KÖNIGLICH PREUSSISCHES FLUGZEUGBEOBACHTER-ABZEICHEN
The Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen, officially designated the Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen, was instituted on 27 January 1914 by Kaiser Wilhelm II as a qualification badge for observation officers of the Imperial German Fliegertruppe and was awarded by the General-Inspektion des Militär-Verkehrswesens to personnel who had completed a minimum of 1,000 kilometres of flight as an observer, passed the required technical aircraft-assistance examination (or its refresher), conducted successful reconnaissance missions, and obtained the formal Befähigungszeugnis as a Beobachtungsoffizier; the high-oval badge measured approximately 71 mm in height and 45 mm in width and was manufactured in silver or silver-plated non-ferrous metal, featuring at its centre a red-enamelled square containing a smaller black-and-white chequered square (the traditional General Staff emblem) set against a rayed background, the whole enclosed by a closed wreath of laurel leaves on the left and oak leaves on the right that met in a bow at the base and were surmounted by the Imperial Crown, with the reverse usually showing a vertical pin and the maker’s mark of C.E. Juncker of Berlin; worn as a Steckabzeichen on the left breast of the uniform, it remained in use throughout the First World War as the principal recognition of qualified aerial observers in the Prussian contingent of the German air service until the collapse of the monarchy in 1918.
SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg (1891-1963) was born on 20 July 1891 in Saarburg, Alsace-Lorraine, in the German Empire, and entered military service on 25 February 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the Infanterie-Regiment „Vogel von Falckenstein“ (7. Westfälisches) Nr. 56 of the Prussian Army; during the First World War he served as a Kompaniechef, was wounded on both the Western and Eastern fronts, trained as a pilot from June 1916, and flew as an Aufklärungsflieger with Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 47 from August 1917, earning the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 10 February 1915 and 1. Klasse on 9 September 1915 along with other decorations including the Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen and the Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he briefly served with Grenzschutz Ost and a Freikorps in Oberschlesien before joining the Preußische Schutzpolizei as a Polizei-Oberleutnant in September 1920, rising through various police commands and training roles in Essen, Potsdam-Eiche, Krefeld, Köln, Charlottenburg, Hindenburg, Beuthen, Gleiwitz, Saarbrücken, Bremen, and Mannheim, joining the NSDAP on 1 May 1933 (Mitgliedsnummer 2.222.600) and the SS (SS-Nr. 405.898), and by December 1938 serving on the staff of the Inspekteur der Ordnungspolizei in Stuttgart. On 2 October 1939 he became Kommandeur of Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3 of the Polizei-Division (later SS-Polizei-Division) with the rank of SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schutzpolizei, participating in the Western campaign of 1940 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; for his leadership in the Luga sector—particularly his personal bravery on 11 August 1941 in capturing the hills at Stojanowschtschina (taking seventeen enemy tanks and numerous heavy bunkers), his advance on 23 August to seize Ssyrez, the hills west of it, and the heights at Turowo that enabled the capture of Luga, and his regiment’s breakthrough of the outer defensive lines of Leningrad on 13 September by securing bridges and key positions while advancing toward Pushkin via the Ishora position—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schupo. He assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 15 December 1941, and for his successful leadership of the division at the Volkhov, where he closed the ring around the Volkhov pocket by attacking through extremely swampy terrain to achieve surprise against an enemy expecting an advance along the road, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (91st award) on 23 April 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei. Promoted further to SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Polizei in July 1942 and then to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei in July 1943, he briefly commanded the IV. SS-Panzer-Korps from 10 June 1943 until 31 August 1943, after which he succeeded Kurt Daluege as Chef des Hauptamtes der Ordnungspolizei, a post he held until the end of the war (and briefly as Chef der Deutschen Polizei in the final days); he fled via the Rattenlinie Nord to Flensburg, was interned as a POW in Dachau in 1946, released in 1947, and died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld, West Germany.
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LUFTSCHIFFER ABZEICHEN
The Luftschiffer Abzeichen, formally recognized as the Erinnerungsabzeichen für die Besatzung der Luftschiffe, stands as a notable military decoration originating from Germany, instituted on August 1, 1920, by the Reichswehrministerium to honor members of the Imperial German airship service who served during the First World War. Drawing historical context from military archives and documentation referenced by historical researchers on platforms like Wikipedia and tracesofwar.com, this badge was awarded to various ranks within the Luftstreitkräfte, acknowledging the hazardous duty endured by military personnel operating rigid airships such as Zeppelin vessels under combat conditions and adverse weather. Physically, the decoration features an oval wreath composed of oak leaves on the left and laurel leaves on the right, bound at the bottom and crowned with a ribbon bow at the top, enclosing a detailed depiction of a military airship navigating clouds. Recipients wore the award as a pin-back badge on the left breast of their military uniform. Due to the stringent economic conditions and financial constraints of the Weimar Republic following the conclusion of the Great War, official state funding for the production of these medals was unavailable, requiring recipients to purchase privately manufactured authorized copies at their own expense. The badge serves as an enduring historical artifact representing the early era of military aviation and rigid airship operations, documenting the service of commanders, officers, and enlisted personnel who navigated the skies during an era of rapid technological transition in military warfare.
General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling (1891-1955) was born on 2 November 1891 in Halberstadt and entered military service in 1911 with the Feldartillerie-Regiment „von Peucker“ (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 6 in Breslau, later serving with Luftschiffer units before returning to artillery duties as an observer and battery commander during the First World War, where he earned both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz; remaining in the Reichswehr after 1918, he advanced through successive promotions to Leutnant on 10 August 1912, Hauptmann on 1 June 1922, Major on 10 June 1932, Oberstleutnant on 1 September 1935 and Oberst on 1 March 1938, commanding units such as Artillerie-Regiment 56 and Artillerie-Regiment 20 before becoming Artilleriekommandeur 128 with the XXXX. Panzerkorps during the campaigns in Poland and France. On the Eastern Front he took command of the 86. Infanterie-Division in early 1942, receiving promotion to Generalmajor on 1 February 1942 and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 23 June 1942; as Kommandeur of this division within the 9. Armee he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 January 1943 for his successful defensive leadership during the winter fighting west of Rzhev in late 1942, particularly the early December actions in which Soviet forces attempted a surprise advance through difficult forested terrain toward Burzeva, only for Weidling’s innovative tactics to clear the woods, restore the line and recapture ground northward as far as the village of Karskaya, thereby turning the local battle in the Germans’ favour. Promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 January 1943 and to General der Artillerie on 1 January 1944, he assumed command of the XXXXI. Panzerkorps on 20 October 1943 and received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 22 February 1944 for the outstanding leadership of his Korps in the hard defensive fighting near Kritschev and Retschiza, between the Pripet marshes and the Berezina river; further distinction followed with the Schwerter on 28 November 1944 for later operations in East Prussia and along the Narew. After brief periods in the Führerreserve and command of the LVI. Panzerkorps, Weidling was appointed Kampfkommandant of the Berlin Defence Area on 23 April 1945, organising the final defence of the city until he ordered the cessation of hostilities and surrendered to Soviet forces on 2 May 1945; sentenced in 1952 to twenty-five years’ imprisonment for war crimes, he died of a heart attack on 17 November 1955 while still in custody at Vladimir.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/03/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-peraih.html
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