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This is a posed studio
photograph of Polizei-Sergeant Wihelmi of the South West African Landespolizei taken
in his home town of Hanover. Sergeant Wilhelmi wears the
1907 Landespolizei Dark
Khaki Uniform with green collar and shoulder straps and
yellow metal buttons bearing the imperial crown. Note the
Sergeant's single rank pip on the collar. He wears two medals on his left
breast, the more senior closest to his buttons is the South
West Africa Campaign Medal with three clasps the other is presumably
the 2nd Class Landwehr Service Award (see below for a full list of
Wilhelmi's awards).
His trousers are matching dark khaki and their
green piping can just be made out down the outside edge.
He carries a pair of white gloves, although only brown
leather ones were authorised to be worn by the
Landespolizei.
The sword is standard for the
Landespolizei, based on the Prussian light cavalry sabre.
The sword knot is more curious. The uniform regulations
authorise a Faustriemen fringed knot in the green style of an army Oberjäger for the Polizei-Sergeant, unless he previously
held Portepee rank in former service. As far as records
show, Wilhelmi had not achieved Portepee rank (Vize-Feldwebel
and above) in the Schutztruppe yet in this photograph he carries a Portepee closed knot
in what appears to be white
metallic thread with green threads in the upper part.
Although Sergeant Wilhelmi is
bare headed in this photograph, he would usually have worn
either a Landespolizei Südwester hat in khaki felt with an
imperial cockade at the front and a yellow metal imperial
crown badge holding up the right hand side, or a
Landespolizei field cap in dark khaki with a green hatband
and piping, a small imperial cockade on the front and a
black leather peak.
Friedrich Wilhelm
Wilhelmi (1883-1941) was born in
Hanover and joined the 73rd Hanoverian Fusilier Regt ("Füsilier-Regiment Feldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (1.Hannoversches)
Nr.73") as a two
year volunteer in 1902. From there he volunteered for the
Schutztruppe in 1904, being promoted through the NCO ranks to
Sergeant by 1908 when he transferred into the Landespolizei
retaining the rank of Sergeant. During the First World War he
served again in the Schutztruppe as Sergeant der Landwehr, was
wounded and received the Iron Cross, second class. After the war
he returned to Germany to work in finance, then returned to
South West Africa in the 1920s to work as a hospital
administrator near Lüderitzbucht and eventually moved to
Argentina in 1931 where he settled on a plantation until his
retirement. |
