Hwlp ID LW Shoulder Boards Please.

[leigh kitchen]

Supposition so far is, from left to right, top to bottom:

LW Court Martials Oberst, LW Admin Branch (these two have slightly different shades of red, the Obersts has perhaps more of a carmine tint, the Felwebels vermilion), Technician Feldwebel, LW Medical Officer, the lower two pairs different ranks of the LW Meteorological Branch.
Can anybody tell me if that's what these are, & what are the ranks please? Thanks.

[Garth Thompson]

Supposition so far is, from left to right, top to bottom:

LW Court Martials Oberst, LW Admin Branch (these two have slightly different shades of red, the Obersts has perhaps more of a carmine tint, the Felwebels vermilion), Technician Feldwebel, LW Medical Officer, the lower two pairs different ranks of the LW Meteorological Branch.
Can anybody tell me if that's what these are, & what are the ranks please? Thanks.

Leigh,
The center Admin Feldwebel is the pattern introduced on 2 Nov 40. The bottom left is the same rank but earlier pattern; bottom right same earlier period but Unterfeldwebel ranking. Both appear to be Weather Service or Reichswetterdienst.
Garth

[leigh kitchen]

Thanks, so are the bottom two earlier versions of the Admin Feldwebel type boards, just of a different branch?

I'm not at all clued up on these so you'll have to speak very slowly & clearly please. Probably have to repeat yourself a few times too.......

[Garth Thompson]

Thanks, so are the bottom two earlier versions of the Admin Feldwebel type boards, just of a different branch?

I'm not at all clued up on these so you'll have to speak very slowly & clearly please. Probably have to repeat yourself a few times too.......

Ok here we go. The basic Admin color is dark green, that would be the Waffenfarbe for Administration. Admin boards will have a secondary color denoting the specialty of the wearer. There are seven (7) basic secondary colors: Bright Red, Pink, Golden Brown, Orange, Blue-grey, Light Green and Dark Brown. There is a whole laundry list of specialties and associated titles for each of these specialties. Then there are the career levels: High, Elevated, Medium and Low determined by the educational level. These career levels will be denoted by the edging on the collar tabs. This is for the basic Admin oifficial insignia. The design of Admin insignia was changed three times from the 30's through 1940, near as I can determine.
There is also a seperate series of insignia for Wartime officials, that is specialists called up for the duration.
Your bottom two are NCO Admin pre-Nov 40 with a branch color for weather service. The one on the right appears to only have one color, blue-grey. I don't know why it doesn't have the dark green underlay, possibly a variation not seen yet. At least I haven't maybe Dave or Diane can weigh in.
Hope you aren't bored yet,
Garth

[leigh kitchen]

No, no, no, this is the sort of stuff I need to know - my references re German stuff are very limited, so the more info the better.
Are the Courts Martial boards correctly identified? They're on a different shade of red to the Admin Feldwebels.
Also, I am aquiring a pair of boards which the vendor believes are army, they're described simply as dark green over grey, & with letters "BH" or similar mounted. Do you have any idea what they would be?
Time I bought a few books on the LW by the looks of it.

[Garth Thompson]

No, no, no, this is the sort of stuff I need to know - my references re German stuff are very limited, so the more info the better.
Are the Courts Martial boards correctly identified? They're on a different shade of red to the Admin Feldwebels.
Also, I am aquiring a pair of boards which the vendor believes are army, they're described simply as dark green over grey, & with letters "BH" or similar mounted. Do you have any idea what they would be?
Time I bought a few books on the LW by the looks of it.

Leigh,
I can't see your officer boards well enough to determine if it is the wine-red of courts martial or just an off shade of red. My Lt. Col of Judicial Corps isn't double pipeded but has the wine-red waffenfarbe and the gold upright sword.
Probably the most complete reference on the LW is Angolia's Vol 1-3 but be advised Vol 2 is very hard to find. B. Davis's Luftwaffe Vol 1 and 2 is also very good and done in his usual exemplary fashion. The boards you describe with the "BH" sounds like Army. Possibly the "HV" of the Army??
Garth

[leigh kitchen]

Thanks, I take it that the colour you refer to as wine red is what I think of as Bordeaux red (thanks to Brian L. Davis) - the purple like - colour which was also worn by army smoke troops & Chaplains?
The board that I have is more of a carmine / scarlet, so perhaps Admin rather than Courts Martial?
When it comes to german insignia I just have the Davis book on the German army, plus a few more general references, nothing much about LW, Forestry etc.
Time to search out his LW books.
You're spot on with the "BH" theory, they're "HV", one pair on light blue or grey secondary colour, the other on white or light grey.
I've nipped along to the dealer & collected some more boards & collar patches, I'll scan & post them in a new thread rather than clog up this one & slow it down, so if you'd be so kind as to have a gander at those I'd be more than a little appreciative.......

[leigh kitchen]

I've now re-read the pinned article on shoulder boards, which answers some questions.
I think that I've now sussed out the difference between Wine red & Bordeaux red - the Admin Oberst boards are not Bordeaux, may be wine, but lack the sword of justice insignia that I've seen in illustrations.