Chris Boonzaier

To be honest... I do not know. And unless it is from a Vet, I am not sure anyone does. GIs probably took tens of thousands of the things over there during the war... I remember in Paris in the early 90s, I was on leave and they had Vietnam engtaved Zippos all over the place, in Surplas stores, in chique cloting stores.... all Vietnam era dated... I am assuming that if an unengraved Zippo is found inVietnam, it is engraved within the next 24 hours.... and reaslitically... is there any way of telling when it was engraved?

The problem there is that Zippos have a date code on the bottom, so if there is a Desert Storm design with a 1994 dated Zippo then you know it is not good. Added to that, it would be financially not interessting for them to stock them "just in case" someone comes by 30 years later for an "Op Granby" one. You risk producing 50 extra "Op Granby" Zippos and selling only 3-4 of them over the next couple of decades because most people would not think of going directly to the factory, but would probably go to ebay to get one. I am thinking generic Military designs are kept in stock, stuff they know has always sold well and always will... e.g. USMC, or 1st Cav design, or US Jump wings.... there will always be a need for that....

I am of course a big fan of the Bavarian Leib Regiment. I have read arguments for it to be translated as "Body Regiment" ... but I think this is splitting hairs and trying too hard to make direct translations from German to English. Maybe the thrust should not be an accurate translation, but rather the spirit of the unit? The Bavarian Leib Regiment was a Guard Regiment. It guarded the Royal family and their residences... and the standard sentence on the Leib Regiment Reservist Beermugs is "The Regiment that calls itsef "the Garde"" . As one German reference wrote, the Bavarians had a big enough army to justify a Garde Division but the King chose to limit the function to the Leib Regiment.

For some time I have been meaning to get a wartime Bavarian Officers Pickelhaube... and thought I had found the perfect one..... Check out what happened when UPS damaged the box.... 😞 Does anyone know what I can to to prevent more splintering off the damaged area?

Hi, the only thing that worries me a bit are the shade of blue, but that is probably due to the lighting... can you take an outside pic?

Ahhhh... Thanks, for some reason the "W" threw me off.

Indeed. The helmet is not a one looker, but I am very certain of the name inside it... so I had turned down a number of one lookers over the last few years and tended towards this because it had a name to an (initially) obscure officer... I E-showed it to a guy who really knows his stuff to get all the pros and cons... We all know how it is... anything that could raise a question is bad in this hobby and I wanted to take everything into account. Here are the "things to think about" 1) The Helmet is for a regular officer and not reserve, ie. no Landwehr Cross. 2)The badge is also the variation that was worn up until 1914. 3) The chinscales are later M91 scales and are usually worn with posts, not rosettes, but with rosettes you do not really notice this unless you look really carefully. According to Colonel J..... The Landwehr Cross thing is not really an issue, they were very often not worn as the war progressed. The Plate worn up until 1914. The man in question was promoted in 1918, but Pickelhaube were expensive and for young officers buying "used" was not uncommon. Lastly, most importantly ... the chinscales. For me not a deal breaker, things break, things get repaired, things get replaced. Leib Regiment officers can be seen wearing their helmets at parades and funerals well into the 20s. They would normally raise a question but for me the origin of the piece takes away any worry that it is a recent addition. For me the helmet is an absolute keeper, so any worries about it being a red light if I ever wanted to sell it are secondary. So no rose without a thorn, but for me still a beauty...

haha... I was going to make a snide comment about your age if you recognise that... but I will go with "not that long ago"... thanks for the ID.

Hi, this is a really early pic... does anyone know if it is München?

Hi, can anyone guess Heinrichs family name?

Here you go....

Here is the mans WW1 history After graduating from Gymnasium he joined the Military as a Landsturm Rekrut Wartime volunteer. His first posting, on the 30.11.1915 was to the Schneeschuh Ersatz Abteilung as he was an experienced skier. While at the Battalion he took the course for qualifying as an Offiziers Aspirant (1.5.-20.6.16) run by the Bay. Gebirgs Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon. He finished top of his class He qualified with the Gewehr 98, M.G. 08, Pistole 08, Hand Grenade thrower, Zeis Entfernungsmesser and Military Skier. On the 22.6.1916 he was promoted to >Gefreiter and became a Reserve Offizier Aspirant 3.7.-8.7.16 he was on a Specialist course for handgrenade throwers at Lager Lechfeld On the 13.10.1916 he transferred to the Gebirgs Maschinengewehr Kompagnie 3.1. – 22.1.1917 Magine Gun Course at Hammelburg 19.03.1917 1. M.G.K. I.L.R. Took part in positional warfare on the Putna 19.03.-07.04.1917, positional warfare in Ober Elsass 17.6.-26.06.17 27.6.17 4. Komp. Ersatz Batl. I.L.R. 2.9.17 Unteroffizier 3.7. – 3.10.17 Course for Fahnenjünker and Offizier Aspiranten in Grafenwöhr 5.11. 17 1. M.G.K. I.L.R. 11.11. Vizefeldwebel Took part in the campaign in Italy including the advance from Tagliamento to the Piave 6.11.-11.11.17 and the positional warfare on the Piave/Mountain warfare in the venetian alps until 22.1.1918 then Positional warfare in Lorraine and the Vosges mountains from the 29.1.-8.4.18 Promoted 24.3.1918 Lt. D. Res Finally fighting in Flanders near Armentiers 10.4.-18.4.18 24.3.1918 Lt. D. Res 22.4.- 6.5. in Hospital with Flanderngrippe 22.10. Pneumonia in Hospital Belgrad, transferred to Hospital in Neustadt 19.11. Posted to the Ersatz Machinen Gewehr Komp. I. A.K. 03.12.18 released from Service Awards Bavarian Life Saving medal 25.7.1916 Iron Cross 2nd Class 27.03.1918 MVO 4th Class with swords 09.05.1918 Iron Cross 1st Class 22.08.1918

Although it does not have the Landwehr Cross, this actually belonged to a very young Reserve officer.... I have wanted a named Leib Regiment helmet for a loooooooooong time.....

Hi, he was originally from Ulm, I am guessing all his "normal" processions were probably back home during the war... I guess all his awards etc. are somewhere in Russia...

I like it and am feeling kinda jealous... 🙂