Schutzpolizei Wachtmeister Uniform

[HPL2008]

Gentlemen, please do note that Marco Pennisi did not say that the boards were fake. Also, his ID of them is correct:

Boards with brown inner cords and silver outer cords flecked with brown Vs and with an "open" lower end without a silver traverse bar were for the rank of Oberwachtmeister from 1936 to 1941. From 1942, they were worn by the rank of Wachtmeister. These are the boards that we see on the uniform.

The rank of Oberwachtmeister wore boards with the silver traverse at the bottom end from 1942 on. This is the board seen in post # 29. That traverse bar is integral to the construction of the shoulder boards and has nothing to do with the double slip-on cord bars attached to the shoulder boards.

Boards with these double slip-on bars are known to exist and believed to be for officer candidates, mimicking the practice of double loops of NCO Tresse worn by officer candidates of the army. However, this is indeed unofficial as no such distinguishing mark officially existed for officer candidates of the Police. (They wore the NCO boards for their respective rank.) NCO candidates wore a yellow cord on their boards.

Here are illustrations from period insignia charts:



As for equivalent ranks: Given different rank structures between the armed forces of different countries - let alone between one country's police force and another one's armed forces - this is always difficult. The German Police fully adopted a military categorization of rank groups into Mannschaften (men), Unterführer (NCOs), Offiziere (officers) and Generale (generals) during the war. (Prior to that, the rank groups were Anwärter, Wachtmeister, Meister, Inspektoren, Offiziere and Generale.) Under this wartime system, Wachtmeister was the lowest NCO rank; so, if we have to draw parallels, it was more like a Corporal, or at most a Sergeant.

[MAP]

These appear to be M43 caps, not Bergmutze . Compliments of "Stonemint". Maybe I am wrong, but the first & last pic are single button M43 IMO
D

Nice Photos David.

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Aldo,

Fantastic collection.

Congrats

[Aldo]

Thank you for the clarification. I see now the difference between the two.

Regards, Al

[real steel]

Yes...thanks for the detailed explanation. The "loops" were the item in question, not the boards. So we can surmise the "Officer Candidate" slip ons were "home made" or field made by the NCO since they never were an issued rank insignia & regulations were ignored by wearing them.
D.

[Aldo]

Thank you all for the positive comments and clarifications. Ade was kind enough to change the thread name to reflect the proper rank. The uniform now holds a place of prominence in my small collection room . I can see how exciting collecting uniforms can be. The possibilities are endless. I wish I had room to acquire a few more.

Cheers, Al

[Librarius13]

If he was a candidate for officers, then he would have a sleeve eagle as an officer. As in one example from my collection.

[WWIIenthusiast]

It's awesome!

[Aldo]

An updated photo as a result of reorganizing my collection. As always, limited space is the main issue.....

[Sensei]

Very nice! Congratulations!

[jamie7d7]

Very nice display Aldo.

Love the Thunderbolt print too