Luftwaffe Shoulder boards

[Geoff Ward]

Hello All,I received a set of boards from a friend awhile back and just came across them after quite awhile.I was just hoping to get some additional information regarding the Number pips?? etc.Thanks Geoff

[Fred Green]

Hello,

To me they are RH or early Wehrmacht shoulder boards. Sew-in, shiny metallic braid and RH number.

Fred

[Geoff Ward]

Thank you Fred, I wonder what the RH numbers would indicate I have seen some with a silver wash and others with a gold wash?..

Regards,Geoff

[reneblacky]

i know if it were army the 3 would be for the 3rd regiment.

[reneblacky]

here's my well worn captain from the 139th mountain infantry regiment if this helps?

[Eagle mtn]

NCOs wore silver numbers and pips while officers wore gold. Rene is correct, the 3 is for regiment 3, but whether it is reconnaissance or cavalry is unknown to me.

Also, if they were luftwaffe, the yellow would signify flight or fallschirmjäger and neither typically wore numbers on their shoulder boards. Hope this helps

[Geoff Ward]

Thank you Gentlemen for clearing this question up for me! I have been wondering how often this issue has been popping up for a long long time!

Regards,Geoff

[Eagle mtn]

No problem Mr. Ward, feel free to ask any questions you have. I would be more than happy to answer

[TWS]

Couple points to consider: The only Luftwaffe branch that I have seen wear regimental numbers with regularity is Flak. Otherwise the practice was rare. Secondly, the rank pip and number are not in accordance with normal convention. With a single rank pip (or star from Sternabzeichen), the pip would be towards the shoulder and the regimental (or battalion in the case of a separate battalion/abteilung) number towards the neck.

Could be a Heer recon/cav board, but somebody probably played with the metal insignia.

Infantry example from my collection showing proper placement relation of pip and unit numbers.