The German Schwimmweste, or life jacket, served as essential survival equipment for Wehrmacht personnel during the Second World War, particularly for Luftwaffe aircrews operating over water and Kriegsmarine sailors on surface vessels and U-boats. Early models included kapok-filled vests made of yellow cotton canvas that provided passive buoyancy, while the more advanced inflatable designs became standard for aircrew. The Luftwaffe Type 10-30 series, designated Gerät Nr. 10-30 with Anforderungszeichen Fl. 30154, consisted of rubberized yellow canvas with an internal air bladder that could be inflated by a carbon dioxide cartridge on the lower left front or by a manual oral inflation tube. Secured by webbing straps and rings at the front and a crotch strap, these vests featured a design intended to keep the wearer’s head above water and face upward. Manufacturers such as Drägerwerk of Lübeck, Klepper-Werke of Rosenheim, and Auer-Gesellschaft produced variants including the early full-back pattern and the improved B-1 and B-2 models introduced around 1940–1941, the latter replacing some metal fittings with plastic. Kriegsmarine versions followed similar principles with bright yellow rubberized fabric for visibility, often equipped with pressurized air canisters for rapid inflation and capable of maintaining buoyancy for up to twenty-four hours. These life jackets were typically ship or aircraft equipment rather than personal issue and were distributed as needed. Lessons from operations over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain led to refinements in design for better stability and reliability. Despite their effectiveness in supporting survivors until rescue, the Schwimmwesten offered limited protection against prolonged exposure, hypothermia, or distant recovery in open seas, reflecting both the technological standards of the era and the harsh realities of wartime operations over water.
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LUFTWAFFE KAPOK-SCHWIMMWESTE 10-76 B1
A
little further west from Woolston, England, the Royal Navy base at
Portland came under attack from the Heinkel 111s of III.Gruppe /
Kampfgeschwader 55 (KG55) on 15 September 1940, and among the units
taking part was the 8th Staffel of that KG55 formation. Although we
cannot know if he specifically took part in that raid, Leutnant Hans
Thurner (seated here at the controls) of an 8./KG55 He 111 became one of
the most highly decorated Luftwaffe bomber pilots of the war and took
part in the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. In this posed photograph,
he is seen with his Great Dane dog and two crew members. Hans Thurner
was born on 24 October 1918 in Innsbruck, Austria, and entered the
Luftwaffe in 1938 as a Fahnenjunker, receiving training as a
Kampfflieger before being commissioned Leutnant and assigned to the 8.
Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 55. In the autumn of 1940 he flew numerous
sorties against England, and from June 1941 he took part in operations
over the Soviet Union. On 6 August 1941 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz
des Eisernen Kreuzes as Leutnant and pilot in the III. Gruppe of
Kampfgeschwader 55 in recognition of 132 combat sorties flown against
England between 5 July 1940 and 31 May 1941, together with further
successful missions on the Eastern Front. In September 1942 he
transferred as Oberleutnant and Technischer Offizier to Kampfgeschwader
6, with which he again operated against England, later flying in the
Mediterranean theatre from the summer of 1943 and returning to raids
over England in 1944. He received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold and, early
in 1944, was appointed Kommandeur of the I. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader
6, being promoted to Hauptmann on 1 May 1944. Thurner’s luck finally ran
out when he was killed on 11 June 1944, despite the lucky horseshoe
hanging in his cockpit. On that day, while flying a Junkers Ju 188 A-2
coded 3E+EB in defence against the Allied invasion of Normandy, he and
his crew failed to return from a mission and were reported missing; his
remains were later recovered approximately ten kilometres southeast of
Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, and he was buried at the German war cemetery at
La Cambe. By the time of his death he had completed more than 500
Feindflüge. Posthumously, on 17 September 1944, he was awarded the
Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (the 587th such award) as Hauptmann and
Gruppenkommandeur of the I. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 6 for his many
successful sorties on the Eastern Front, the Italian front, over England
in the first months of 1944, and finally on the Invasion front.
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LUFTWAFFE TYPE 10-30 SCHWIMMWESTE
A
rarely seen picture of Hauptmann Josef "Pips" Priller
(Gruppenkommandeur III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" ).
