Panzer Officer's Visor by Erel

[stonemint]

When they're right, they're very right.

[Glenn McInnes]

Great looking visor,I love the piping.





Glenn

[SgtB]

Great looking visor,I love the piping.
Glenn

I agree. Nice bright piping! Everything is right where it should be with this baby, and it's refreshing to see a non-vented eReL now and then. Otto Skorzeny was a Dipl. Ing. (Masters in Engineering), at least post-war, as shown in his preface to the Bender-Taylor 5-Volume series on the Waffen SS.

[Raven26]

Very classic Mike!

[Mike H]

Comments

Thanks for the excellent comments, gentlemen.

Of course, the question remains open as to what a Truppen-Ingenieur did in a Beo. Abt?

Really curious.

Mike

[Panzer Bob]

Duty Position

Mike,
The current calling card in the lining has nothing to do with Panzer. BA32, according to Lexikon der Wehrmacht, was the flash-ranging battalion for a division initially until it became a GHQ battalion later in the war. The Truppen-Ingenieur was generally a technician in the sense that he was the commander's senior advisor on technical/mechanical/maintenance issues in the formation. I believe he normally wore the branch color of the unit to which assigned. In the case of a flash-ranging battalion, that would have been red. If he were reassigned to an armored formation, then the pink makes sense. There was always a Truppen-Ingenieur in armored formations (formation in the strict sense of the word, that is, battalion or above). Of course, the calling card could have been added to "beef up" the cap, but the cap certainly needs no additional bells and whistles. Without further information, the calling card is a "who knows" thing in my opinion.
Regards,
Bob Edwards

[Simon O.]

As you say Bob, it either might or might not belong to the cap but worth i think requesting the guy's service records.

[ngs3]

Military or Civilian?

[Ort]sbaumeister = Local building master

[Werk]sbaumeister = Master of building of works

There may be other titles for the college educated Beamten who led most technical positions in the Wehrmacht. I suspect the first title choice was the name on the card used as a name tag. In the same way, I think a "clever" seller added the title clipped from some old printed material (death card?) to enhance the desirability of a cap that needs nothing added. Remember that officials in the administrative services wore their own Waffenfarbe and uniforms.

Beobachtungsabteilung 32
1. Aufstellung:
* 15.10.1935, Friedensstandort Belgard, Wehrkreis II; 1.4.1942 umgegliedert in leichte Beobachtungsabteilung (motorisiert) unter Auflösung der 1. Verm. Batterie

2. Unterstellung:
32. Infanterie-Division
4.11.1939 Heerestruppe: Frankreich
1941 Südrußland
1944 August Rumänien Jassy (150 Vermißte)
1945 Ungarn

3. Ersatz:
32 Belgard, Wehrkreis II; September1942 E 6 Lemgo, Wehrkreis VI

I wouldn't throw it away, but I wouldn't place much faith in it either. The treasure is the beautiful visor cap.

Neil

[Mike H]

Closure

Everyone,

Thanks for responding. I think we are bringing some closure to this discussion.

I contacted Bob Ruzzier ("waffenreich" here on the Forum) who is excellent at research as he lives near the National Archives and travels down there frequently to research the files. He has done work for me on previous occasions and results have been excellent.

Luckily, Horst Maiwald was in the archives. Mid to late war, he was affiliated with Beobachter Abteilung 32. But pre-war (1938, I believe is what Bob just told me over the phone) he was associated with a Panzer Schule and again with a Panzer unit later in the war. The complete 28 page file is coming to me from Bob and I will provide more details later.

The man's title was actually "Heeresbaumeister" according to the file. So we now have solved that mystery. And the explanation for the nametag is now complete. He simply stuck the cut-down card in there that he had on hand later. The cap is 1938-1940 vintage (thanks, NTZ!) and so it all fits.

I am delighted we have solved this and will provide additional details after I get the file on Maiwald.

By the way, you collectors who have named items should really avail yourselves of Bob's services. You can contact him at <style> .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } </style>soldat4@cox.net. Bob can give you a rundown on his fees and details of what he provides. It is worth every penny, I can assure you.

And for those who would like to know where this hat came from, I purchased it from Jason Burmeister who is, in my view, the best in the business and who also has superb items for sale. The cap has not been in a collection before -- it came from one of Jason's colleagues in Germany who purchased it direct from the Maiwald family.

I highly recommend both of these gentlemen.

More to come .......

Mike

[Simon O.]

Excellent result Mike, that's great news!

[ErichK]

Sweet! and attributed to boot

[MLH13]

Beautiful visor, Mike!

Mark

[Mike H]

//

I received the NARA file from Bob Ruzzier on this Officer and more information and photos can be found here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=331798

Any help would be appreciated, gentlemen!

My best,

Mike

[sturmbannfuhrer]

I agree. Nice bright piping! Everything is right where it should be with this baby, and it's refreshing to see a non-vented eReL now and then. Otto Skorzeny was a Dipl. Ing. (Masters in Engineering), at least post-war, as shown in his preface to the Bender-Taylor 5-Volume series on the Waffen SS.

It is a fabulous cap. As far as the vent, when the stirnschutz sweatband is fitted, in my experience it should have the air vent grommet fitted in the pasteboard as well.

Just to satisfy my lust, does this one have the grommet fitted?

It is a question just for my own personal research that I am doing at the moment in regard to the stirnshutz system always being fitted in tandem with a grommet, no other reason.

It was upto the owner whether or not they had a bullion wreath over the top.

J T

[Mike H]

.......

JT,

This photo is the best I can do. It "feels" like there is a grommet under the cloth but am not sure.

Mike