Imperial Flak Officer's Shoulder Boards

[C. Roelens]

I think they are a matching pair of Imperial Flak Officer's shoulder boards. My references are very limited when it comes to these, and I cannot find any reference to the "S" device placed under the Flak device. There are no signs of pips being on them either, maybe a Lt? Or, is the S a rank? The backsides have a small amount of dried glue on them from being removed from an album. Thanks in advance.

Chuck

[C. Roelens]

2.

[C. Roelens]

3.

[C. Roelens]

Last of the pictures. Thanks again.

[Chip M]

Nice boards! They are a Leutnant from a FLAK Scheinenwerfer unit. These heavy Searchlight units were formed both by the field artillery and the pioneers. This is the field artillery type (red underlay). I have the enlisted man's version of this. This is the Prussian style with the winged shell. The Bavarian version would have had the letters "FLK" and no shell.

Chip

[C. Roelens]

Nice boards! They are a Leutnant from a FLAK Scheinenwerfer unit. These heavy Searchlight units were formed both by the field artillery and the pioneers. This is the field artillery type (red underlay). I have the enlisted man's version of this. This is the Prussian style with the winged shell. The Bavarian version would have had the letters "FLK" and no shell.

Chip

Thanks Chip... I knew I could count on you. If you have the time would you post your enlisted version on this thread. Thanks again.

Chuck

[Chip M]

Here you go Chuck. Showing both the Bavarian "FLK" and the "Prussian" style. There were many types of FLAK units and they were differentiated by the use of these letters below the winged shell. There were the following letters, "O" for Ortsflak, "W" for auf Wagen, "MG" for Maschinengewehr FLAK, "M" for Maschinen Flak (Sockel guns) and "K" for auf Kraftwagen. All came in both the Bavarian "FLK" and Prussian winged shell versions.

Chip

[C. Roelens]

Here you go Chuck. Showing both the Bavarian "FLK" and the "Prussian" style. There were many types of FLAK units and they were differentiated by the use of these letters below the winged shell. There were the following letters, "O" for Ortsflak, "W" for auf Wagen, "MG" for Maschinengewehr FLAK, "M" for Maschinen Flak (Sockel guns) and "K" for auf Kraftwagen. All came in both the Bavarian "FLK" and Prussian winged shell versions.

Chip

Outstanding! Thanks again.

Chuck

[Chip M]

One last thing. These straps have been reproduced. They look very good from the front, but on closer inspection you can see that the bombs have been glued down and many of the letters have been made from cord rather than chain-stitched. I have yet to see a real one with cord letters. Also, the back sides are a dark blue material instead of feldgrau.

Chip