A Fine Honour Goblet Luftwaffe Group To Unteroffizier Lassow; Kampfgruppe 806

An excellent example of the Luftwaffe Honour Goblet (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe). In Alpaca, with maker markings of Johann Wagner &Sohn, engraved “Unteroffizier Herbert Lassow AM 26.10.42”; the obverse depicts two eagles in combat while the reverse bears an Iron Cross in high relief; pleasing patina from age without dents; measuring 20.7 cm tall; extremely fine condition. Honour Goblet Award Document (dated October 26, 1942, inscribed "Ich verleihe dem Unteroffizier Herbert Lassow in Anerkennung seiner hervorrangenden Tapferkeit und der besonderen Erfolge als Kampfflieger den Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg / Hauptquartier des Ob.d.L., den 26 Oktober 1942 / Der Reichsminister der Luftfahrt und Oberbesehlshaber der Luftwaffe", printed signature of Reishsmarschall Göring, inscribed "Die erfolgte Verleihung wird beglaubigt: / Der Chef des Luftwaffenpersonalamts" at the lower right, with the faded signature of the "General der Flieger" (Air General), embossed Luftwaffe seal at the lower left, in a 220 mm x 305 mm frame under glass, easel backed); Bomber Pilot Badge, Gold Grade (two-piece construction, tombac, silvered insignia on a gilt base, unmarked, 25.5 mm x 75.8 mm, horizontal pinback, in its hardshelled case of issue, marked "Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger / gold" on the lid, slotted medal bed); Bomber Pilot Badge, Silver Grade (two-piece construction, silvered tombac, unmarked, 25.5 mm x 76 mm, horizontal pinback, in its hardshelled case of issue, marked "Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger / silber" on the lid, slotted medal bed); Bomber Pilot Badge, Bronze Grade (two-piece construction, tombac, silvered insignia on a bronzed base, unmarked, 25.5 mm x 76 mm, horizontal pinback, in its hardshelled case of issue, marked "Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger / bronze" on the lid, slotted medal bed); Luftwaffe Great Fighter School of Warsaw Plaque (hand-engraved Luffwaffe eagle insignia above an aluminum plate inscribed "GROSSE KAMPFFLIEGERSCHULE WARSCHAU GEFR. LIASSOW, 2 Schüko" (The Great Fighter School of Warsaw), both items mounted to a black-painted finished wooden plaque, 200 mm x 255 mm, loop on the reverse for wall hanging); Photo Album (simulated leather-bound cover, with twenty-four pages, containing 179 photographs and 3 postcards, with titles and subtitles in white china marker, inscribed in pencil "Zur Erinnerung an meine Dienstzeit" (In Memory of My Service) on the inside front cover, the photos taken between January 1940 and January 1942, illustrating airmen and officers (in the field and in aircraft, in both summer and winter settings, in towns, on a beach, in a bunk house, lining up for dinner, aboard trains and in boxcars, at a Luftwaffe swearing in ceremony at Magdeburg-Ost on January 18, 1940, participating in a funeral procession and at gravesites, at Dillenburg with a group of airmen celebrating & drinking champagne and holding a sign inscribed "Wir gratulieren zum 100 Feindflug" (Congratulations on the 100th Combat Flight)), along with aircraft (flight-worthy, damaged and crashed), cars, armoured vehicles, a battery wagon, a section entitled "Polish Culture", taken in Posen, Insterburg, Iwangorod, Stettin, and Gotenhafen, illustrating street scenes, with men and women, a citadel, gothic buildings, the Immelmann Barracks, with a special section devoted Warsaw, described as "Paris des Ostens" (Paris of the East) showing street scenes and bombed out buildings in the Jewish quarter, on the island of Rügen on the Baltic Sea, at the recently completed Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland, at Riga, Latvia, at Kuusiku, Estonia, along with aerial views of bombed fields on the Russian occupied island of Osel, Estonia and Reishsmarschall Göring in Catania, Sicily taken on January 30, 1942, plus a few family photos. The photos are held in place with the use of photo corners, the album bound by a brown string fed through two drilled holes with reinforcing eyelets and tied in a knot at the front, 235 mm x 330 mm x 28 mm, some photos are loose, wear evident on the cover).

Footnote: Unteroffizier Herbert Lassow was a German Luftwaffe radio operator operating solely on the eastern front in the Küstenfliegergruppe 806/Kampfgruppe 806. He graduated flying school on January 18, 1940 and was presumed missing in October 1942, after he and his crew did not return following an air mission. He flew with a crew consisting of Lieutenant Ingo Menny, Major Kurt Stein and Unteroffizier Gerhard Lang in a Junkers Ju 88 A-4 multi-role aircraft, and although official records about Lassow’s disappearance are not available, Menny, Stein, and Lang were declared KIA near Valetta/Malta on October 12, 1942, after taking heavy enemy fire following the raid of the Hal Fal airfield. Although the Ju 88 was one of the Luftwaffe’s most important assets during the entirety of the war, as it was suitable as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and as a heavy fighter, the A-4 type was equipped with longer wings and a reinforced under carriage, making it vulnerable to fighter interception due to its slow maneuverability. Together, Unteroffizier Lassow flew over 100 air missions between 1940-1942, with great success, as is demonstrated by Lassow’s extensive collection of awards [C104].