Medal bar ID: An "Anonymous" Kriegsmarine Admiral

[P.F.]

Medal bar purchased recently, ID'ed as belonging to Admiral Werner Fuchs.

I cannot get the picture uploaded as it is too big and nothing else seems to be working... so i am pasting the link to the meal bar, which i was able to upload on another forum.

Let me know your thoughts

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...light=medal+bar

Best regards

[Paul C]

His bio and wartime postings plus a pic are in the book "Die Kriegsmarine 1939-1945 Volume III" by Hildebrand/Lohmann.

[Naxos]

His Bio: http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRMACH...CHS_WERNER.html

BTW it's Luftkrieg there is no such word as Luftkreig

Edited November 3, 2008 by Naxos

[Guest Rick Research]

Please post scans here. Aside from the obvious reasons why I never go there, anyone who isn't a paying member there cannot view scans, so a link is no good to everyone who isn't.

I've had Fuchs material scanned and waitin' here. :ninja:

[dond]

For Luftkrieg.

[Naxos]

Back

[Guest Rick Research]

Ahhhhh. Thanks Don!

Here he is (Admiral Fuchs, not Don)--

Naughty man hiding his ribbon bar!

However, this is a MARVELOUS identification case because the WW1 trio of awards-- EK2, BMV4X, and OK2 are NOT--in themselves--at ALL unique or distinctive.

Here is Fuchs' entry from the 1918 Navy Rank List:

Which confirms that trio... but then it is avery COMMON trio-- and my first thought when luftkreig mentioned this bar to me was: Marine Infantry. Note that Richard Schreiber below Fuchs has exactly the same medal bar awards.

BUT

The crucial identification elements are the OTHER awards on the medal bar. :catjava:

[Guest Rick Research]

My second thought-- this is how Research Gnomes "process" clues--was that the then-still not ID'd original owner was an OLD guy, with an Imperial XXV replaced by the 2 Wehrmacht long services... because of the Desk Job 1939 KVK2X.

But the key to WEHRMACHT identifications is REICHSWEHR Rank Lists. This is a navy combination, and the navy blue backing (which is why I always say: Show Me The Back when bars are posted for IDs) confirmed that...

So I flipped through Reichsmarine lists. Here was Fuchs in 1931:

To my surprise, the common EK-BMV4X-OK2 trio was... NOT at all common for officers who had the continuous active duty that ended up with Wehrmacht 25 years service crosses. The only other officers with these three WW1 awards had OTHER awards-- so they could be excluded.

So what was a young guy like Fuchs-- the ONLY remaining suspect-- doing with a rear area KVK2X? :Cat-Scratch:

[Guest Rick Research]

NEXT step: off to the ESSENTIAL Hildebrand "Deutschlands Admirale" biographies published by Biblio Verlag.

? here is Fuchs' entry, page 1

and page 2

AHA !!!!

While not exactly a household name, Werner Fuchs-- full Admiral zur See (same as a 2 pip General der Infanterie etc) was one of the most senior and certainly most important admirals in the Kriegsmarine:

although he never heard a shot fired, although he didn't get a Spange to his EK2...

he was the director of naval shipbuilding for the entire war-- and a recipient of the rare German Cross in Silver...

and the even rarer Knight's Cross with Swords of the War Merit Cross

and THAT is why he "only" has a KVK2X on his medal bar!

I would be hard pressed to remember a more significant leader of the Third Reich's war effort than Fuchs whose "anonymous" medal bar has turned up in... decades.

Congratulations to luftkreig! :cheers:

[Guest Rick Research]

So the identification process went like this:

1) must match WW1 awards trio

2) must match Wehrmacht 25 years service by 1939

3) navy

4) KVK2X and not a frontline type in WW2

The EASY part was... there were no other matches. There is nothing worse than finding... 1 of 2, either/or.

:cheers:

[P.F.]

My thanks to Paul C, Dond, and especially Rick!!

I was having trouble posting pics here as the image was too big, so thank you Dond!

Rick, many thanks for the breakdown and for ID'ing my bar! My bar remains "Anonymous" no longer i believe!

Best regards to you all

Pierce