Query on picture

[afainnow]

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/al...pictureid=3343


What is rank fliegerVizenfeldwebel?

Why is propellor blade have 2 Iron Crosses? (Covering bullet holes)

What unit did Kiep serve with?

[Volker_Nemsch]

.
The "Iron Crosses" are the manufacturer logos of the company "Reschke" and definitely not covering bullet holes. Have a look here:

http://artgen.billerantik.de/article...tte_A2/344.jpg

Patching/repairing bullet holes in wooden propellers was (and is) is not possible, since after such a severe damage the needed stability and balance of the wooden layers are gone. Vibrations will destroy the "repaired" propeller within a short time...

.

[saxon lions]

I believe a fliegerVizenfeldwebel was a senior NCO in the Air Service.

The picture appears at the start of the Kaiser' Bunker section on Flieger Truppen.

The caption reads 'Jasta 43 Pilots and a ground crew member taken 10 July 1918 at Haubourdin aerodome. The pilot standing in front is Vizenfeldwebel Drexler (seriously wounded), Unteroffizier Paul Rüggeberg (2 victories) is on the right, the Pilot with the left with the cane is Vizenfeldwebel Max Herman Kiep (3 victories, † KIA 15/Oct/1918). The individual on top in not identified. The aircraft is a Fokker DVII'.

I believe the unidentified pilot is probably Ernst Wiehle (6 victories), as he appears to have the same unusual cross pinned to his tunic as worn by Wiehle in other photographs. Wiehle served in the Saxon Army but I do not recognise the cross as a Saxon award so it could be from his native Anhalt.

For those interested in Imperial German uniforms the site is well worth a look

http://www.kaisersbunker.com

[VtwinVince]

The correct rank is Vizefeldwebel, a kind of senior NCO sometimes referred to as a Sergeant-Major.

[Kanzler]

To my knowledge, a "Vizefeldwebel" was not really a senior NCO, rather a junior NCO, somewhere sergeant and Feldwebel...

[VtwinVince]

Yes, a somewhat nebulous rank not directly comparable to allied ranks. However, it was recognised as a stepping stone to officer rank, hence a higher position than than of Unteroffizier or Feldwebel.

[Kanzler]

Yes, very diffrent from Allied Ranks. I believe the Vize-Feldwebel was indeed for Soldiers in the officers track, similar to Cadet, but higher than those. But still somehow below a "real" Feldwebel, as the title "vize" suggests.

[VtwinVince]

My uncle was for a couple of years Unteroffizier, then he was promoted to Vizefeldwebel, a rank he held until he was promoted to Leutnant (d.R.) late in the war. It seems that it took quite some frontline experience to get to Vizefeldwebel. Then there is the much less often seen rank of Feldwebelleutnant, a sort of confluence of NCO and junior officer rank.

[Kanzler]

Very strange indeed... and don't forget the "Offizierstellvertreter". Those also fit in there somewhere...

[VtwinVince]

Yes, I believe the later Wehrmacht equivalent would have been Fahnenjunker.