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My 76 year old widowed neighbor has expressed some interest in locating her father's service records. He flew in the Luftwaffe and was shot down in late April 1943 and was listed as KIA. This is all that she knows about his passing.

I am ready and able to help her all that I can but I have not had too much luck during my initial search for Luftwaffe records. The German Embassy has not responded to any of my three requests so I sure hope that you can point us in the right direction. She was 2 1/2 years old when he died, but did not emigrate to Canada until 1965, so she speaks and writes both English and German languages very well.

I have included a photo of some sort of registration card. His name is Ogefr Walter Schumann.

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  • Welcome to G&FH SE! Please don't be offended that I have removed your neighbour's name from your question. For anyone born less than 100 years ago we need to be mindful of the privacy policy in the help center.
    – PolyGeo
    Aug 28, 2017 at 21:17

1 Answer 1

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The service record should be available from Deutschen Dienststelle (WASt). This is your primary source for this kind of requests. Please see details for making a request here: Finding information on German soldiers from World War I and World War II?. Your neighbor is entitled to make the request. On the form (https://www.dd-wast.de/en/tracing-request/private-matters-research.html) she should pick all options as “purpose”. If you have questions, simply add them as a comment to my answer, I am happy to help.

I did not find him on this private site: Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, but he is possibly listed here as missing in action near Bou Arada (Tunisia).

The document you included is a certificate stating which planes Walter Schumann was allowed to fly.

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    It may not be obvious to everyone that Ogefr is actually a rank, Obergefreiter, roughly equivalent, according to Wikipedia to Private First Class. The document and rank presumably date from the very beginning of his flying career as the Gotha and Arado types referred to seem to both be trainers.
    – AdrianB38
    Aug 29, 2017 at 9:52

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