Meet The Major!

[Stogieman]

This wonderful group was sold by one of our german friends a few weeks back.... described as "Medal bar & Photos of a Major" (only)... But sometimes, you get lucky. In a scrawl on the backs of several photos, we are able to ID (& confirm) him as Major Alfred Meyer-Vogt of Foot Artillery Regiment 20!

[Stogieman]

Our Major racked up an impressive group of awards during WW1... Both Classes of the Prussian EK2, both classes of the Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross, a pair of Hanseatic Crosses, etc. Not bad for a Battalion Commander! Our Major resigned his commission and abruptly left the service before New Year's Day, 1919. Here's where it gets interesting..... How frugal can you be??

[Stogieman]

Here's the reverse of his medal bar:

[Stogieman]

Not the same bar you say??

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Well, thanks to the miracles of modern scanning technology.......... and to the astonishing technical expertise of Amazing Ricky Vision? the (real) "Evil Twin" shows this shocking revelation!!

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El Cheapo simply INSERTED his two postwar awards onto his wartime medal bar seen here!

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[Stogieman]

But wait! There's more!! Not only his bar, his photo, but an astonishing group of portraits...... as well!

PROOF that he was...

Jesse Jackson's daddy!

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[Laurence Strong]

Nice Bar, cool to be able to ID it.

[Bob Hunter]

I always wonder about abrupt resignations. Did he get caught with the Regimental Commander's wife? Was he found pilfering silver from the officer's mess. Or was he just lucky enough to have powerful enemies?

What is with this 'technology' stuff? We all know the Evil One uses the black arts exclusively and has no need of our puny technology.

[Guest Rick Research]

Au contraire mes fr?res, The GOOD Ricky needs no Dark Arts. His Evilness has moved on, so I shall continue anon with a few more.

Portrait from March 1918:

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December 1917:

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Most of the immediate resignation types post-war simply refused to serve the new Republic and would not swear allegiance to it.

Alfred Meyer (he appears as Meyer-Vogt in the Honor Rank List of 1926 but as "Meyer" during Lists up to 1918) was originally in Foot Artillery Regiment 11, transferring to the newly created Foot Artillery Regiment 20 in 1913

Selondeleutnant vorpatentiert 18.8.95 B16b

Oberleutnant 13.9.06 M

Hauptmann 1.10.12 V16v

Major 20.9.18 (seniority within that date unknown due to his resignation)

He was Adjutant of the IInd Battalion and eventually Regimental Adjutant of Fssart Regt 11.

But wait! There's MORE!

[Guest Rick Research]

On nights when the regimental commander was out of town, The Boys got up to...

hijinks

Let's just call this Fun Bunch...

the 11th Foot Artillery Village People!

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Himself on the left in the most ummmm "correct" uniform--an infantry private with broken Pickelhaube, uh huh. (Adjutants Just Wanna Have Fun)

But, among his pals Cheech, the Bearded Lady From The Circus, et al check out the altered insignia on the naughtily cross-services-dressed naval petty officer monkey jacketed sailor at far right. Guy above has a correct sleeve rank badge, but what the @#*& is THIS guy wearing across from his Kaiserpreis??? A running ROOSTER facing backwards?

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PS This explains some of those screwed up uniforms we encounter that look "old" doesn't it?

PPS But Wait! There's MORE! But His Evilness left before I could scan a pre-war full dress (1897 Medal showing edge on) profile in ball top artillery Pickelhaube portrait, a number in pre-war double breasted "Rock" tunics, on horseback, etc. These are it from me today.

[joe campbell]

HOOOOO-WEEE,

YOU RICKS IS CRAY-ZEE!!!!!!!!!

evil or no, yer always in for a ride

with these boys....

seriously, these are GREAT pix and the medal bar to a

mover and shaker is most impressive.

and thanks for the humor, as well!!

well done.

joe

[Bob Hunter]

...and astute researchers continue to gather evidence supporting the rather disturbing connection between cat hair and brain damage.

...and I think he resembles Reggie a bit more than Jesse.

In any event it is a wonderful bar and photo group!

Edited August 25, 2005 by Bob Hunter

[Guest Rick Research]

Disturbing thought, Bob. Must investigate whether Jesse and Reggie (e-double consonants-ends in "ee" sound names, coincidence, I think NOT) were ALSO Twins Separated At Birth. No question there about which one is Good/Evil however.

At least Meyer-Vogt isn't the one in the Graham Chapman "butter or dead crab" lady costume!

[don]

Well...Did this guy die of old age or what? Is there more to this story

Tell us

don

[Guest Rick Research]

He was alive in 1926. That's where the trail ends... so far.

But among the deeply significant things we learn from this group is that, based on the "shine" on his "Christmas 1918" dated portrait with 6 medal bar, untouched when the two post war awards were slid on...

the "radiator paint" silver finished Hamburg Hanseatic Crosses we often supposed to be 1930s replacements are, in fact, actual wartime pieces.

Tain't often we can match an exact photo with an exact medal bar with an exact date. Here's to Alfred!

[Bob Hunter]

I'm looking at the photo in post # 8 and wondering about the Major's boots. Are the uppers patent leather and the bottoms regular leather? Note the difference in shine...or maybe his orderly is about to be court martialed!

[Guest Rick Research]

Two-tones, Bob! Didn'tcha ever hear of a

RHEINstone cowboy?

[landsknechte]

Two-tones, Bob! Didn'tcha ever hear of a

RHEINstone cowboy? 

←

*Twitch*

That has to be the single most painful pun that I have come across in quite some time. Coming from me, that's saying something.

[Bob Hunter]

Ah, HA! I have the mighty learned one in geographical pun voiding conundrum...the Rhein flows nowhere near Saxony...or South Bronx!