Picture taken by Rolf Schröder, III./ JG 26 Technical Officer, in the
summer 1942. During this period Priller flew the Fw 190A, leading the
Gruppe in operations over the English Channel and occupied France
against the RAF. He scored his 70th victory on 5 May 1942 and reached 81
victories by the end of 1942. Josef "Pips" Priller, born on 27 June
1915 in Ingolstadt and who died on 20 May 1961 in Böbing following a
heart attack, was one of the Luftwaffe’s most successful Western Front
fighter aces, credited with 101 aerial victories in 307 combat missions,
the vast majority against Supermarine Spitfires along with eleven
four-engine bombers and other Allied types. After beginning military
service in 1935 as a Fahnenjunker in Infanterie-Regiment 19 and
completing pilot training, he rose through Jagdgeschwader 51 to become
Staffelkapitän of 6. Staffel, scoring his first victories during the
Battle of France before claiming his twentieth enemy aircraft, a Hawker
Hurricane over Tunbridge Wells, on 17 October 1940 as Oberleutnant; this
achievement brought him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19
October 1940. Transferred in November 1940 as Staffelkapitän of 1.
Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter", Priller enjoyed an intense
scoring period over the Channel in June and July 1941, reaching his
fortieth or forty-first victory around 19 July and receiving the
Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz on 20 July 1941 while still an Oberleutnant.
Appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 26
"Schlageter" in December 1941 and promoted to Hauptmann, he later became
Geschwaderkommodore of the entire Geschwader as Major in January 1943,
continuing to lead from the front while flying first the Messerschmitt
Bf 109 and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190; on 6 June 1944 during the
Normandy invasion he and his wingman Feldwebel Heinz Wodarczyk carried
out one of the few Luftwaffe attacks of the day, a daring low-level
strafing run against Allied troops and landing craft on Sword Beach. By
the time he achieved his 100th victory, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator
bomber, he had been awarded the Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub
on 2 July 1944 as Oberstleutnant and Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 26
"Schlageter". Promoted to Oberst on 1 January 1945, he led his unit in
Operation Bodenplatte before ending operational flying as Inspekteur der
Jagdflieger Ost; after the war he studied brewing and successfully
managed the Riegele brewery in Augsburg.
Oberstleutnant Friedrich-Karl "Tutti" Müller (1916-1944) was born on 25
December 1916 in Berlin-Lichterfelde and entered military service in
1936, transferring to the Luftwaffe where he completed fighter training
and joined 8./Jagdgeschwader 53 as a Leutnant. He scored his first
aerial victory on 27 May 1940 against a French Curtiss Hawk 75 during
the Battle of France, claiming eight victories in that campaign before
adding further successes against the Royal Air Force in the Battle of
Britain. Deployed to the Eastern Front with Jagdgeschwader 53 in 1941,
Müller rapidly increased his tally and was appointed Staffelkapitän of
1./Jagdgeschwader 53. In September 1942, while flying intensive
operations in support of the advance toward Stalingrad, he achieved an
extraordinary series of victories: four aircraft on 16 September, five
on 17 September, six or seven on 18 September, and additional claims on
19 September that brought his total to 100 aerial victories. For this
outstanding performance as Staffelkapitän of 1./Jagdgeschwader 53,
Oberleutnant Müller was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on
19 September 1942. Only four days later, on 23 September 1942, he
received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 126th recipient of the
German armed forces, recognizing his continued success and the century
mark. Promoted to Hauptmann, he later became Gruppenkommandeur of
I./Jagdgeschwader 53, leading the unit in the Mediterranean and Tunisia
before transferring in early 1944 to Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet," where he
commanded IV./Jagdgeschwader 3 and was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of
Jagdgeschwader 3 in March 1944. Credited with 140 aerial victories in
more than 600 combat missions, including numerous four-engined bombers
in the Defense of the Reich, Müller was killed on 29 May 1944 in a
landing accident at Salzwedel while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6
and was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/12/album-foto-schwimmweste-jaket-pelampung.html
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