Tony

Christian, The letter on the back states where the plaque was cast; the first one were cast at Acton but I believe this soon changed to Woolwich (Woolwich Arsenal). I've never seen a plaque with A on the reverse, the WA mark is much more common. The number between the back legs or between the leg and tail indicates the workman responsible for applying the name to the plaque. Tony

I bought one of those converted 1914 EKII/EKIs a while back. The seller said afterwards that it came from his family and belonged to a musician relative, he had no idea of what his relative did to receive it and thought it strange that a musician could be awarded an EK. I assumed he would have been acting as a stretcher bearer. Tony

All I can add is that I think the pointed cuffs date the photo to pre 1902. Tony

Hello Micha, Very nice bargain. Shame I didn't look at which forum I was in beforehand and got excited too quickly. A very lucky find. Cheers Tony

That's the kind of flowerpot stand I'd like, it would match the my French helmet hanging flower basket.

Could ROFRI be Robert Friedrichs GmbH? The company was established in 1930. http://www.rofri.de/Firmenprofil/firmenprofil.html Tony

Nice one John! My father-in-law had one too and used it almost every day till he died. He laughed me out of the living room when I told him how much it would cost to replace it (he wouldn't give it to me and I think it was buried with him as it's gone). There's a similar sort of spike on the British clasp knife too, like you, I don't know what it's used for. Tony

A cracking collection you have there. The photo of H P Lale and his mates reminds me of Biggles, I'd love to have something like that. And his awards and the others and ...... Tony

And the other side

There was a thread on these but I can't find it. Here's a pic of a packet, the cross only has'For Kultur' on it. Tony

Didn't the M42 modelo Z have a bracket welded to the front? I think the pre M42 helmets (or civil war Modelo Z) used by the Spanish were minus the badge bracket. Just remembered this site http://www.cascoscoleccion.com/espana/espana.htm Tony

Nothing new there for you then.

Here he is http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/conte...DB8DC4E2303CB46 Buried at Rancourt just south of Sailly Saillisel, still.

A British map from June 1916 showing German trenches. Bayern Wood is at the top in the middle. Tony

Slightly off topic but here are the last two entries in the diary of a British soldier who took a stroll towards the German lines on July 1st. He fought RIR 91 and RIR 55 a few km to the north. The attack was cancelled due to rain but cleared for the deaths of these two soldiers.

During the night from 26th ? 27th June, parts of RIR 6 joined IR 62 in the front line. From 29 ? 30 June, Bavarian RIR 6 was sent in to relieve members of regiments 62 and 63, some of whom had been under heavy allied artillery fire for the past 18 days. Bavarian Reserve Inf. Regt. 6 was part of the 12 Infantry Division and would have been south of Bayern Wood going by the map.

Ooooh yes, well worth a deeper dig. I'm wondering if that's Sailly Saillisel, the place I like to visit each June/July.

Hello, I wasn't going to make any comment here as this isn't my collecting area but, would like to add something my father-in-law once said. We were chatting about this and that and I asked him a general question about armbands, he mentioned having a printed version in the HJ. Unfortunately he couldn't remember what the other boys had, maybe he was the only one with a printed version, maybe his memory was playing tricks, he was 58 years old at the time and hadn't been a member of the HJ for about 41 years. Tony

Leigh, Wasn't it you who had a length or two of cloth wounded stripes? Tony

Thanks again everyone but, why can't I find his MIC at the PRO/National Archives site? Tony

Peter, If you would like scans from the old illustrated Cologne newspaper I have, just give me a shout. Tony

I read somewhere online that Canada reinstated a cloth version in the 90s. Can anyone confirm this? Tony

It says he is buried in the war cemetery at Champigny-St Andre and gives the exact position of his grave. Tony

Caen Tony

Probably a set piece photo