Commemorative Pilot Badge on Silver Cup

[Steve Knott]

This silver cup was a wedding gift to Leutnant Herbert A. Angelroth in 1927. It was given to him by four fellow employees at the Junkers aircraft company: Ernst Kredel, Adolf Krogmann, Arthur Luchsland, and ? Weiss. These men (all fomer WWI aviators) had also served together in Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg in 1919 flying combat sorties against Bolshevik "Red" forces in the Baltic region.

During WWI, Angelroth served first as an infantry officer in I.R. 26 in Courland and Romania, then transferred to the air service in 1917. Following flight training, he was assigned to F.A.A. 258 as an aerial observer on the Western Front. He earned the EK2, EK1, black wound badge, and the Baltic Cross.

The cup (made by the Wilhelm Binder Silverwaren-Fabrik) has a Commemorative Pilot Badge attached to it. Can any of you aviation badge collectors identify the maker?

The cup has an inscription near the bottom that reads: "Dem ersten Angelroth Enkel Jens-Uwe zu seiner Taufe am 7.I.1962" which I believe translates to "The first Angelroth grandchild Jens-Uwe baptized on 7 January 1962." Ironically - and sadly - it was Jens-Uwe Angelroth who sold all of his grandfather's awards a few years ago. The medals, observer badge, & award citations went to another collector, but I was happy to get this cup.

Thanks for looking & hopefully someone can identify the maker of this badge.

Steve

[Steve Knott]

More Photos

Here are more photos.

[Steve Knott]

More Photos

Last two photos.

[Steve Knott]

Photos of Herbert A. Angelroth

Here are two photos of Angelroth; the first as a Leutnant in Infantry Regiment 26 during WWI and the second as a member of Der Stahlhelm-Bund in the 1920s.

[90th Light]

What an amazing item. Sorry I can not tell you who the maker is but I can tell you that it is not a Meybauer.

I suppose this one just goes to prove the old saying, that a grandson often spends the fortune a grandfather makes.

Thank you for showing it,

Chris

[jaba-the-hunt]

I have Olt Herbert Armin Angelroth as an pilot at Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg.
Maybe a misstake.
Where you have the information about his service at FA A 258?

Regards

Alex

[Söderbaum]

Hi Jaba

Lt dR Herbert Angelroth (O) joined FAA 258 on 23 Jun 1918. It is confirmed by Tb Kofl 4.

Anyone have the date when he was promoted Oblt dR..?

Could the name Luchsland be Suchsland..?


Gunnar

[Steve Knott]

More Bio Information

Thanks Guys. Gunnar I believe it is Luchsland because I found all of these guys on a Junkers registry of employees during this period. Angelroth was the Financial Manager of Junkers from 1923 until 1932. Kredel was a test pilot and public relations official for Junkers. Krogmann served as Sachsenberg's chief of staff at Junkers (Sachsenberg was a senior executive at the company). Luchsland and Weiss were both test pilots for the company.

During WWI, Kredel flew with Sachsenberg as a Navy fighter pilot and Krogmann served as a pilot in F.A. 63 in Galicia.

Angelroth married Anniliese Casselmann on 27 September 1917. Following the war, he remained in the Reichswehr until discharged in 1920 with the rank of Oberleutnant. In June 1934 he accepted a commission as a Hauptmann in the new Luftwaffe. Between 1934 and the beginning of WWII he earned successive promotions to Oberst. In 1942 he held an administrative post in Luftgau XI. He died in a motor vehicle accident in 1943.

I've attached Angelroth's wedding photo. Kredel, Krogmann, Luchsland, & Weiss are likely in the photo. Also included is a photo of Oberst Angelroth in 1943 with night fighter ace Prince von Lippe-Weissenfeld (left) and another Luftwaffe Knight's Cross holder.

[Ferg 1]

I am assuming that the pilot badge is a full size example? This particular badge has been converted to a commemorative badge from a pilot badge. Whether or not this company did what Juncker did as in using the same die to stamp all of their four types of badge and alter to suite the centre details I cannot say but I rather doubt it as these badges are always seen in pilot form , I have never encountered a commemorative by this maker that was made for that use. The eagle is recognised from other makers of commemorative badges so we must assume that this has been ' married ' to form the badge we see. That does not create a problem in my mind as this could well have been ligitimately created for the cup. Looks correct in as much as patina and general 'feel' .As for the maker ...... I do not know this manufacturer ,it is seen from time to time in pilot badge form as I said but not marked in any way except for silver purity marks that vary from 800 to 925 but usually 925 which would point to it probably being a piece produced post 1918. Hope this helps.Ferg

[Steve Knott]

Pilot Badge from same die

Hi Ferg,

Thanks very much for the information. It is a full size badge and you can tell that the eagle is separately applied. I have a pilot badge in my collection marked only with "925" and it did seem to me that the crown, wreath, ground scene, and ribbon detail looked identical to the commemorative pilot badge on the silver cup. I guess it was less work for a craftsman to cut out the top center (airplane & sky) of a pilot badge and replace it with a commemorative badge eagle than to make a new set of dies. Very interesting!

Attached are photos of my pilot badge for comparison. Too bad the manufacturer is unknown. I concur that it is likely postwar production.

Thanks again & best regards,
Steve

[streptile]

Hi Steve,

Too bad the manufacturer is unknown.

Any chance of a very good photo of the 925 mark? It's an uncommon silver content (sterling) for a German maker between the wars. 938 or even 935 were more common, I think.

[Söderbaum]

Hi Steve

I doubt it existed any German flyer with the name Luchsland..
When reading old German script most Germans today can not read and understand it..

Can you enlighten the signatures, beacuse I am also sceptical to your intepretaion about Krogmann and Weiss..

MfG
Gunnar

[Ferg 1]

Hi Streptile, 925 is actually quite often encountered on german post war pieces,not only aviation badges. I have several pilot badges that are 925 marked as well as other awards too. I agree it is not as common as the usual 900 or 935 but there out there for sure ! Ferg

[Steve Knott]

Signatures on Cup

Hi Gunnar,

I have added a better photo of the signatures for you. Just to clarify, I did not "decipher" the signatures. The identification of the signatures came from Jens-Uwe Angelroth (Herbert Arnim Angelroth's grandson); I also attached a photo of the note written by Jens-Uwe identifying the signatures on the cup.

You may be right about "Suchsland" versus "Luchsland." Now that I look at Jens-Uwe's note again the "S" in "Silberbecher" does seem to be identical to the first letter of the pilot's name (making it "Suchsland").

Thanks & best regards,
Steve

[Söderbaum]

Thanks Steve

You have an very interesting historic item.!
The knowledge today about Freikorps aviation is very limited. I do think all these five flyers served together a while in FA 413, which was a part of KG Sachsenberg.

These kind of signatures are often hard to read. For me the second signature might be something like Grohmann.?
There was an Lt x Grohmann (O) serving in Kurland but I am not certain he served
within FA 413.

Also the last signature might be something else then Weiss.?


Gunnar