Feldgrau.net

I don't think that it is a shoulder-strap cypher. I think that it is either an artifact on the negative or damage to the print. I do have to say, though, that the shoulder strap seems rather wider than the usual officer's shoulder strap.

Another error by Countryfile -a Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander is described as being a 'corporal'!!!! Countryfile might be good at cows, but not good at military history!!!

The collar patch shows a pair of SS runes together with a lightning flash, indicating membership of the SS-Nachrichtensturnmbann . The pointed shoulder strap is the second pattern worn by other ranks (enlisted men) in the SS-Verfugungstruppe (SS-VT) between 1933 and 1939. The single pip worn on the ...

This is quite an interesting photograph, actually, as a lot of information can be determined from the insignia. Starting with the man's cap, the first pattern (National-Socialist style) eagle is shown in combination with the second pattern death's head ('totenkopf') badge. This dates the cap around ...

I raised this query a very long time ago, but never really got a satisfactory answer. Perhaps new members can throw some light on it? In the movie, 'Conspiracy' , Heydrich is seen arriving at the conference, flying a Fiesler Storch which has swastikas on its wings, rather than the usual Luftwaffe (B...

Check out Dr R V Jones's 'Most Secret War' or 'The Wizard War' (US title) for lots of info on this.

After the Americans entered the war, the Germans were alarmed when they read an intelligence report stating that the Americans were 'storing gas'... it turned out that the Americans were storing 'gasoline'!

The tank crew, surely, were wearing the black panzer jackets--not Allgemeine-SS uniforms? (as per an earlier response)

Try Brian Davis's book, 'Air Force and Navy Uniforms of World War Two' , published by Blandford. It's out of print, but you can probably find a copy on the Internet (eBay?). At the end of the section on naval uniforms, there's a page illustrating the German sailors' collar (together with others). It...

Regulations weren't always adhered to, and frequently changed --leaving situations where practice lagged behind the regulations. So, of course, one cannot say that the sig runes were absolutely 'never' worn, except by German Waffen-SS units. But, none-the-less, the regulations specified that only Ge...

Even after the SS-TV became part of the Waffen-SS, they continued to wear their totenkopf collar-patch insignia; I don't think Mollo suggests that the division ever adopted the sig rune collar patch. The Totenkopf division aside, during wartime, only German Waffen-SS units were allowed to wear the s...

'Puny' Swordfish? It may have been an old biplane, but it sank more enemy shipping than any other aircraft during WW2!

When the SS absorbed all the police organisations, it was very likely that non-SS members ended up wearing SS/SD uniforms. Members of the SD who were not SS members were not eligible, according to uniform regulations, to wear the SD cuff patch, but would, from January 1942, have certainly worn an SS...

Further to my earlier response, I should have mentioned that the police-style shoulder-strap rank system was introduced from January 1942; before that, Allgemeine-SS or, for a while, post the outbreak of the war, Army-style system was used. The photo of Heydrich shows him wearing the Allgemeine-SS s...

The metallic cuff-title referred to in the original question was not worn by Ehrenfuhrer (Honourary Leaders), which were ivory-coloured and bore the title 'Ehrenfuhrer' or other combination, e.g. 'Ehrenfuhrer Sud', in silver thread. The metallic silver cuff-titles are well-covered in Mollo's and Ang...