Chris Boonzaier

sorry, it is 1934

This is a difficult one... from the Reichswehr time....

I guess this won't be anymore than a wild assed Guess, but If the Rechswehrministerium was to belatedly send a man his Iron Cross in 1934.... that maker would it have been? An old KO stock? EK1 I mean.

I think it is OK, You need to think off getting the award documents! :-)

Hi, thanks a million, noone has believed me that there was a maximum height!! I really wonder why they have a max for the Jäger ?!?!?!? Best Chris

Now I no longer see the grenade ;-)

I know the guard regiments had a minimum height, cavalry a maximum..... but I once saw a document that mentioned a Maximum height for men in Jäger battalions, that really surprised me.... can anyone confirm this? Thanks Chris

Hi, I have managed to track down -Prussian -German Navy -Bavarian -Württ -Saxony -Lippe-Detmold Does anyone know if any other stated had them? Here is the Bavarian and the navy ones....

Hi Andreas, how did he get that ?? All the best Chris

Hi, nope, thats all I have :-) Hi, I have one from the embassy in London to a German working there as a waiter.

You can almost see an artillery grenade on the straps, then you look again and you can not.... tough call...

Lets try this then... ;-)

Hi, a belated thanks for this!!

thank you! :-)

Hi, I can pinpoint the "B" as it is the same as the B in Besitzzeugnis... is this guys name Blez ?? Thanks Chris

In his chapter on the devaluation of the 1914 Iron Cross Wernitz uses a Photograph of Obermusikmeister Heinlein of the bayerischen Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 1 to show a soldier who was awarded a potentially underserved Iron Cross 1st Class. Heinlein is standing there in what is probably a postwar photo proudly wearing an EK1. I disagree with the devaluation arguments in General but was interested in following the Heinlein story to see how he could have wangeled the award, adding to the "devaluation". Regimental Musicians were used in wartime as stretcher bearers, they had many chances to prove their bravery under fire. An Obermusikmeister would possibly have had the opportunity to show bravery. So, I took the effort to look through the rolls of all the Heinleins.... In the case of Obermusikmeister Heinlein it is not the failure of the award system but rather of his own integrity. According to his records, confirmed by an added note in 1942, he was not entitled to wear the Iron Cross 1st Class, He was with the regiment from the first to last day of the war, he was entitled to the EK2, BMVK and DA. We get angry about modern day Walts.... I think back then there were just as many ;-)

Their badge changed a bit through the years, but it may be a very early version of Escadrille SPA 93 ? The early badge shown on their wikipedia page shaows the wings more flattened, but later ones just show a duck flying. This looks like a "must have"! http://images.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.delcampe.com%2Fimg_large%2Fauction%2F000%2F285%2F425%2F251_003.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.delcampe.net%2Fpage%2Fitem%2Fid%2C285425251%2Cvar%2CINSIGNE-AERONAUTIQUE-MILITAIRE-FRANCAISE-GUERRE-1914-1918-BARTLET-GUIDE-COLLECTION-ESCADRILLE-BREVET%2Clanguage%2CF.html&h=730&w=568&tbnid=EcY_AknoIxRFOM%3A&docid=iwz_rKdovsJsCM&ei=MFSwVsveKsW8UcvcmUg&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=504&page=2&start=30&ndsp=38&ved=0ahUKEwjLtpCFwdjKAhVFXhQKHUtuBgkQrQMI0QEwOg

Hi, Ignore

Haha... the pidgeon on the chest takes the cake!!

Muchos Grazias. Is there anything on the runic that denotes a rank of any kind?

Is it some kind of unofficial squadron badge? It does not look like any official French badge.

Hi, does anyone have an idea what unit this guy was in? Thanks Chris

Get a load of this guy! ;-)

That is whatz i had feared.... it is still a killer shot of a mint Filz Tschako though :-)

Yup indeed... i must find a way of storing it to avoid more damage to it.