Weimar era Veteran's medal bar

[Bob Hunter]

I hope Rick Research will jump in here and comment on the early appearance of the Bulgarian award. Is there anything known of Reserve Infantry Regiment 64?

Edited July 15, 2005 by Bob Hunter

[Stogieman]

Where the heck is HWSNBN'd when you need him?? See the thing is... Neither of the twins had seen a WW1 Bulgarian Bravery Cross mounted up pre-'34/'35.... But "The Evil One" himself should be expanding this subject!

[Guest Rick Research]

I had a trio of EK2 1914, Bremen Hanseatic, and the Bulgarian SCFB 4th Class but it was... dingy... and I sold it in part of the Great Imperial Sell Off of circa 1995 when I diverted into Soviet.

Of course, ex-Oberj?ger Schrall was wearing ditto in the 1920s too (crosses alas are NOT original to busted eGermany group, displayed on hook back only):

[attachmentid=6298]

It's hard to imagine that these, let's face it, UGLY, crude little cast-and-filed looking crappy base metal Bulgarian cra...wards were SUPPOSED to mimic the four grades of the Russian Crosses of Saint George!

It may surprise you to know that Reserve Infantry Regiment 64 was in the 1st GUARD Reserve Division throughout the entire war-- so it is entirely possible that THIS man killed my Svensk/Australian great-uncle Karl in September 1918. (Booooo! Hiiiisssssssss!)

1GRD served in Belgium in August 1914 but were sent in all haste to the Russian front in September 1914, fighting at Lodz. In 1915 it served north of the Vistula River (of Napoleonic horrors) and around Smorgony, before returning to France in October 1915 to fight around Cambrai.

1916 saw the division in the Artois and then fed into the Somme, being smashed up badly betwee Belloy and Barleux.

1917 it shuttled back and forth from the Artois and the Somme, in Flanders, at Lens. Lens did for RIR 64, which British intelligence wrote off as "particularly exhausted."

And on through 1917 and 1918.

At no point AS A DIVISION were they ever anywhere NEAR Bulgarians, so I think your man may have been among the Alsatians shipped to the Russian Front en masse in 1916 to prevent defections in the West (similarly, Poles considered unreliable were sent West).

He probably picked his "best" unit for the Treu dem Regiment.

[Bob Hunter]

I've been thinking (which is something I should not do without good adult supervision) about that veteran's medal bar and why there are no crossed swords or campaign clasps on the Kyffh?user ribbon. My guess is that on this particular rig the medal was mounted higher up on the bar so as to line up with bottoms of the other medals. By doing that it makes it impossible to mount swords or campaign clasps in the space remaining above the medal. The work around is a taller bar but that was not to be in this case.

[Guest Rick Research]

Mayyyyyyyybe. BUT-- the Kyffh?userbund medals were around in 1922...

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but the campaign bars seem to have been added circa 1930.

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Notice that this award document states it is ADDING the two campaign bars to his medal.

[Stogieman]

That's interesting...... I did not realize the bars were an after-thought. the Swords for this piece were very distinctive and different from the atypical Pre/Post 1918 era swords. Rather ugly, actually!

[HeikoGrusdat]

the earliest award document for the Kyffh?user campaign clasps that I have was given 1927... most of them are from 1930, 31, 32... interesting is that all the campaign bar docs in my collection that are dated before 1930 are for veterans associations in SAXONY.... don`t know why?!

Heiko

[Stogieman]

Heiko! Welcome to the Forum! The BEST Imperial forum on the web (in english)

[HeikoGrusdat]

thanks for your welcome

I don`t know if it is the best forum, but one thing I can say : it is the forum with the two most crazy and most knowing Ricks in the world.... that`s the point!!!!

greetings

Heiko