Interesting photo of two TK men from 1940

[erichcraciun]

I just picked up this foto of two Tokenkopf men. The man on the right is wearing a "B" on his shoulder board. I at first thought "G" Germania or "O" Oberbayern...but I see "B" here...Braunschweig?

The back of the foto is marked "Urlaub 15 - 20. Okt 1940" , so an earlier vacation foto after the campaign in France.

I will leave the decipfering to the experts.

Thanks

Erich

[erichcraciun]

Detail

[Ian Hulley]

Perhaps SS-TV Standarte 'Brandenburg' ?

Ian

[Kale Michael]

I also believe Brandenburg is correct .

[MadMax17]

Interesting color variation between the two feldbluse. One Feldgrau and one erdgrau perhaps?

[RD Rygaard]

I believe it's "Braunschweig"... I have several photos of the "B" shoulderboards with "SS B" collar tabs....sadly, no cufftitle is visible...will try & post a clear photo but sadly my scanner is broken, will try my best w/ my digi cam.

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Sadly, I need to get some "AA" batteries so the posting will have to wait till tomorrow. I did view the set of 3 photos with a loop & found that all the shoulderboards have the gothic "B" on them but the officer in the photo (as opposed to the "trainees" on the mortar & Heavy Mg's) has the mega rare TK tab with "K" ( KZL!) below! Does this shine any new light on the subject at hand? And since I know everyones' interest is now at a fever pitch I will make sure to post photos TOMORROW ASAP!

[erichcraciun]

Thank you for the input. I did not find the "B" shouldboard in "Cloth Insignia" by Angolia. My only book on the subject since it is not my area of collection.

What caught my eye at first were the large-looking Schirmmützen the two are wearing...don't they look a bit oversized?

[derek]

I agree with the two previous posts that the photo shows the shoulder cypher for 'Brandenburg'. Thanks for posting it.

[RD Rygaard]

More of the mysterious "B" boards. At some point whoever took the previous photos (albums owner) got a very nice shot (I believe in combat) of Hermann Fegelein and his famous white combat tunic.

[RD Rygaard]

As promised, the photos I have showing the gothic "B" boards in wear. So, where are we on the matter at hand? Are we assuming or are we in fact looking at boards attributed to "Brandenburg"? As stated before, the officer in the photo is wearing the TK tab with gothic "k" beneath the skull. Does anyone have these boards in their collection? if so, would you share a good detailed photo with us? Best, Richard

[Kale Michael]

Cool Pics

Richard,
Thanks for sharing photos from your archives, they are super. Forum member Derek who replied in this thread is quite good on the SS-TV unit history, much more so than I . These are most definitely Brandenburg boards...the 'K' tab just adds to the facts, these are SS-TV soldiers.
The gothic 'B' is more common to see in period photos but Brandenburg soldiers also wore the same pointed boards with the number 2 .
The 3rd SS Division Totenkopf was created using mostly soldiers form the SS-Totenkopfverbaende.

[RD Rygaard]

KM:

Thanks for the info! Yes, Derek really knows his stuff. Just surprised Id never seen these boards in the Brandenburg/Oranienburg photo album I have (now that I think of it, the album is very early (black & earthen brown tunics) Im sure once Derek sees this post he will elaborate more. Best, Richard

Richard,
Thanks for sharing photos from your archives, they are super. Forum member Derek who replied in this thread is quite good on the SS-TV unit history, much more so than I . These are most definitely Brandenburg boards...the 'K' tab just adds to the facts, these are SS-TV soldiers.
The gothic 'B' is more common to see in period photos but Brandenburg soldiers also wore the same pointed boards with the number 2 .
The 3rd SS Division Totenkopf was created using mostly soldiers form the SS-Totenkopfverbaende.

[Ian Hulley]

Is it a skull 'K' tab or a skull and roman numeral ? It could be a Hundertschaft 'II' tab which would look very similar ..

Cheers, Ian.

[derek]

Thanks for posting the additional pictures Richard.
As you say, your album probably is too early for these gothic 'B' cyphers. The pointed end shoulderboards don't appear until 1938/39. (The subject of SS-TV epaulettes is a bewildering one I have to admit).
There were 'O', 'B' and 'T' letters for the three regiments until late 1938 when the 'O' was given to the newly formed 'Ostmark' and Oberbayern were ordered to wear a skull on the shoulderboard.
I suspect that Ian is probably right about the tab. The double digit hundertschaft Roman and Arabic numbers tend to look like letters.
Derek

[chrischa]

I'd also agree it is II.

I don't think a member (nco not officer) of the concentration camp staff would be involved in mortar training.

The guard detachments yes but not the staff.