What's with these collar tabs?

[Styx]

I saw this photograph on the internet but I can't work out what's with this soldier's collar tabs. I know that foreign volunteers in the SS initially had no runic tab and rank on the left tab, but I've never heard of two rank tabs. Any help is much appreciated!



Robbie

[HPL2008]

Actually, officers of the Italian Waffen-SS formations sometimes wore their rank insignia on both collar patches. (Apparently, only during the period when they still wore red insignia; at least I have never seen a photo of an Italian SS officer with black double rank collar patches.)

However, this is clearly not what we see here: The "flecked" shoulder boards seen in the photograph were not used by the SS.

I cannot make a positive ID of the man's affiliation, but I am thinking along the lines of the Technische Nothilfe or the Fire Brigades:

Alreday implemented for Police Generals in 1942, SS-style double rank collar patches in the respective branch color were intended to be introduced for the entire German Order Police (Schutzpolizei, Gendarmerie, Feuerschutzpolizei etc.) and the technical auxilliary police forces (Technische Nothilfe, Feuerwehren, Luftschutzpolizei) in 1943.

This was eventually postponed "for the duration of the war" (i.e. for good) for the Order Police and the LSP.

These insignia were, however, definitely implemented for the Technische Nothilfe. (Numerous photographs exist showing them in wear.) Some sources also state that they saw limited use within the Fire Brigades. Both services used "flecked" shoulder boards like those seen in the photograph.

The collar patches for the TENO were black; those for the Feuerwehren were to have been crimson. The problem is, the boards seen in the photograph appear to me to be too light to be black, but too dark to be crimson.

A bit of a mystery, that one, but certainly an interesting photograph!