"Luftwaffe Field Divisions help" Topic

Morning folks …
just need one or two quick pointers here. I'm looking at those troops banded together in 1944-45 to fight as ground troops.
What was their distinctive waffenfarb or arm of service colour on uniforms? I've seen red, as per flak troops, green, and yellow in illustrations.
I'm assuming platoon and company organisation was similar to normal wehrmacht practice, but were there any peculiarities?
EC

By 1944-45 the Luftwaffe Field Divisions were being run by the Heer (Army) and were organized as standard Wehrmacht formations – prior to 1943 they were independent of the Army and had two 3-battalion jaeger regiments with supporting artillery – they initially were quite a bit smaller than a standard Heer division

As to uniforms, by 1944 they were being issued with standard Wehrmacht uniforms but there was a fair bit of the original Luftwaffe issue that was still around – pictures from Normandy of Luftwaffe Field Division troopers show a very mixed picture with a mixture of new and old kit

As noted, by 1944 the LFDs were supposedly using standard Wehrmacht collar tabs and chest eagles, although you still see Luftwaffe ones in photos on some individuals. Some of the LW liked to sew the eagle on so the swastika was actually on the top flap of the tunic pocket.

The Luftwaffe LFD collar tabs were jager green, (as was the waffenfarbe on the shoulder boards), part from Herman Goering Div which was white.

Obviously Flak troops handed rifles, would still have red collar tabs, whereas yellow was pretty much reserved for flight staff, which included paratroops.

Even once the Heer took them over, they were still organised as Jaeger Divs, so would keep the jager green piping.

The personnel of the field divisions had to be uniformed and equipped in exactly the same way as the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, differing from them only in insignia (which was not always observed, since they often received items in Luftwaffe coloring (gray-blue) from their own warehouses) . The color of the buttonholes was prescribed green, the edging of the buttonholes and shoulder straps – according to the type of troops. At the end of the war, when personnel were sent to field divisions, for various reasons having lost their equipment or duties in other services of the Luyftwaffe, they retained the same insignia.
Camouflage clothing was used mainly in the characteristic "parachute" camouflage (broken lines – I don't know how to call it in English correctly)

1 – motorcyclist (reconnaissance units)
2 – artillery man
3 – military engineer
4 – supplier

green – infantry
pink – tankers
golden yellow – motorcycle companies
red – field and anti-aircraft artillery
cornflower blue – medical service
black – engineering units
light blue – supply service and administration
copper brown – communications units

45 – Infantry Corporal
46 – Lieutenant of the Infantry
47 – chief sergeant major of artillery
48 – Sergeant major of the regiment "Hermann Goering" (these had special differences and colors, I do not consider them here)

Information from the book Kurylev O.P. "Armed forces of Germany 1933-1945. Complete atlas. Ground forces, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine"

This is really interesting. I wonder if sometimes some confusion arises with the conflation of 'Wehrmacht' and 'Heer'? As we should all know, the Wehrmacht meant the Armed Forces' as a whole with the constituent parts of the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. Indeed, as I understand it, even the Waffen SS was lumped in by the end of the war. If you are not careful, it can be confusing.

Just to disagree with Cuprum. A unique item of camouflage clothing used by LFD later in the war was the Field Division jacket. It was produced in both splinter B and sumpftarn, and is seen many photos of LFD units. Sometimes they were also issued FJ jump smocks, and FJ issued field jackets.

Gosh – amazing response! Thank you all for answering this one,
EC

Get this book, "Uniforms and Insignia of the Luftwaffe, 1940-1945 (Uniforms and Insignia of the Luftwaffe, Vol 2)"

I have both volumes and I recommend them. They don't have a lot of color illustrations but the information is very helpful. Luckily I got them early when the price was reasonable.

link

Osprey published a book on Luftwaffe field divisions. You might be able to find it on eBay.

I see those red collar tabs on those guys again Cuprum2 – but I get it that they are artillerymen attached to 17th Field Division. Thanks for posting additional images, very helpful,
EC

Actually, I posted these photos as an example of a camouflage jacket for Field divisions.
But yes, the red buttonholes indicate that this artilleryman was seconded to the Field Division, otherwise he would have had green buttonholes with a red piping.

Buttonholes? Those are rank tabs.