Helmut Wick feldpost letter

[harri109]

Here is another recent acquisition from Germany, which I thought members might be interested to see. It’s a Feldpost letter written by Major Helmut Wick to Major Hennig Strumpell on October 20th 1940.
The day before, he had been promoted to Major and Kommodore of JG27, a decision he was obviously not happy about. Wick took over command of I.Gruppe JG2 from Strumpell on September 9th 1940, who transferred to a fighter school. Ultimately Goering reversed the decision and promoted Wick to Kommodore of JG2 on the same day this letter was written.
I would be interested if any members know what the four letters followed by Paris represent on the reverse of the envelope, JG2 feldpost office maybe??
The rough English translation of the letter is as follows:

Honoured Herr Major(Strümpell).
For the congratulations and the kind lines I ask Major to express my most obedient thanks.
Unfortunately I was made Kommodore of Jg27 and Major.
Since I thought this solution was wrong, I took the opportunity yesterday to talk about it personally with the Reichsmarschall. Sperrle and Jeschonek were there. The Reichsmarschall still reserves the right to decide on this question, which generally concerns the entire hunting industry. I hope it falls soon.
In the hope that I may continue to retain the inheritance of Herr Major.
Entirely devoted Wick

[rof120]

Originally Posted by harri109

I would be interested if any members know what the four letters followed by Paris represent on the reverse of the envelope, JG2 feldpost office maybe??

Perhaps LG 5 or 2 b. Paris. Not sure at all even though it's not Sütterlin. LG, if it is LG, could be Luftgau (Air Sector) or Luftgeschwader (??? Not very likely). After LG is it really a figure 2 or 5? I don't know.

b. is bei = near.

Even today all letters in German sent for business or administrative purposes (not to good friends or family members) begin with "Sehr geehrter…" (Very Honoured…) or "Sehr geehrte…" if it's sent to a woman or to several pesons (in this case "geehrte" is plural). It is just the normal beginning of a letter and doesn't mean anything particular, like in English "Mister" or "Sir" (except if this Sir really was made a Sir by the king/queen) or "Dear Sir" to begin a letter. "Hochverehrter" (Highly Honoured) in this case is also a usual cliché at the time when writing to a superior officer etc. and I think it's still in use today, not only for military personnel. Our German members know this better than I do.

The word "Jägerei" doesn't mean the hunting industry but, quite informally and colloquially (it's a bit hard to translate right), "the fighter business" or "the fighter arm", perhaps "the fighter stuff" etc.

[harri109]

Hi Rof120
Many thanks for your reply, it was really interesting and thank you for the correction and explanations of German letter writing.

[ghostwriter]

hello together,

what about "L.G.P.A. Paris = Luftgaupostamt Paris"!?


regards
ghostwriter

[harri109]

Thank you Ghostwriter
That makes perfect sense, very much appreciated

[VtwinVince]

That is a fantastic letter with very interesting content.

[harri109]

Thank you VtwinVince

[Snautzer]

Beg the question: why was Wick not happy about a promotion ?

[Zippy1]

Yes Jägerei literally translates as hunting but obviously here refers to the Jagdwaffe.

[harri109]

Hi Snautzer
In answer to your query, he wanted to remain with 1.Gruppe JG2 and his promotion to Major and Kommodore of JG27 would have meant leaving.