WW1 German Aviator Tunic and Cap

[greimers]

Opinions would be appreciated, thanks

[CCMJR]

The cap is a very nice example. It could be a Flieger officer's or an officer from several other branches (Kraftfahr, Telegraphen, Pionier, Luftschiffer, etc.). The tunic is a M15 Kleiner Rock, which appears to be for an infantry officer with the white collar patches (are the buttons Tomback or white metal?). A Flieger officer that wasn't seconded from another branch would have light gray collar patches with colored piping corresponding to the Flieger Bataillon and a light gray underlay on the shoulder boards. That being said, many of officer's were seconded from all branches of the army, who would have continued to wear their former unit's tunic.

The boards appear to be good ones, though if the colors are what I think they are, they are Bavarian (blue and white threads). The cap is Prussian and I can't tell for sure, but the pilot's badge looks to be Prussian too. The boards are not sewn in to the shoulders very well. A good tailor would not leave those lumps under the field gray material. Also, on a M15/16 board, there were no infantry regiments with just a red only underlay. All regiments wore only white, except the Garde regiments and certain traditions regiments, but they would have had "double piping", that is, a white infantry underlay, with a piping in the regimental color. So even though these boards might be good, they don't make any sense with this tunic.

CCMJR

[greimers]

Thanks Chip,

I have no knowledge of this ensemble, I purchased it from an Australian 1WW Veteran who had apparently purchased it in the 1950's because of his admiration for Manfred Von Richtoffen.

[Wagriff]

Any chance to see a good close up-front and back of the pilot's badge? William