British Braid & Epaulettes ? - I think.

[martyboy]

I have been given some military braid and epaulettes and have no idea

of their origin or date.

Can any knowledgeable members enlighten me as to their previous?

Thank you, Mart.

[Watchdog]

Hi Mart,

The shoulder boards are Bundeswehr I believe. The black ones may be naval ratings, not sure. The grey with silver "tresse" are Army Unteroffiziere with the red piping representing several different arms of service.. The red/black/gold tasselled cord are also German Bundeswehr I think but similar items were worn in the East German NVA, I believe by bandsmen. The gold aiguillette could be one of several different nationalities which are all very similar but used in different appointments. I'm not expert on those but it is necessary to see the metal tips clearly showing any engraving or other marks. The red tabs are worn on the collar of shirts and jackets by British General Staff officers of full Colonel and Brigadier rank. The same design is worn in different colours whith appropriate buttons by specific branches eg; green for Intelligence or purple for Padres and so on.

Hope that gives you a start.

Regards

Mark

[martyboy]

Hi Mark,

That's a whole lot of information-thank you.

Would the German epaulettes be from the cold war years?

I've taken a few pics of the metal tip which appear to have a spear on it.

The red general staff tabs have a button with ER in the centre of a badge.


Great information, Mart.

[Watchdog]

Hi Mark,

That's a whole lot of information-thank you.

Would the German epaulettes be from the cold war years?

I've taken a few pics of the metal tip which appear to have a spear on it.

The red general staff tabs have a button with ER in the centre of a badge.


Great information, Mart.

The aiguillette tip looks British and is similar to those worn on lower rank ceremonial uniforms such as Household Cavalry bandsmen etc. More senior appointments such as staff officers or ADC etc tend to be service specific (RN, Army, RAF etc) but there should be two and yours seems to have one of the trailing ends cut off.

The button on the Gorget tab is as I said "General Staff".

The German shoulder boards look fairly current to me but could be very late "Cold War"



Regards

Mark

[martyboy]

Hi Mark,

Thank you, you've answered every question. A remarkable feat as they were from different
armed forces of different eras.

Best wishes, Mart.