The following photos really took me by surprise. I'd never heard about auxiliaries of the Organisation Todt (OT) previously but something like this really seems to have existed. The only mention of OT's role in the auxiliary business I could find in standard sources is a (very short) note in Williamson (2003, p.7) that on occasions OT received signals auxiliaries from the Heer (Army) if needed.
As these photos show OT did spend a bit more effort on its female staff even devising a particular uniform for them. The top photo is obviously, due to the insignia, a signals auxiliary but with numerous special OT ingredients.
The lower photo is still somewhat hazy though I've already tried various ways of image enhancement. But at least you can now vaguely recognize that the women around the table are also sporting said OT sleeve eagle on their jackets. Obviously the uniform displayed in the first photo was not just some design study produced just for the shelf but really was utilized 'in the field' to some extent.
Can any of you provide further information on the OT auxiliaries? [Admittedly I've not read Seidler's book on the OT so far but I'm somewhat sceptical that it will contain something noteworthy on this matter.]
Picture sources:
Top picture: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ ... t=helferin
Bottom picture: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ ... t=helferin
Literature source:
G. Williamson (2003): World War II German Women's Auxiliary Services. Osprey Publishing, 2003
Best regards
Torsten
. This one was working for the Organisation Todt construction service as the cuff title shows (or is it an armband?). While playing with her puppy 'Strolch' (rascal) conveys an impression quite idyllic the long-barreled artillery Luger dangling from the wall in the left upper corner points to a rather unruly corner of the world.