong, because the second from the right board should switch with its neighbor on the right.

What else have I got wrong? What board goes on what garment?

Thanks - TJ

TJ,

Thanks for posting these boards. Once a board has been removed from the uniform it becomes hard to identify. I am going to take a stab at identifying the ones from posts #1 and 2. These are at best "educated guesses" so anyone can feel free to disagree! I am going to number them 1 through 5, from the viewers left to right.

1-Early 50s slip-on for a great coat. The pointed boards like this for tunics were sewn in;
2-Post 63 board - sewn-in - probably used in the 60s because of the dark colour of the board;
3-Probably from the 70s - slip-on - tunic or great coat? I don't know when they stopped using slip-on boards on great coats and went to sew-in boards;
4-also from the 70s - slip-on - looks too long to be for a tunic. Possibly for a great coat?
5-also 70s - slip-on - use ?

Regards,

Gordon

[Forseti]

If you really want fun, show us the Pommesbude! (Stabsgefreiter) ;-)

[Guardian 5]

Forseti - I went large on your order of fries and went with a Luftwaffe Oberstabsgefreiter.

When I left the BRD in 1990 this rank didn't exist. When I came back in 2001 it was there.

What brought about the creation of this very unusual rank? What kind of responsibility does this rank have compared to a sergeant?

Thanks - TJ

[Guardian 5]

Polizei shoulder boards have there variations too. Note the slight differences in these examples.

[Guardian 5]

Rear view.

[Guardian 5]

These boards were supposedly worn by former members of the DDR Volkspolizei during the reunification.

All the best - TJ

[Collectinsteve]

TJ,

Nice comparison of the three types of unified Polizei rank. The type that buttons through is not so easy to find.

I've got a bunch of the cardboard BDR boards for both ground and water police.

I bought a pretty big bunch of stuff from a retired BGS member. One of the items was a DDR Grenztruppen jacket with BGS insignia on the left arm. The collar tabs are not present and the jacket is stamped MdI. It came without rank so I'm not quite sure what they had on there. The standard BGS rank for the time period doesn't fit the very small shoulder loop, but the old type (out of service since 1970 or so) does fit.

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Here are some shoulder rank that's interesting to look at side by side:



From left to right: Modern Luftwaffe Major, 1970s? Gefreiter, 1970s? Major, 1959-1962? Oberfeldwebel

The following appear to be experimental Polizei rank. Note the middle type is very similar to what was adopted, but the snap is a very course "pebble" type instead of the smooth type. If anything knows more about these, please let us know!



Comparison of the 1st Model and 2nd Model (after 1970 at some point) BGS shoulder rank. Note the width and length of the straps. The 2nd Model is wider and longer, but it is also reinforced with plastic.



High quality wool Heer Feldwebel rank:



Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Sorta on topic... a collection of EM ranks for the arms. Note how many types there are!! Below is my best guess as to what each are:



1. Heer Gefreiter (HBT) for Feld & Arbeits 1955-1962
2. Heer Gefreiter (cotton) for Dienst 1963-1974?
3. Heer Gefreiter (cotton) for Dienst 1963-196??
4. Luftwaffe Gefreiter (felt) for Hemd 1963-1974?
5. Marine Gefreiter (felt) for Coloni 1955-1962?
6. Luftwaffe Hauptgefreiter (felt) for Hemd 1963-1974?
7. Heer Hauptgefreiter (moleskin) for Feld 1963-1974?
8. Luftwaffe Obergefreiter (felt) for Hemd 1963-1974?
9. Marine Hauptgefreiter (felt) for Hemd 1955-1962?
10. Heer Obergegreiter (moleskin) for Feld 1963-1974?
11. ?? Obergefreiter (cotton) for Dienst 1963-1974?
12. Heer Hauptgefreiter (felt) for Dienst 1955-195??

I'm sure there are a lot of mistakes in my guesses! Hopefully someone can correct me.

Steve