History

Within the Luftwaffe, women were only permitted to serve as civilian employees. After the Second World War began men in clerical roles were moved to the front line and women were moved into clerical and office duties, as well as non-combative roles. They were still considered civilian employees in these roles and were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms.

Prior to 1940, the uniforms worn by women serving in the Luftwaffe were not coordinated across all divisions, sometimes the women were even provided with male uniform pieces. In 1940, specific regulations concerning the uniforms and insignia of the Luftnachrichten-Helferinnenschaft (Ln-Helferinnen), Female Air Signals Assistance Service, were introduced. The same basic uniform was worn by women in the Luftschutzwarndienst (Ls-Warndienst-Helferinnenschaft/Air Raid Warning Service), and by the Flakwaffenhelferinnen (Falkhelferin/Anti-Aircraft Auxiliary), after their official establishment in 1943. These different groups were differentiated by the insignia they wore on the uniform tops.

The rank titles were prefixed with "Ln. Flum." for female personnel within the Flugmeldedienst (Flight Reporting Service), and with "LN-Betriebs-" for female personnel within the Fernsprech-, Fernschreib- und Funkbetriebsdienst (Telephone, Teletype, and Radio Service).

The chevrons worn by female auxiliaries in the Luftwaffe were formally introduced in July 1941. Like the chevrons worn by their male counterparts, these chevrons were worn on the upper left sleeve of the female auxiliary jacket or winter jacket.

These chevrons were generally sewn onto a blue-grey wool backing and composed of silver-coloured (aluminum) tress.

These chevron insignias were also known as sleeve ratings.

The Oberhelferin chevron insignia features two stacked chevrons.