Tony

The September 1915 pattern

Hello Chris, I think there were 4 types of official ID disc used by German soldiers during the Great War: The 1879 pattern which was quite basic and showed only unit, company and service number e.g. XII Res. 13 Res. J?g. 2. K. 331 The September 15 pattern which had more details such as name, address, unit and date of birth e.g. Adolf Bartel, Hainichen, Moltke Str. 573 C, 3.11.83, E.B. 131, JR 107, 6., 1373. The next pattern came out in about November 1916, the details stayed the same but they started using the kind of disc that can be broken in two. There is supposed to be a fourth pattern but I?ve never seen one and I think it probably never came off the drawing board. There are variations to the official discs, pictured are six 1879 discs, two of them have the soldier?s name, the bottom two are POW discs (so don?t really count) and they all vary slightly in size. Tony

The bag is already packed, just let us all know when

Should I expect an invite to view it? Do you have Euros down there in Bavaria?

Jim, How about this explanation for FPS: FPS - Federal Press Steel Company, Milwaukee, made 3, 6 and 7 inch cases. 3 inch sounds about right for your one. May be the 5 inch came from them too. Found it at this site http://home.hetnet.nl/~supersmit/ww1/stamps2.html Tony

Thanks for the comments, it is nice to know it's pukka! I wonder if there's a black box for the widow's cross. Don, I'll have to keep an eye out for more of them to see which way round the wreath is. Tony

Hello, I wasn?t sure where to put this, Imperial or 3rd Reich but here it is. Please move it, if it should be 3rd Reich. Is this cardboard box an official ?Pappetui? as opposed to the normal Treue um Treue cases? I?ve never really noticed them before and think I would have tried to splash out the extra 25 pfg. for the wooden case. Money must have really been tight back then. Tony

Thanks for that Dan! Tony

Hello, Can anyone work out which maker mark is on this EK? It's on the small eyelet ring and I've had mega difficulties trying to take the photo so please excuse the burry pic. It looks like WG K, or W& K to me. Any help or ideas are much appreciated. Thanks Tony

and the other side.

Finally found my one. Tony

Hello Jim, I don't know, hopefully someone else does. All I could 'guess' at is if Gunmod isn't the manufacturer, then maybe the shell was meant for a gun as opposed to a howitzer. Could 100 FPS be 100 feet per second? There was a case 75mm, model M1917, GUN which was of US manufacture. Tony

Cheers Steve, if I can't get the Euro version here I'll have to rent it out and watch it in a few weeks when over your side of the world. That'll please the wife. Tony

Nice site and good family history. My non relic and readable 18 pdr is from DB & Co., anyone know who they were? Tony

Kev, Have you tried sending a pm to Michael Johnson or Peter Monahan? I think they'd be your best bet even though I believe their main interest predates the Queen Victoria crown by about 25 years. It is a Queen Vic. Crown isn?t it? Tony (clueless)

No, no, no, no. I think Chris is correct

I've been searching my books trying to ID the markings but haven?t got far. The best I can do is PDP = Parc d'Artillerie de Place de Paris, the shell marking is a different matter as the best I could find was PE & Co. which is British. Couldn?t find anything for PE & M Co. Tony

Hello Steve, Thanks for all the info! About the patch ID, I'll go along with what you say about him being 13 ALH but on the photo the lighter half appears (to me) to be on the left as you look at it. If you have more info on the ALH please add it, also, if you know where I can get a copy of the film you mentioned please give me a shout. Tony

Hello, I have a Milit?rpass with an unusual entry. It looks to me as if the officer making the entry made a mistake with the year as I think it says ?wound badge received 25.8.17.? Surely this must be 1918 as I thought the wound badge wasn?t instituted till March 1918. According to the pass, the soldier wasn?t wounded till 8.12.17 but I know he was also wounded at Verdun in 1916 and again near Passchendaele in October 1917 although only in the hand. He was captured in October 1918 and the only pre 1939 photo of him with a wound badge was taken in 1921, with the cut out type which he probably borrowed for the photo. Do date/year mistakes often crop up? I don?t have many German documents to check. Tony

Hello Rick, The photographer probably said "watch the birdie, ahhhhhhh where's yer hat." The offending soldier snatched it and put it on the wrong way. One of them in that photo is called Otto, don't know which one though. May have also been taken in Munsterlager, I've had my photo taken there too. Nice place for photos. Tony

Pic 2. Thanks Tony Ooops, think this should have gone in the Imperial German Uniforms & Equipment forum.

Hello all, I have a two questions regarding these SWA photos I found while looking for something else which I incidentally didn?t find (isn't it always the way). I?ve had the photo years and years and have never really wondered about them but, can anyone tell from the uniforms on the photo with the bike when they may have been taken? The tunics are corduroy. The second photo has a Munsterlager stamp and a date of 14.4.05. Is the man standing with the pistol wearing his hat the wrong way round? The others have the turned up brim on the opposite side. Tony

You need to pop along to the PRO at Kew one afternoon after taking Whiskey out for his walk and look up the "ships' movements cards" (BT 389 I think). My step-grandfather was a merchant seaman who was nabbed/volunteered as a TX 124 man, I have the details for the ships he was on before he became TX 124. They show each port of call. Tony

Hello Jef, Those buckles are interesting, I?ve never seen Great War leather equipment close up and always thought the snake would look simpler than that. Probably because I had one on my belt when I was little and remember it being quite plain. I found a couple of sites showing buckles, the first one is a free mason site which shows a picture of a 16th century snake buckle from Colchester http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/symbolism/apron_...s/uniforms.html and the second is a Napoleonic re-enactment site selling these buckles http://www.re-enactmentshop.com/napoleontisch.htm If they have been in use with the British army over at the last 200 years at least, I would imagine there were many different local buckle manufacturers from wherever British soldiers were stationed. I wonder if the Indian, Canadian, Oz, NZ, or SA troops wore the snake hook buckle too. Tony

Hello Oddball, I could just say we were better but I've seen German TV programmes where former Luftwaffe pilots were of the opinion that the RAF pilot was better trained, even though they had formation problems. We mustn't forget that the majority of these pilots were defending their country against an invader and others (from countries already overrun by Germany) who had probably already lost everything they held dear, may have just wanted to kill Germans. The Commonwealth has a number of countries where the men are well known for their bravery too; Oz, Canada, NZ etc. All that probably made them go that little extra and out perform the Luftwaffe. Also, I think Germans (not the aircrews) may have thought they were on a high and that no one could stop them. Never underestimate the enemy. Tony