Claudius

Great Bar! Quality piece. I hope it can be identified. It looks like this gentleman had interesting career and I would like to know who he was. I like the back side view as well!

Sooooo Stogieman.....do you have any Navy pilot or observer badges? :jumping:

Hello Avsar Ibar; Thank you for the warning. Are there any key clues in identifying fake Osmanies? What can you tell us about known qualities found on these fakes. Regards, Claudius

and the ?M3K, shouldn't that have a wreath device on the ribbon bar? Amen regarding those Hesse ribbons. The ribbon on my 5-medal bar is also severely faded. The bar: :love:

:o Is that the only thing you're asking about??? What is that tiny, white maltase cross below that formidable medal bar, about WNW of the circled breast badge?

I just so happen to have a copy of "For Valour"...two copies actually, one is for sale and... <<<just get on with it Claudius, nevermind the sales speech>>> Ahhh...no. Dobbelin is NOT listed in the alphabetical index. Sorry. He may have been in SWA, but he didn't get an EK1, EKII or wound badge in that theater. The photo is blurry. Is the date on the veteran pin 1894? One guess is that he served his time before the war in SWA and came back to fight WWI in Europe. Or as you suggest, someone pinned that on from a completely separate source to hide the swastika. tampering with history. Perhaps Dobbelin went to SWA and this is his veterans pin, but this isn't his bar. But yes, until proven otherwise keep it as it is. It's still a swell bar.

I'm lost here. Are the catalogue numbers above the 2006 A-T catalogue?, because they don't seem to correspond to the 4/2009 catalogue.

Hello Claudio; Yes, I agree it is sad when the charm of the old buildings is lost. It makes one appreciate what remains even more. Thank you for the photo. It looks like it was a beautiful day when you took it. I hope I can visit the city again. I understand the interest to rebuild these old buildings had accelerated since Re-Unification. I was in Berlin when there was a fa?ade of the Stadtschloss for display. I would love to see what they have done since in the former East Berlin area. It is painful to see how much was lost. The destruction of war, the lives lost and torn apart is appalling. It is because of it that my own wife can't quite understand my collecting interest. Even after explaining, it seems to her to be at best, a morbid fascination or at worst, latent jingoism. By birth I am a child of the Allied forces. When I travel abroad I am frequently called upon to account for my country?s actions in past conflicts. I'm asked, What did they teach me in elementary school about these wars and the people America fought against? I?m fine with the questions. I?m always glad to answer them the best I can. Most are surprised that we don't consider our victorious wars as glorious, or our generals as heroes. Instead, the ordinary soldier is honored on Veteran?s Day as someone that does his duty for his country. With the advent of Total War in the 20th century, the Pandora?s Box of horrors can seldom be held back. For our own past, America learned much about this progression during our own 1861-65 Civil War. A war, that taught many things. Not the least of these was, once it was unavoidable if the war would have been prosecuted earlier without ineptitude it would not have lasted four years and ultimately hundreds of thousands of lives. When an end could finally be grasped, it was only through harsh generals and harsher methods. Even today, there are those that can absolve the ?The War of Northern Aggression?(aka US Civil War), but they can?t forgive General William Tecumseh Sherman?s ?March to the Sea? and his burning of Atlanta, Georgia. His war philosophy, and I quote. ?War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.? Was it necessary to drop two atomic bombs on Japan? Did Hamburg have to be fire bombed? Was it necessary to use these weapons to stop this conflict? The Allies' opponents had already shown us; Pearl Harbor, the Rape of Nanking, London Terror bombing, and the genocide of Europe?s outcasts. These too were terrible events. What panacea would be considered too strong to end this war sooner? In WWII when the great governments fought, each with their hands around the other?s throat, trying to throttle the other, could the Allies have loosened their grip just as the Axis were failing? Of all the superlatives that come out during a war, ?self-restraint? is not among them. It is another reason why war should be avoided. Not in fear of what your enemy will do to you, but because in fear of what YOU (myself) will do to another human being. It is a brutalism that has to be retarded if there is to be a hope of being considered an enlightened culture. Kind Regards, Claudius

Don't forget the buyer's premium....more like 9800E. So don't worry, I won't be bidding against you. Last time I was in Dresden, I had a backpack on my back and the Frauenkirche was still mostly a pile of rocks, but the Zwinger was underway. How is the terrace now days?

I think Flak88 needs to speak up here...he is the one touting that his bar belonged to J?rgen Schmidt. Why, I don't know. However, at face value I believed him and all I wanted to do was take the 5 battle bar combination and find the unit the general was in and maybe some other details.

Spot on Ulsterman. I was trying to learn the General's unit for Flak88. Since then he put the bar up for sale. I looked in my copy of F-P War EK winner's book for J?rgen Schmidt but I couldn't find him. It sounds like you know the general's bio and can "flesh out" the details?

acknowledged.

Very nice. You are right, the patina is wonderful.

Greetings: Battle bars; Spichern, Beaune-La Rolande, Gravelotte - St. Privat, Beaumont, Sedan Thank you,

A wonderful bar. With Spring in the air, Claudius loves the roses. Thank you for your observations. It is interesting in this current world economic climate that a Schn?ppchen is still hard to find. I would think that slowing sales would be an incentive. Even Detlev has a little bit sitting on the shelves, and he already has low prices. Perhaps it is still too early. Over here initially, house prices refused to come down, even when they didn't sell. Now everyone is lowering price to make the deal. It appears to have been a great show. I wish I could have "flew over" and said hallo to everyone. Just some questions; It was just sold in 2007 and came back for sale already? The bar has a dark blue felt backing, but the group orginally consisted of an army wound badge, so not navy? Why did he have 13 button-hole ribbon "knopflochschleisfen"? Did he have 13 suits and just had them sitting in them? Yes, the person that split this group up would probably do the same to a Girard-Perregaux watch. :speechless:

Nice bar...congrats. :jumping:

The mounting on a bar is fairly common, but I've never seen the "window drape" treatment of the KDM before.

I will have to look at mine when I get home.

Genau. Until someone discovers the Rosetta Stone for this quadrat mark little can be said about its original purpose or use. Maybe someone who interest is in early 20th century German metal markings already discovered it, but who's society we are not familiar with. I think everyone knows that English silver/gold marks are a study in themselves with their own communities and forums.

:off topic: I've always found it singularly frustrating that the square punch mark has eluded identification. I have a badge as well with one. Very well made clich? and looks a lot like Richard Gordon's badge, but with the square punch on the pin.

Outstanding. An early EKI award to the airforce and St. Henry Order winner. Thank you Naoki Matsumoto.

:love: Wow....nice engraved EKs naoki matsumoto. However, they are hard to read. Can you lift the pins or read the engraving for us? -please. I really like the flieger one -naturally. Do you know anything about the recipient?

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Here are some better photos of my Death's Head Hussar insignia from a feldmutz. I mentioned on a different thread how this insignia along with several other were on the most decked out hate belt I've ever seen. The badges and coins and medals were attached to the belt for 70 years until a young, budding dealer bought it and took everything off (no, not me.) Although it did eliminated my decision to keep the belt intact or dismantle it. The only choice given to me was "Do I want to buy some of the items or not?." This was one of the items I bought. You may notice that there is a hole in the skull. While most of the other items were attached to the belt with care, this insignia received a frontal lobotomy.