Naxos

Last, this medal travelled a long way. It came from Swakopmund, Namibia

I had the ribbon bar without the medal for a long time. It belonged to a Baden man who served in German-East-Africa. Finally, I was able to acquire the right medal for it. It gave me great pleasure to re-unit the bar with a medal.

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I have seen many different colonial medals some are coarse lacking in detail others display a cartoon like image of the Wilhelm II. Have a look at the beauty of an awarded original 1912 colonial medal.

With his tank engagements he meets the requirements for the award

"Tankabzeichen" = unusual name of Kampfwagen-Erinnerungsabzeichen

It is the King's monogram - Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and German Kaiser The crown prince supported the bestowal of the badge but Wilhelm II never officially approved it.

With thye better scan I was able to read it now but the man's handwriting is difficult to deceipher when it comes to his last name Greetings to you all is sending Fl. (stands for pilot) His first name is the initial "A" I can't make out the man's last name - it starts with Klem ... and ends with a "g"

Liebe Eltern und Geschwister Sende Euch schönste Sonntags Grüsse aus Posen - das ist der Freiherr v. Richthofen der hat bis heute 56 feindliche Gegner abgeschossen. Mit Gruss an Euch alle sendet Fl. A. Klem...g Dear parents and siblings! I'm sending you the best Sunday greetings from Posen - that is the Baron von Richthofen he has up to now 56 enemy opponents shot-down. Greetings to you all from Flieger A Klem....g

Good questions Gilles The fact that I acquired them two weeks ago at a town near Wetzlar Germany makes that a strong possibility. Well, they do kind of look Army like - but in reality, for all I know, they could have been worn by the Portier of the Hotel Sacher or a conductor of a Stassenbahn in Hesse. . .

I believe these pics of a different sleeve-badge illustrate the way they were attached to the sleeve. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-1062-0-32193600-1341786971.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_07_2012/post-1062-0-32987900-1341787003.jpg

... and the remains of fabric on the back.

close-up - note the vaulted shape

more pics

I have these sleeve badges - I have been told by the former owner that they are from a WWI (or shortly after) uniform. Who has ever seen this kind of badges before? What could they mean? I added a Krimschild for size comparison

The term: Alte Garde is in German often used to describe the ones that fought together and remain loyal to the cause. Dave, I think this cross referred to as Ehrenkreuz der Alten Garde: http://www.antique-p...e-soldiers.html

Very nice images!

Beautiful medal bar!

It means: original badge :cheers:

Meine Ordensschnalle Max von K. or Max von R.

Hello Berzotti, welcome to the forum! Nice original black wound badge.

Sorry Christophe, I would be guessing - ... perhaps Bernhard Holst can read the name

... not Sütterlin just very poor penmanship. It appears the man is in basic training and has little time to write a letter and when he had the opportunity to write, he wrote about the little time he has to write. Lieber Hein Leider komme ich sehr wenig zum schreiben. Bin seit 8 Tagen beim Z – ? und mach fast ? Wenn wir nicht exerzieren , dann gehen wir auf die ?...mal. Also woher die Zeit zum schreiben. Bla, blabla, bla... Herzliche Grüsse an Dich und deine Familie dein A. ?

The uniform is Hungarian dating to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The picture was taken by the photographer DIVALD KÁROLY fia in the Hungarian town of Esperjes around the beginning of World War I. Post it in the Austro-Hungarian section and the Gentlemen there can give you better info on the date and type of uniform.

could you post the tag?