Confussed Need help with Shoulder boards

[davekj]

Hi All
I need some help with some bundeswehr shoulder boards . I am putting together a complete set of Infantry boards and i bought an incomplete set and these were in there . I have looked around the net and here and found a lot of info and pictures , but nothing matching some of what I have . it is the second row of em ranks in the picture the horizontal bar on a soldat and above Obergefreiter and hauptgefreiter what does it stand for ? Is it still NCO candidate or something else .
I Thank You for all your help !
Dave

[oradour]

Dave....first, welcome to BW sub forum, if you have any other BW items feel free to show....your collection of shoulder straps is super, from Shutze to Oberst....As far as I know the only rank with a "Horizontal bar" is Gefreiter Unteroffizierananwarter (Unteroffizier candidate) indicated by a single horizontal bar over a single slanted bar.....the other candidate ranks were, Gefreiter Feldwebelanwarter (Sergent candidate) single slanted bar with altgold (dull gold) litzen slip on and Gefreiter Offizieranwarter (Officer candidate) single slanted bar with silver litzen slip on. I think some one has been playing around with you straps prior to your ownership ! see attached charts.....
Prost ! Steve.

[HPL2008]

Dave....first, welcome to BW sub forum, if you have any other BW items feel free to show....your collection of shoulder straps is super, from Shutze to Oberst....As far as I know the only rank with a "Horizontal bar" is Gefreiter Unteroffizierananwarter (Unteroffizier candidate) indicated by a single horizontal bar over a single slanted bar.....the other candidate ranks were, Gefreiter Feldwebelanwarter (Sergent candidate) single slanted bar with altgold (dull gold) litzen slip on and Gefreiter Offizieranwarter (Officer candidate) single slanted bar with silver litzen slip on. I think some one has been playing around with you straps prior to your ownership ! see attached charts.....

I beg to differ, Steve.

The horiziontal bar does indeed identify Unteroffizieranwärter (UA), but this status is not restricted to the rank of Gefreiter (UA), but can be held by the other private ranks as well. The Gefreiter UA in the insignia chart from the BW brochure is only meant as an example; the same applies to the Offiziersanwärter (OA) and Feldwebelanwärter (FA) insignia. (So as not to inflate the rank chart unneccessarily by including every single possible UA, FA and OA combination.)

Thus, the other examples in the first post are for Schütze (UA), Obergefreiter (UA) and Hauptgefreiter (UA)

For some commercially available examples of various UA rank isignia, see:
http://www.online-army-shop.de/index...egorie&cat=303

Perhaps also of interest is this (incomplete) collection showing a variety of UA rank insignia of different patterns from the various services:
http://www.sabels.net/index.php?opti...=140&Itemid=18

[oradour]

Well you live and learn, I stand corrected ! thanks for that...I will print off and keep for future reference ! so Dave, there you have your answer...they do exist and are correct in your collection ! However it does mean you require more straps to complete ! I cannot understand why the complete chart is not shown anywhere either on the net or even official BW books/pamphlets
Prost to all ! Steve.

[davekj]

Thank You both for your Help and Time !!
I am just starting out with collecting bundeswehr . The only things I have is a unissued tropical uniform with gold buttons . and a couple of field uniforms from before the flectaren ( spelling ? ) . hats and helmets .
I use to collect WWI WWII US and German . Then US WWI posters , but it is hard to display 50 or 60 posters not to add the WWII and other eras.
I am suprised also that this is not any place else that I looked . I have plenty of boards I have almost 4 sets of infantry all set up like this . These are sew in , and the others are slip on , with one being a gray colour like these and the other 2 are a dark wool material .
I am going for the general ranks after I get these completed , If I can find original boards .
Now I got to get busy and put them in proper order and see if I can make up the missing ones . And make up a way to display them .
Thank You both again for your help .
Dave

[HPL2008]

The only things I have is a unissued tropical uniform with gold buttons . and a couple of field uniforms from before the flectaren ( spelling ? ) . hats and helmets .

It's Flecktarn [roughly "dotted camouflage"].

[HPL2008]

I cannot understand why the complete chart is not shown anywhere either on the net or even official BW books/pamphlets.

Because the various candidate types do not constitute actual ranks (UA/FA/OA are merely Dienstgradzusätze [rank suffixes]) and especially because the number of possible candidate combinations is so high that it would unneccessarly inflate the rank chart:

Every private soldier can be an Unteroffizieranwärter; that makes for six UA combinations from Schütze (etc.) (UA) through Oberstabsgefreiter (UA).

The Feldwebelanwärter normally go through the ranks of Schütze (etc.) (FA), Gefreiter (FA), Obergefreiter (FA), Unteroffizier (FA) and Stabsunteroffizier (FA). While they do not normally pass through the other private ranks, it is possible if one of those ranks is already held before the soldier becomes a Feldwebelanwärter. So, eight possible combinations there.

The same applies for the Offiziersanwärter, normally they only go through certain ranks (unlike the UA and FA, some of those actually have special designations, i.e. Fahnenjunker, Fähnrich and Oberfähnrich, which are thus illustrated in the chart) but again, if a soldier already holds a private or NCO rank an officer candidate would not normally pass through and then becomes an officer candidate, he would retain that rank with the (OA) suffix until promotion to the next higher officer candidate rank. So (at least in theory) every single private and NCO rank can be held by an officer candidate. That makes a total of 13 possible officer candidate ranks (including the Fahnenjunker, Fähnrich and Oberfähnrich).

So, a complete chart for the Heer alone would include a whopping 40 private/NCO shoulder boards.

[oradour]

so, a complete chart for the Heer alone would include a whopping 38 private/NCO shoulder boards.

I am now educated on this subject, about which it appeared I was ignorant !...... thanks for that explanation HPL. What a pity, a complete chart was not available, as I am a big fan of finding information out by yourself !...... Dave it looks like your display board is going to be rather large !
Prost ! Steve.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Thanks for the good info.

I was actually given a slip on rank slide for the rank of Feldwebel during my recent trip to Germany. We had a BBQ on the Saturday night and one of my friends neighbours came over and he gave me it. It was his during his service.

Cheers, Ade.

[oradour]

You mean these items Ade ......I also include another incomplete rank chart for these little blighters !
Prost ! Steve.