Notation on Portrait - Can Airman be traced?

[rickback4444]

Hi,

Just bought 3 portraits on Ebay - there is a very nice portriat of a Luftwaffe flier - there is some notation on the back of his picture - the smaller one - can anyone hrlp me decipgher this and name the crew man?

Thanks

Rick

[JohnnyB]

Just a try :

Left:
Zur Erinnerung
an den Urlaub März 1942
Heinrich

Right:
11/38 3. Komp.
Lt. Köster
Neukuhren (today Pionerski near Kaliningrad ?)


Regards, Rainer

[rickback4444]

Hi,

Here is portrait of Leutnant Koster. Do we know his fate?

Thanks

Rick

[JohnnyB]

Hi Rick,

difficult without a first name. Just for example - there was a Lt. Alfons Köster at NJG-2 and NJG-3. He died at 07.01.1945

Nobody here with further informations or ideas ?

Rainer

@edit Alfons Köster

On the night of 6 on the 7th January 1945, he slipped on landing in fog in Varel Obenstrohe the roof of a farmhouse and crashed fatally. With him killed : Lt.Bodusch and Uffz.Lingen in the Ju 88 C-6. WNr. 621499, D5 + PX


IF - this is the person you searching for, Rick

[rickback4444]

Hi Rainer,

Thanks for your great work - let's hope someone else can give us a helping hand.

Rick

[JohnnyB]

Hi,

I've tried to find any official picture of Lt. Köster to get something to compare - nothing.

One more find :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfons_Köster

Also I can get no connection Alfons Köster to Neukuhren. It seems to me that NJG-1 NJG-2 NJG-3 wasn´t in this area.

Rick - it's really needed now to get a little help from some experts here - just to be sure that we don´t go wrong completely because to much focus on this Alfons Köster already.

Regards - Rainer

[JohnnyB]

Got him ! This is the NJG-Ace Alfons Köster what I talked about and now we can compare. What do you think ?

Rainer

[rickback4444]

Hi,

I think there is a lot of similarity in both shots - remembering that your photo might be him 5 years older? Does his badge on my photo look right - would he have such an award though?

Rick

[JohnnyB]

Very interesting - that´s the observer´s badge. May´ his career starts in this way ? Your picture so it seems shows him in younger years, there´s no EK or RK. And yes - he really looks older, tired.

http://www.quanonline.com/military/m...s/observer.php

[Chris Goss]

I am not convinced. He started the war as an NCO pilot so why in 1942 would he be a commissioned Beobachter. Other photos show very little resemblance I am afraid