World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
28 Aug 2010 03:04:25 PM

Information I have, doesn't show this rank for Luftwaffe insignia.

Many in the Luftwaffe were skilled tradesmen
my next guess, he might be a engineering or
technical representive. Checking to make sure
the boreshighting is done by the book.
Anyway the collar tabs show something different like I've said, he may be some type of ordnance specialist.

2.  Bill says:
28 Aug 2010 06:37:54 PM

German Officer could be a Administrative
official, maybe an Ordnance specialist.

BORESIGHTING 101:

A process by which the axis of a gun bore and the line of sight of a gunsight, are made parallel or made to converge on a point

The aircraft fuselage is leveled and pointed
directly at a target. An ordnance specialist
using a special tool peers through each
cannon and machine gun barrel, or bore and
adjusts the alignment of each weapon so that
the target is sighted through the gun bore.

When the guns are adjusted and fired, the
bullet trajectories from each weapon will
converge at the target.
Its really a matter of what the pilot wants
and his shooting style there is no correct
number of convergence distance.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 had all its weapons
in the center-line giving the pilot a very
concentrated cone of fire, except those 109's that carried cannons in underwing gondolas those weapons would be adjusted as well.

3. Anonymous says:
9 Jun 2015 01:17:52 AM

"BACKGROUND: The Reichsluftwaffe, (National Air-Force), was officially established on February 26TH 1935 as the third branch of service of the Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces). On March 9TH 1935 the formation of the new Reichsluftwaffe was announced to the foreign press and on March 16TH conscription was reintroduced for all three branches of service. On May 21ST 1935 the Reichsluftwaffe designation was altered to Luftwaffe, (Air-Force). On April 14TH 1935 collar tabs were adopted by the newly formed Luftwaffe which followed the basic pattern of the collar tabs that had been utilized by the DLV, Deutscher Luftsportsverband, (German Air Sports Association), the Luftwaffe’s clandestine civilian forerunner. The collar tabs were worn in matching pairs and usually indicated the branch of service and rank/position of the wearer. The German army had a tradition, dating from the 1700's, of maintaining a separate branch of Administrative Official’s attached to the army to oversee all administrative functions, thus freeing up active army Officer’s and allowing them to concentrate on actual military matters. The Official’s were responsible for a wide variety of administrative tasks from Court Martial, Librarian, Supply, Technical and Meteorological Services, to School, Barracks, and Hospital administration. Most officials careers consisted of four varying grades, of high, elevated, medium and low grade with slightly differing identifying insignia for each grade. The grade of the career was determined by the education and/or experience of the individual. Prior to the official formation of the Luftwaffe they also established a separate branch of Administrative Official’s who were not classed as military personnel but rather as civilian members of the Luftwaffe. The different branches of service within the Luftwaffe were allocated specific, identifying, waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), with dark green being chosen for all Administrative Official’s with a secondary color, (Nebenfarbe), determining their actual career/function that was only displayed on the shoulder straps/boards. The Administrative Official’s collar tabs were somewhat different then the standard Luftwaffe collar tabs in that they utilized rank/position triangular pips as opposed to the rank "gulls". The Administrative Official’s collar tabs did not indicate a specific rank/position but rather rank/position groups within specific career levels. The collar tab piping distinguished the particular career level with high grade career personnel having gilt piping, elevated career personnel with silver/aluminum piping, medium grade career personnel with alternating silver/aluminum and green piping and no piping for low grade career personnel. Of Note: Further production of collar tabs was discontinued by regulations of October 12TH 1944, although on hand stocks were to be issued and collar tabs already issued continued to be worn."

4.  Bill says:
30 Oct 2016 03:20:25 PM

LUFTWAFFE MYSTERY RANK:

The Luftwaffe had many skilled personal in engineering, and other technical fields, it even had civilian employees of the various aircraft manufactures
as representatives.

LUFTWAFFEBEAMTEKRIEGSOBERINSPEKTOR: SO WHAT DOES THAT ALL MEAN:

My best translation

"Air Force Official War Judge Inspector". Don't you just love these German compound words. If any one has a better translation post it here...

File photograph shows a technical official checking bore sighting of the Bf 109's nose mounted MG 151/20mm cannon. His rank is equivalent to an officer 1st Lieutenant. Besides civilian education the Luftwaffe required an added two to three years technical training.