WW1 pilots with Iron Cross and Luger Photo
 

Hello,

On eBay I saw interesting photo

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...252118736&rd=1

http://ha-ce.bei.t-online.de/ebay3755.jpg

Regards,

Sanya

Nice

Dashing Fellows.....A Watt!!!
I wonder where that Luger is now??

Ron

military flyers excellent with the iron cross ???

Well that's the best the online translator would do.
And these days the NRA would never let him get away with having his finger on the trigger in that photo.

Interesting picture.
Fritz.

Well, no Blue Max'es I see. Just the ole Iron Cross'.

A slightly better translation:

"Military Pilots who were rewarded with the iron cross."

Postcards Ludw. Sanke, Berlin N37
Reproduction prohibited.

It's a postcard :)

How about a translation of "With the Iron Cross, outstanding military fliers"? Nice picture.

Thank you Sanya,
very nice photo. It is not trivial to find pilots with P08.
Ciao
mauro

It looks like they had non-uniform uniforms. Didn't German fliers have standard uniforms? This looks like quite an array.
Big Norm

Most German pilots in WWI transferred from other units and kept the uniform of the unit from which they transferred. In fact they may have been on some sort of TDY. In this photo you have a couple of cavalrymen and a few others that may be infantry or actual air service.

The formerly mounted officers are easily picked out by their open belt buckles. Many cavalry officers went into the air service as it seemed to befit their training as the scouting or recon arm of the service, also cavalry was on the way out and most fought dismounted.

The fellow second from the right may have been a Kurissair or heavy cavalry and I think he wears an observer's badge not pilot.

They are all Leutnants or Oberleutnants except the guy on the right, he's an NCO. It's interesting that through the second war, only the US required that all pilots be officers. The Germans and the British had alot of NCO pilots. I believe that in the RAF it wasn't strange to have an NCO pilot with officers as copilot and navigator. The pilot commanded.

Geo, Actually the US did have NCO pilots. My Father-in-Law was a Staff Sgt in the Oregon Nat'l Guard when the US declared war. He volunteered for what then was called the Sargeant Pilot Program. He was sent to flight school in Chicago. And was assigned to a C-47 Squadron. At some point thereafter they were all commissioned. He retired as a LtCol.The highest rank he could achive, without going to OCS or West Point. Not sure how long the program was in effect.

Ron