One area of NVA collecting that little is known and has always intrigued me are the badges of the Fallshirmdienstes (Parachute Service).
The early Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen für Offiziere des Fallschirmdienstes (Career Service Badge for Officers of the Parachute Service) 1960-67 and the Klassifizierungsabzeichen für Angehörige des Fallschirmdienstes (Classification Badge for Member of the Parachute Service) 1960-63 are often mistaken for early NVA Parachute Badges.
The Air Force Fallshirmdienstes Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen career service oval worn on the uniform sleeve is also sometimes mistaken with the simular Fallschirmjäger Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen. The only difference is that the Fallschirmjäger careed service version has a gull wing at the bottom of the parachute.
The organization's full title is Fallschirm- and Rettungsdienst of the LSK/LV (FRD) (The Parachute and Rescue Service of the Air Force/Air Defense). I've done some internet searches, but there is not much to be found about this organization.
There is an autobiography written by the former head of the The Parachute and Rescue Service at the Air Force Officer's School that provides some good background on this organization; "Kameradschaft am Fallschirm. Mein Weg zum Leiter des Fallschirm- und Rettungsdienstes der LSK/LV der Nationalen Volksarmee" by Horst Schöll.
I had a friend bring me a copy back from Germany this week and have been hard at work trying to read it with my limited German skills. I'm still in the Chapter about the 1950's, but basically the FRD was responsible for maintaining parachutes and aircraft survival equipment for the Air Force as well as conducting parachute, rescue and safety equipment training for pilots and aircrew. It's like a combination of the US Parachute Rigger, Jumpmaster and Airborne School black hat. I believe there were small detachments of the FRD at every LSK airfield.
Schöll, a former WWII Fallschirmjäger joined the Volkspolizei-Luft in July 1953, in its very early days. He was a Staff Sergeant for a probationary period of six months and later promoted to Lieutenant. He also participated in the first parachute jump in the Soviet Zone after WWII on 27 April 1954.
The training he provided at the officer's school was based on the Soviet model where after the initial the parachute training program pilots and aircrew members made parachute jumps annually.
More to follow as I get farther along in the book.
The early Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen für Offiziere des Fallschirmdienstes (Career Service Badge for Officers of the Parachute Service) 1960-67 and the Klassifizierungsabzeichen für Angehörige des Fallschirmdienstes (Classification Badge for Member of the Parachute Service) 1960-63 are often mistaken for early NVA Parachute Badges.
The Air Force Fallshirmdienstes Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen career service oval worn on the uniform sleeve is also sometimes mistaken with the simular Fallschirmjäger Dienstlaufbahnabzeichen. The only difference is that the Fallschirmjäger careed service version has a gull wing at the bottom of the parachute.
The organization's full title is Fallschirm- and Rettungsdienst of the LSK/LV (FRD) (The Parachute and Rescue Service of the Air Force/Air Defense). I've done some internet searches, but there is not much to be found about this organization.
There is an autobiography written by the former head of the The Parachute and Rescue Service at the Air Force Officer's School that provides some good background on this organization; "Kameradschaft am Fallschirm. Mein Weg zum Leiter des Fallschirm- und Rettungsdienstes der LSK/LV der Nationalen Volksarmee" by Horst Schöll.
I had a friend bring me a copy back from Germany this week and have been hard at work trying to read it with my limited German skills. I'm still in the Chapter about the 1950's, but basically the FRD was responsible for maintaining parachutes and aircraft survival equipment for the Air Force as well as conducting parachute, rescue and safety equipment training for pilots and aircrew. It's like a combination of the US Parachute Rigger, Jumpmaster and Airborne School black hat. I believe there were small detachments of the FRD at every LSK airfield.
Schöll, a former WWII Fallschirmjäger joined the Volkspolizei-Luft in July 1953, in its very early days. He was a Staff Sergeant for a probationary period of six months and later promoted to Lieutenant. He also participated in the first parachute jump in the Soviet Zone after WWII on 27 April 1954.
The training he provided at the officer's school was based on the Soviet model where after the initial the parachute training program pilots and aircrew members made parachute jumps annually.
More to follow as I get farther along in the book.
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