War Minstry Board

[Schulterklappen]

Pictured is a board for the Reichkreigsministeriums, which bears the KM cypher. The cypher does not penetrate the board and cannot be removed by pulling up with two fingers. There also appears to have been another pip on the board. While the color carmine is one of the correct colors for the war ministry, the other being orange red for supplementary officers, the thought is that the KM cypher was worn with the orange red. Has anybody seen the cypher used with the carmine Waffenfarbe?

[Schulterklappen]

The back

The back of the board.

[TJ Suter]

I've only ever seen the KM device on orange, but I don't think it is outside the realm of possibilities that an original would turn up on crimson since that was the branch color of the war ministry. It is an anomaly for sure.

I'd be a lot less inclined to give this one a second glance if the prongs protruded through the back of the board. Seems like a lot of work to go through to hump a board like this that isn't highly sought after.

So a couple of possibilities come to mind with this board:

- Supplementary officers wore the KM on orange red (fact) and officers/staff assigned to the war ministry (non-supplementary) wore the KM as well, but on crimson (supposition since I cannot find a regulation for this).

OR

- Regularly assigned officers wore the crimson branch color with no cipher and this board has been humped.

[Dave Suter]

I'd like to have that one in hand. From the photo, it appears that there are marks on the back giving some indication of where the device's prongs are. Anyway, I've only seen that device on orange, but just because it isn't 'regulation' doesn't mean it isn't original.

I used to think that any board where the prongs didn't go through the back was probably original since the device appeared to have been added before the Russia braid was sewn to the backing. However, a few years ago I had a Beamten board that needed the HV device restored. I sent it to Jack Angolia, and he did the job - and he replaced the device without the prongs going through the back (which is how the board was done originally).