female Lufywaffe Feldwebel

[torstenbel]

Hi there I got these two photos...Two superb portrait photographs of a female Luftwaffe Feldwebel (Senior NCO). Same girl and very scarce photos of a relatively high ranking female with good uniform detail. Each photo measures 4” x 2 7/8”. No markings on back. Old paper and as far as I am concerned guaranteed pre-1945...but I have never seen a female Feldwebel before...Cheers, Torsten.

Torsten,
Looks like she is wearing a Navy overseas cap.
Regards,
Fred

[Jos L C]

My guess :

The stuff's not hers,she acting for the boys..one of her friends is a Navy guy,her other friend a Luft feldwebel..
Things like this often happened after some booze....,or whatever..
I don't think the clothes are hers..

Jos.

[torstenbel]

yes she is...well spotted.. but she is wearing a female cut jacket and my theory is that her boyfriend or, however, she was with when the photos were taking was the sailor...Cheers, Torsten.

Torsten,
Looks like she is wearing a Navy overseas cap.
Regards,
Fred

[Lloyd I.]

Correct. This is very common in period photographs. The ones you want to go after are the better looking or rarer 'Frau' uniform photos like girlfriends-wives in Panzer wrappers or SS uniforms.

Females had their own special uniforms for service.

[GJR100]

Are these female tunics ? The closing is a male model ... I thought femal closed right over left ...
These pictures look to me like they belong in the "look at me wearing my ...'s uniform" cabinet. But ... I could be wrong off course ...

MfG,
Bart

[Jos L C]

I think I've never seen a women wearing a NCO. or OFF. visorcap..

Yes,they had their own special female clothing..

Jos.

[djpool]

The tunic is definately male.the female tunics closed in the opposite direction like the one attached. The tunic does look unusual in that it appears to be made from a duck material or are my eyes decieving me? jim

[torstenbel]

wow.... thank you all...good thing I put the photos up for discussion...did not even take long and now I know what is happening on these photos...so, for whatever reason, she is wearing the boys uniforms and there would have been have been at least two different guys with her...;for a friendly chat no doubt.. thank you. hope you found the photos interesting...Cheers, Torsten.

The tunic is definately male.the female tunics closed in the opposite direction like the one attached. The tunic does look unusual in that it appears to be made from a duck material or are my eyes decieving me? jim

[J Melvin]

Regardless of being a "male" jacket, it is very strangely cut - note the lapels. But, perhaps it is a very early model tailored fliegerbluse (note the early eagle and sewn in shoulderstraps). Also, odd that if she was just with chums, why is her peaked cap missing the chincord? Odd luft pieces anyway you look at it.

[Bear]

Did women back then wear neckties.....

[djpool]

Did women back then wear neckties.....

On certain uniforms it was required. Jim

[Lloyd I.]

The jacket is not female cut, she is not a Helferin and other than non-standard which is also pretty standard for German uniforms I dont see the confusion. The cloth looks Gaberdine to me and not wool or duck cotton.

Yes, women in service did wear ties with pins for signals or pinned miniature Heer and LW eagles attached to them. A cravat was also worn with various uniforms but it was standard to wear the tie in uniform order. They wore both Overcoats and the female cloak with arm slits. They wore cufftitles on the uniform, specialized rank insignia, district insignia for Flakhelferin but this is not always the case. I just missed the KM Helferin tunic on Eban but this would have had the rare Marinehelferin cufftitle someone else has posted in a previous thread.

The Fliegerbluse looks tailored. Pictures like these are always peculiar to begin with. Sometimes they are incorrectly attired such as this case with missing chinstraps (which may have been a personal affection of her man). The soldier could have also been a mechanic with the dark schiffchen, although I can see why the Kriegsmarine connection is made.

She could also be a lower ranking KM Helferin accounting for the Schiffchen since LW Flak units in coastal defence and KM units worked closely.

[torstenbel]

Here is a better close up of the Luftwaffe uniform...maybe the two uniforms were her brothers?? we'll never know??... thank you very much for all your opinions now, I know why it was a good idea to join the forum last week...Cheers, Torsten.

[Jos L C]

Well,the girl in question,who obviously is not the owner of the cap 'cause it's too big,but is wearing a cap with no leather chinstrap,as Jack stated,which probably can be 'cause the ownwer was on the treshold of becoming a Oberfaehnrich,which means a Officers capcord applied to a color-piped cap and in certain cases a Off.eagle and cockade added too..

Just a thought..

she certainly is no Luftwaffe Helferin or Blitz Maedel..,nor a Navy babe..

But certainly nice pics..

Jos.