The Luftwaffe Musikkorps

Almost everyday K&C receives requests, suggestions and other ideas covering a wide range of different subjects from collectors not just in China but from almost every country and continent around the world.
Earlier this year we came across a suggestion from one particular collector of our aircraft models and aviation-related figures that we talked about and decided would be fun to make and here it is... 'The Luftwaffe Musikkorps'
Before World War II and during it, all branches of the German military recognized the many benefits and morale - boosting opportunities provided by an official military band.
Within the Third Reich's Luftwaffe (The German Air Force) these bands played a major role both on the 'home front' and on 'overseas deployment'.
In the case of the Luftwaffe's Musikkorps, it was not an independent combat unit but instead was a regular part of a division or Regimental Headquarters Company.
The Luftwaffe Musikkorps also had a wide-spread presence... There was no single 'Luftwaffe Band' rather, almost every major branch, regiment and air district had their very own Musikkorps Personnel. A standard band consisted of mostly professional musicians led by a conductor usually known as a 'Musikmeister' or even 'Obermusikmeister'. The size of the bands nearly always depended on the availability of talented musicians. Some small units could muster just a dozen or so musicians while other much larger formations (especially the fighter and bomber gruppes) might have 40-50 musicians (mostly professional but also some talented amateurs).
This new King & Country Luftwaffe Musikkorps has 22 marching musicians including woodwind, brass and percussion instruments. This allowed the band to perform marching music, fanfares and even some classical concert repertoire.
As can be seen in our photos all of these Luftwaffe Musikkorps musicians are wearing the distinctive blue-grey, Luftwaffe uniforms adorned with the distinctive 'Swallows Nests' on both shoulders. In addition, they wear their trousers tucked into tall black leather boots. Headgear for our band is the M35 Stalhelm (steel helmet) painted a pale blue / grey and decalled with the Luftwaffe eagle on the left side. Also included with this band is the regimental 'Schellenbaum' known in English as the 'jingling johnnie'. Although not a musical instrument it was a key feature of many German military bands.