shippingsteel Posted 29 June , 2011 Share Posted 29 June , 2011 Can anyone provide any useful information concerning Rank and Corps from this damaged image taken from a postcard.? I am thinking he is an NCO from the wearing of a troddel with his dress bayonet. I also note he is wearing the EKII decoration. Further details including the full postcard can be seen in THIS other thread found in the Soldiers section of the forum. Thanks.! Cheers, S>S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchbarge Posted 30 June , 2011 Share Posted 30 June , 2011 The tresse (rank lace) on his collar absent sergeant disks show he is an Unteroffizier (lowest ranked NCO). The upper kokarde on his schirmmütze also appears to be NCO/enlisted. Absence of piping on his shoulder straps indicate the photo was taken post 1 Jan 1915. I don't see any numerals or ciphers on the straps so no help with his formation. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 30 June , 2011 Share Posted 30 June , 2011 I concur. He would have had rank lace on cuffs also. Later in the war the lace around the collar was only a few inches in length covering the facings of the collars and just a short section of the sides. The cuff rank lace was also discontinued or again reduced to a small strip. Am I right in saying the cap would be private purchase rather than issued! Given the fact the PC is B and w it is hard to say what base colour the straps are and with no cipher / numerals it is hard to ID branch of service.... Stab in the dark...blue for train service????? TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shippingsteel Posted 30 June , 2011 Author Share Posted 30 June , 2011 Thanks very much for the input. So I think its fairly well established that he is an Unteroffizier from the bayonet troddel, the rank lace on the collar and the NCO/enlisted upper kokarden. Nailing down which corps is more difficult given the B&W photo, but I think we can safely say both the band on the schirmmütze and the shoulder board colours appear much the same. From the limited amount of research that I've been able to do I believe the dark band would indicate one of the specialist arms branches, such as field artillery, pioneer, transport, etc. Both the band and the shoulder board appear to be the same colour with a lighter shade of piping, so saying they are both black with red piping, wouldn't that indicate he is a Pioneer.? Please correct me if I am wrong, (I could well be barking up the wrong tree) - if so a gentle nudge in the right direction would be appreciated.! Cheers, S>S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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