Sword Sabre from a LW Leutnant w. Portopee Aluminium

[skalphunter]

I own this sword it was obtained years ago from a Luftwaffe Lt. The grip seems to be Aluminium. The portopee was always on there. If you guys could help me on the type of sword as well as the portopee?I did not find a similar piece so far. It does not have a maker on the blade
skalp<p><img src="http://s05.trixum.de/upload2/b/k/bkEHL86tymxI130702289143S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s03.trixum.de/upload2/E/w/Ew0MxiLc2TmS130702290492S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s03.trixum.de/upload2/O/X/OXzZTM3Fkbem130702291761S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s03.trixum.de/upload2/5/D/5DpXM8P4GL3U130702297635S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s04.trixum.de/upload2/l/P/lPoZGBEz40nh130702299191S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s03.trixum.de/upload2/h/x/hxeA7tS6sHLf130702300521S.jpg"></p><p><img src="http://s03.trixum.de/upload2/3/x/3xTJ2CmLkSfi130702307355S.jpg"></p>

[Mainemilitaria]

Skalphunter,

Your Sword is not Luftwaffe....it's an Army Officer's Sword, made by "Emil Voos", to quote from Angolia's SWORDS of GERMANY 1900-1945..pg. 125, "Emil Voos model (unattributed) with flat knuckle-bow. Note the National emblem without the wreath about the swastika and very ornate backstrap." Just for information purposes....there's also a "Lionhead" version with the same handle setup.

The knot is not the correct knot for this sword according to the book....Officers did have a silver "achorn" but the strap would normally be leather with silver metallic "lines" (2 or 3 depending)....cloth "straps" usually were for bayonets...

The sword is a much scarcer variation the the typical Army officers sword....the only way a Luftwaffe officer could have had an Army Sword would have been someone transferred between branches.....possible, much more likely the "story" was confused...

Nice Sword!!!!
John G.
Mainemilitaria

[skalphunter]

Thanks for the reply John. For whatever reason that LW Leutnant owned it i don´t know. Back then i bought his Uniform and visor as well as the medals from his daughter.She only wanted to get rid of "that junk" her words. The portopee is also sewed on so i never removed it.The colour is grayish and i still wonder about it. It sure isn´t Heer. Sure is that never nobody altered it and i just left it like it was.
skalp

[colt45s]

The cross guard eagle & swas look like Luft ? IMO

[Frogprince]

A scarce sword, that looks like it’s in very nice condition. As John G. said, it’s a German Army sword not Luftwaffe. And there were regulations governing who wore what, and when. With besides officers, senior grade NCO’s also wearing the Luftwaffe officer’s sword.

But forget regulations, and lets step back a moment and think about it. A junior grade officer in a parade formation with his Army Officer’s sword when all of the other officer’s in the formation are wearing the standard Luftwaffe officer’s swords?? BTW: Army officer swords came in a 101+ variations by maker. How many different sword patterns/variations are seen with Luftwaffe swords by maker? FP

[skalphunter]

He was not a young officer in WW2 anymore. As far as i figured he must have been already in WW1 as there was a 1914 IC on the Uniform. He probably was a sub comissioned officer before an made it to the rank of an officer. As i did not get any papers i will never know. As far as the daughter remembered he must have been a flight instructor. Any more opinions on the portopee??
thanks
Skalp

[SCHUPO]

The Portepee is not correct. The strap (das Band) has been replaced with what looks like a cloth hanger from the interior of a tunic. You can see a repair where the strap enters the stem (der Stengel) as the stem is deformed. The leather slider (der Schieber) is correct but the strap would have been made from the same green leather as the slider. It is possible that a broken strap was repaired with what was at hand.

I hope this is helpful.

[Mainemilitaria]

Honestly, it's much more likely this sword belonged to either another family member or was something the father picked up in his travels postwar....even if the guy was in the Army durning WW 1, highly unlikely he'd have stayed in, owned this sword, and then transferred into the Luftwaffe....(as a lt.)

As I said....probably the story became confused, possibly the father "said" it was his sword (his daughter wouldn't know LW from Army), or it belonged to another family member (?) or friend, or the old guy was telling war stories around something he picked up postwar....(not an unusual thing!)

Regardless...it's a nice, scarce variation of an Army Officers sword.....the rest, while interesting...really has no relevance (It's the item, Never the story!!!)
John G.

[lsmilitaria]

Definitely army, and a very attractive example of a Voos sword. Nice find!

[skalphunter]

Thanks for the help. I agree with John the item counts not the story. In any case i am happy to own this one.
best
skalp