Luft Tabs at the SOS

[Gary B]

Hi,

Well I am sure I will be the only person on the WAF posting on this subject.....

I went to the show looking to add a few more tabs to the collection and was pleasantly surprised when I picked up 2 pair that I needed: Hauptmann Field Division and Oberstleutnant for Engineer or Gen Staff. The color matches the Engineer corps waffenfarbe, but one can never be sure since the shade of pink could be dye lot variation. Either way rare tabs.

I saw plenty of tabs at the show most were common flight, flak etc but there were a few tabs from the harder to find waffenfarbes - TSD, medical, reserve etc. I did see alot more of the "double chevron" tabs than I normally do to include one for Oberst Reserve Engineer. That caused me some concern.

Attached are the tabs from the SOS plus 2 other recent additions (thanks to Jason A for pointing them out to me).

Gary B

[Gary B]

Nautiker

[PaulR]

Nice ones Gary! Did you see those LW Beamte tunics I heard about?

Are the OberstLt tabs tabs rose pink? If so, they are the super rare Navigation Officers of the Luftwaffe tabs.

Great score on the double Nautiker tabs. I am still looking for the Major equiv rank.

[Gary B]

Hey,

Promoted yet??

The Oberstleutnant tabs are the same as Engineering tabs (with props). Rare regradless of which organization they are representing.

I did not see any admin tunis, but then I did not really look for them. Another reason why yo need to come to the MAX and SOS next year!

Gary B

[Skyhawk]

Hi Gary,

Great tabs! I have just started to collect LW tabs and shoulder boards so I have a lot to learn. Is there a good resource on this LW area other than the WAF? Also, on the Nautiker tabs what do the different number of prop blades represent? I have started my collection in the flight, signal, and flak area, but I am expanding into medical, pioneer, etc. Should be a nice break from the EK fever!

Best,

[RamJet]

Wow, Gary, very nice finds!

[Nick Carraway]

Fantastic Gary, just superb

[Willi Z.]

Nice finds!

I couldn't find any cut golden yellow tabs at the SOS at all. Seems like some insignia is getting tough to find.

[JasonA]

Hi Gary,

Great tabs! I have just started to collect LW tabs and shoulder boards so I have a lot to learn. Is there a good resource on this LW area other than the WAF? Also, on the Nautiker tabs what do the different number of prop blades represent? I have started my collection in the flight, signal, and flak area, but I am expanding into medical, pioneer, etc. Should be a nice break from the EK fever!

Best,

Hi there,

Gary B and PaulR are very knowledgeable about Luftwaffe tabs and their variants. They both have extensive collections which they've shared here on the forums, including many complete sets and ultra-rare tabs. There are of course many others here who can recognize good tabs from bad (sorry if I've not mentioned your names specifically!).

Regarding props, count the blades as gulls, starting from two. I.e., two blades = 1 gull, 3 blades = 2 gulls, 4 blades = 3 gulls. Then the officer ranks change depending on a full or partial oak wreath.

J-

[Skyhawk]

Jason,

Thank you for the information and I look forward to collecting in this LW area! So, I guess the four bladed nautiker tab below would be a Hauptmann tab. Thanks again for the info.

Best

[JasonA]

Jason,

Thank you for the information and I look forward to collecting in this LW area! So, I guess the four bladed nautiker tab below would be a Hauptmann tab. Thanks again for the info.

Best

You're welcome, and bingo! Gary's Luftwaffe Navigation tabs below would be Hauptman-equivalent and Oberleutnant-equivalent, from left to right. They have specific names but I don't them offhand.

I've attached some tabs from a grouping of mine showing the full wreath variants for a Luftwaffe engineer. From top to bottom you'll see an Oberstleutnant-equivalent and a Major-equivalent.



J-

[Gary B]

Hi Gary,

Great tabs! I have just started to collect LW tabs and shoulder boards so I have a lot to learn. Is there a good resource on this LW area other than the WAF? Also, on the Nautiker tabs what do the different number of prop blades represent? I have started my collection in the flight, signal, and flak area, but I am expanding into medical, pioneer, etc. Should be a nice break from the EK fever!

Best,

Hi,

Welcome to the very small community of tab collectors. I have enjoyed collecting tabs as a sideline to my other main interest - badges. A nice thing about tabs is no matter what show you go to you can always find some nice pairs, plus they make a colorful display.

As for references, Angolia's book on the Luftwaffe, a 4 volume set which is out of print, is a very good reference but the set will cost you several hundred dollars. Although 2 of the volumes covers collar tabs, you really only need one volume (it is VOL 2 or 3, I cant recall off the top of my head). Of course this volume is the most expensive one in the series. You can occasionally find them for sale on e-bay. I photocopied a friend's book. The Davis book on Luftwaffe insignia is also a great reference. That too is out of print but not as expensive as the Angolia books. The last reference I use is Bender's book on the Luftwaffe with George Petersen contributing (blue book with bullion Luft eagle on the front cover). This is a rather easy to obtain reference even though it is out of print. You can find this book on the e-stand or at military shows for a reasonable price. This book has a great section on the Admin tabs.

The WAF has a handful of tab collectors, most of whom have responded on this thread. As Jason A mentioned Paul R is one of the top collectors on tabs especially on the esoteric and rarified field of Admin tabs (his specialty). He is also a great source of info for the enlisted tabs, especially the Field Division tabs.

PM me if you have any questions, or post them here on the WAF.

Good luck in your pursuit of tabs and boards.

Gary B

[Mike H]

.........

Gary has given some wonderful advice. I had a large collection of tabs at one time and which has since been sold. They are incredibly interesting, colorful, and a challenge as well.

Here are some of my favorite sets -- formerly in my collection and now out there among WAF members.

Mike

[Mike H]

.....................

And some more favorites ... you will enjoy collecting these.

Mike

[JasonA]

Mike had one of the most fabulous Luftwaffe collections I had ever seen, as these tabs attest to. All rare pieces, especially those orange beauties for recalled officers.

Brilliant!



J-