Glenn J

The general on the left (the older of the two) is Generalleutnant William Balck. Regards Glenn

You have a very nice portrait of Generalmajor Hermann von der Lancken, commandant of Thorn circa 1913. Regards Glenn

Major Joseph Steuer. Regards Glenn

Chris, I don't believe any Ranglisten have yet been digitized there. This however will take you to the Stammrollen. Regards Glenn Stammrollen

Hi David, I am not sure the field officers' epaulettes could belong to a Major in the RFJK. In peacetime the highest rank held was that of a Premier-Lieutenant/Oberleutnant. Both the Chief and Commander of the Corps were General officers. There were no field officers on the establishment. Regards Glenn

John, from what you say above, I assume you have an ancestry account? Your Karl Leister is the entry with a date of birth of 30 June 1893 in Landau. He survived the war and left the Bavarian Army as an Oberleutnant. Attached below, one of the more readable entries detailing his earlier career. Regards Glenn

If we assume that he is indeed an Oberstabsarzt as Bayern suggests and that, does appear to be a staff of Aesculapius on the nearest shoulder board, then we are looking at a Saxon Landwehr or reserve medical officer in the rank of major. To my reckoning, some 13 Saxon medical officers received the Knight's Cross of the Saxon Order of Saint Henry. Of these, twelve were further decorated with an Albrechts Order Knight's Cross 1st Class with Swords and Crown. As far as I can ascertain only Oberstabsarzt der Landwehr Dr. Louis Geyer also held the Saxon Meiningen Honour Cross for Merit in wartime. He additionally also had the Landwehr Long service decoration 1st class. Regards Glenn

He is a Saxon: St. Heinrich Ritterkreuz St. Albrecht Ritterkreuz with Crown and Swords Saxon-Meiningen Honour Cross Saxon Landwehr Long service decoration 1st Class Regards Glenn

Hello Marcin, from the Offizier-Stammliste of Leib-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 8. Regards Glenn

Chris, generally speaking, the infantry of all contingents wore black waistbelts. There were some exceptions: the grenadier battalions of the guards infantry and line grenadier regiments wore white. Prussian and Saxon machine gun detachments wore brown waist belts, the Bavarians black. Jäger battalions wore black. The mounted arms were a bit more varied according to contingent but apart from the Jäger-Regimenter zu Pferde which wore brown, would wear white or black. Regards Glenn

That is absolutely not the case. Certainly before the turn of the century most officers posted to train formations were former cavalry and artillery officers and in fact the original commanders of Train-Bataillonen were field artillery officers. However just a quick glance at the 1914 "Vollständige Dienstaltersliste" shows that all Train Oberleunants (with one single exception) and Leutnants were directly commissioned into the Train branch as indeed were the majority of the Rittmeister. Regards Glenn

Gordon, this from the Offizier-Stammliste of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 68. I assume you are OK with the German language. Regards Glenn

Andy, a little earlier. From a Ruhl booklet, this gives the situation in 1906. Regards Glenn

The gentleman is Generalleutnant Eginard Eschborn, long-time commander in WW1 of Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 21. I don't immediately recognise the cross but here is a close up. Regards Glenn

Hi Chris, yes, he did have a BMVO. In fact in the photograph he is wearing both the BMV2 and BMV2X plus the BMVO. Regards Glenn