Very strange Luftwaffe items!?

[Inf Div 121]

Hi, Kameraden,

I have dug out such iron dics and other shapes on german airfield and on possitions where were stores with different stuff and near one living bunker I found a lot of them (Pic1) they was all red but two different shapes, in my collection I also have such tags in yellow.

Somebody calls them "permit to fly from Stalingrad" but it is wrong because I dug them out in Kurland. On one such tag was wrote name Anton, so it is not cargo tag, on others was nothing.

I want to know what it is.

[kemi]

I have heard that it is for different weights of packages that would be flown but are not sure

[Hauptman]

I have also heard the Stalingrad story. It's not to say they could not have been used there for that purpose. In those extreme situations one would have used whatever was at hand for such a purpose. I've read somewhere that the different colors showed different priority... badly wounded, walking wounded, someone ordered out, etc., but for the life of me I haven't been able to find that reference again... still looking.

But my understanding (and it makes sense to me) is that they were Luftwaffe cargo loading tags which were used on airfields in combat areas to simplify loading and unloading of cargos. The color and shape of the tags indicating the weight range of the item and if it was fragile, etc. Some may have also indicated the priority of an item.

I know that these have even been found in France so they're definitely not limited to Stalingrad. But considering the amount of cargo they tried to fly in there I'm fairly sure there would have been an abundance of such tags that could have been used as permits to fly.

I'm a bit surprised no one seems to have thought of asking Luftwaffe veterans if they might know for sure what they were for.

Dan

[Hauptman]

Just spotted this on another thread:

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/armou...needed-9570-2/

Post #13:

The "Stalingrad" tag has been discussed at great length on another forum. Some, at first, thought the tags were faked, and few, if any, believed that they were flight passes (that was a Russian seller's story). The tags came in the "diamond" shape you show and in a circular shape. There were at least three colors: red, yellow, white. It is now known, in fact, that the tags are real and they were used to mark air-transport cargo. The shape and color corresponded to a cargo weight/size class. This allowed cargo weight to be properly distributed on an airplane (e.g., Ju 52) for correct balance and hopefully reduced the possibility of overloading. Many of these tags have been found at Stalingrad airfield sites, thus the name, and since, at other locations including Germany, Italy and France. I have several - I think there're neat. However, my favorite "tags" are ID and data plates from Luftwaffe airplanes; see my other post.

SFP

But again I think it would be great if anyone knows or meets any Luftwaffe vet(s) to ask this question to try and get a definite ID. Either that or any Stalingrad survivors to try and confirm if these may also have been used in evacuations there.

Dan

[mabrgo]

Has anyone seen any online sites where these can be purchased? I find them extremely interesting and would love to get my hands on one...or a few...

Matthew

[cricketchris1944]

Has anyone seen any online sites where these can be purchased? I find them extremely interesting and would love to get my hands on one...or a few...

Matthew

Go on ebay they go them all the time.

[mabrgo]

Go on ebay they go them all the time.

While I'm sure these aren't faked often, problems always arise from using ebay. I use to use it, but the problems started to outweigh the opportunities...

Matthew

[Hauptman]

Well, it's generally okay if you take normal common sense precautions. I always check out feedback even if just slightly in the negative. Make sure they offer a return policy if there's any doubt after seeing the pics. And try to go for the cheapest deals you can find. I've made a TON of great finds/purchases on Ebay over the years but I'm always careful.

Dan

[mabrgo]

Well, it's generally okay if you take normal common sense precautions. I always check out feedback even if just slightly in the negative. Make sure they offer a return policy if there's any doubt after seeing the pics. And try to go for the cheapest deals you can find. I've made a TON of great finds/purchases on Ebay over the years but I'm always careful.

Dan

I've made great finds too, but I've been burned by people with 100% feedback who didn't ship things or were terrible at communicating. It can be rewarding, but the bottom line is, it's always risky...

Matthew

[Hauptman]

Well, it's all a gamble. I mean I've been burned more times in person or at shows, dealers, etc., than on Ebay. In fact the only time I was really burned on Ebay was in buying a set of DVD's for my son. Another time I got the full VHS collection of Highlander and the idiot seller didn't put any packing material in the box with the tapes and like thirteen of them got screwed up... but luckily I was able to swap out cases and repair them and get them going again. But still a pain.

I do hate it when sellers don't communicate. I helped my son buy a flat screen computer monitor on there. Asked afterwards for more details on the shipping (what service, tracking, insurance?) and the reply I got was, and I quote: "Fed Ex". So had to ask about the other two things again... still haven't heard back. Very frustrating!

I guess I've just been extremely fortunate as I started at just about the beginning of Ebay... same with Paypal and no problems other than the above.

But that's life... sometimes ya just gotta roll the dice and take a shot at it. If you don't then you're not living.

Dan