WWII GERMAN LUFTWAFFE COLONEL’S UNIFORM BELONGING TO GUNTHER LUTZGOW WHO WAS CREDITED WITH 110 VICTORIES IN OVER 300 COMBAT MISSIONS.

WWII GERMAN LUFTWAFFE COLONEL’S UNIFORM BELONGING TO GUNTHER LUTZGOW WHO WAS CREDITED WITH 110 VICTORIES IN OVER 300 COMBAT MISSIONS.

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Uniform coat is of blue gabardine wool with 4 pebble finished aluminum buttons down the front & 1 on each pocket. Above the left breast pocket are 7 loops to support a medal bar & above them are 3 loops to support a clasp. There are a pair of loops on the left pocket & 2 pair below the pocket. The right breast pocket has a single pair of loops. Shoulder boards are woven silver bullion with 2 gold pips each & are backed in yellow denoting a Colonel attached to a flight unit. The yellow wool collar tabs are piped in silver bullion & each bear a 3 gull & wreath insignia. There is a high relief silver bullion Luftwaffe eagle over the right pocket. The uniform lining is gray rayon & the sleeve lining is a striped white rayon. There is an interior D ring & slit for suspension of a sword/dagger. The label below the collar reads, “A. Berger jun. & Co. Hoflieferanten Potsdam”. The interior of the left inside pocket has a tag that reads, “A. BERGER jr. Co., Kgl. Hoflief. POTSDAM Herr [Oberst Lutzow](written in ink) No. [839](written in ink) den [4. Juli](written in ink) 19[44](written in ink)”. A black leather officer’s belt with a 2 tongue, pebble finished frame buckle accompanies the uniform.

Also included is a period postcard of Colonel Lutzow wearing a fleece lined flight jacket, side cap & his Knight’s Cross with swords & oak leaves. Colonel Gunther Lutzow was one of the best known & most successful aces of WWII. He is credited with 110 victories in more than 300 combat missions. His flight service started in the Spanish Civil War with 5 confirmed kills. He went on to score 20 victories over the Western Front & 85 victories over the Eastern Front. He became Group Commander of JG3 late in 1939 & held various positions in the Luftwaffe despite his difficult reputation. He refused to comply with SS orders to supply men for execution squads thus earning the ire of the SS as well as the NSDAP. He recorded 2 victories while flying the new ME262 jet fighter but was missing in action & presumed killed a few days later on April 24, 1945.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.