flieger abteilung 240

[battle of loos]

Good evening,

I have several questions about the Flieger Abteilung 240:
- where is located the airfield for 1917 - 1918
- what is the shoulder strap of this squadron

Thank you in advance for your help

michel

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

Sorry I am no expert here but I did notice this that may help?

(Westfront)
aufgestellt am 12.09.1916 umbenannt am 15.01.1917 in FA A 240 aufgestellt am 15.01.1917 aus AFA 240 bis Kriegsende You will need to translate sorry so I am unsure if it contains what your after I should add its take from Frontfleiger webb site If like many others in the GAF, then the shoulder tilte should be  240 with a GAF insigna Athough most I've seen were on the left arm (240) not shoulder straps, but those were mostly officers. S.B

Edited 21 March , 2023 by stevenbecker

[AOK4]

On 19/03/2023 at 20:56, battle of loos said:

Good evening,

I have several questions about the Flieger Abteilung 240:
- where is located the airfield for 1917 - 1918
- what is the shoulder strap of this squadron

Thank you in advance for your help

michel

Hi Michel,

German airmen kept the shoulder straps they were wearing before arriving at the unit. Some wore the Flieger unit shoulder straps (winged propeller with the number of the Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung to which they had belonged), others (mostly officers) kept their uniform from previous units replacing the number with a winged propeller without a number.

The badge on the left upper arm sleeve showed the number of the unit. However, I have seen many pictures without these sleeve badges.

Jan

[GreyC]

Hi Michael,

I won´t write anything about the FA 240 or AFA 240, as I simply don´t know enough about them. Ask the experts at http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/

if you don´t find the answers here.

The uniform of the unit you asked about is that of the so called "Verkehrstruppen", ie. Eisenbahn-, Kraftfahr-, Telegrafen-, and Luftschiffer- and Fliegertruppen. The shoulderstraps of the Luftstreitkräfte in Prussia for all but the officer´s uniforms had a winged propeller attached and beneath it the arabic number of the battailon/Ersatzabteilung they were part of, or from which, in wartime, the additional units were formed. Officers, who were originally from the Luftstreitkräfte only had the (yellow metal) propeller on their shoulderboards and the uniform of the Verkehtrstruppen. Officers who were later commanded to the Luftstreitkräfte wore the same shoulderboards, but more often than not wore their original uniform (e.g. infantry, cavalry, etc). To distinguish between all the different wartime-formations long oval armpatches were issued with different numbers or letter/number combinations. As there were a few, I won´t go into that. The Artillerie-Fliegerabteilung, later Fliegerabteilung 240 (Artillerie) had their number in Arabic numerals on the sleeve. Numbers 500-503 however designated special squadrons for giant airplanes.

Unfortunately you don´t give the full name of the unit in question, only Flieger-Abteilung 240. There was no Flieger-Abteilung with that high a number. There was, however, an Artillerie-Fliegerabteilung of that number to which Steve gave some information, which became Fliegerabteilung 240 (Artillerie) in 1917.

Find attached a rare photo of a member of Riesenflugzeug-Abteilung 501. the design of this patch looks similar to that of the AFA resp. Flieger-Abteilungen (Artillerie). Note the shoulderstraps with the winged propeller, the number beneath it is a bit difficult to discern, should be a 1 or a 4.

GreyC

Edited 21 March , 2023 by GreyC

[battle of loos]

Thank you for your explanations.
my research turns to this unit because I entered a series of aerial photos made by it in 1917 on the sector of Loos.

Here are 2 markings on 2 photos :

michel

[GreyC]

Yep,

Flieger Abteilung 240 (Artillerie). The handwriting does not match the information on the side of the photo below, though. It seems to be the reverse of another (reproduced) photo. The photo below was shot from 4000 meter in the air with a lens of a focal length of 50cm which, depending on the negativ format, is usually either a mildly wide angled lens or a mildly telescopic lens.

GreyC

Edited 21 March , 2023 by GreyC

[AOK4]

GreyC, indeed, the Agfa Lupex paper seems to be dating from the WW2 period.

[GreyC]

Hi Jan,

I would even consider post WW2 up to the early 1960s as a possibility. The paper was produced between 1927 and the mid-1960s.

Best,

GreyC

[battle of loos]

Good evening
I will make you a picture of the reverses of his last. 

michel

[GreyC]

Here is a photo of two special cameras for aerial photography. The first one (40cm) is a slight telephoto lens, the other a wide angled lens.

Most probably the photo above (50cm) was therefore a slight telephoto-lens.

GreyC

 

Edited 21 March , 2023 by GreyC

[battle of loos]

This type of material, uses glass plates or film?

[GreyC]

The single surveillance photos I know of are glass plates. The Reihenbild-Fotos were films used for cinematography developed for the military by the German film pioneer Oskar Messter. See the attached photo of the Reihenbild-Film Zug 3 from my collection. It is a composite photo of a "row" of filmstrips.

GreyC

Edited 22 March , 2023 by GreyC