Chris Boonzaier

I always wondered what the loops for the 3rd award were... it seems the Hawickhorsts came from Oldenburg... who in turn were rather free awarding the Oldenburg cross to natives.... so I am going to go out on a limb and guess that is what the loops were for...

Interesting article.... http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/fightingforrespect.aspx This sentence is pretty interesting.... "African American men who owned their own farms and had families were often drafted before single white employees of large planters. Although comprising just ten percent of the entire United States population, blacks supplied thirteen percent of inductees. " William Cain was a self employed farmer with a wife and child, the draft board denied his deferement and wrote on the card that the Wife and child could go live with the Grandparents.

Hard to say, I refrained from posting because I am not sure... from what i can find his last rank was General Major, commanding the 2nd Garde Infantry Brigade. But that could be wrong....

Just doing a bit of research on this medal.... its pretty cool... slight hints of "Django Unchained" ... Some leadbelly and touch of the old chain gang.... Going through ancestry it seems many African American soldiers came from big cities, William M Cain, born in October 1888 was a "Farmer" on the Bella Mina Plantation in Limestone, Alabama. Handling the medal today I feel almost obliged to go dust off my copy of "Mississippi Burning" and open a bottel of Rye Whiskey... With many medals the recipient's part in History probably ended when his service did, then he went back to everyday life... I cant help feeling old William M Cain went back to a life that was probably just was interesting as his service days were.... Maybe I am totally wrong, but I can almost see a hollywood movie, a black guy coming home to Alabama, in uniform in 1919....

Tim, that is fantastic! it is what history and collecting combined is all about....

Hi, We always welcome discussion, thats what the point of the forum is. You are correct, the 29th was set up as follows... The 29. B.I.R. (Jg.-R.) was an anomaly. Formed in 1916 with the Bayerisches Reserve Jäger Bataillon Nr. 1, IV. Batl. bayerisches Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr. 4 and the III./Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr. 79 as the 29. B.I.R. In October 1916 the IV./b.R.I.R. Nr. 4 left to join the 25. B.I.R. and the III./R.I.R. Nr. 79 joined the R.I.R. 440. The Staff and the b. Res. Jäg. Btl. Nr. 1 (designated as III. Batl.) left for Romanian where they were joined by the Res.-Jg.-Btl. Nr. 7 (Designated I. Batl.) and the Res.-Jg.-Batl. Nr. 9 (Designated II. Batl.). In November 1917 it was renamed “29. b.I.R. (Jäger-Regiment)” In August 1918 the b. Res. Jäg. Btl. Nr. 1 left to form the b. Jäger-Regiment Nr. 15 The commander of the 29. B.I.R. (Jäger Regiment) was Oberst Aschauer of the 8. B.I.R. the battalion commander I./ Major von der Gröben , II./ Hauptmann Schneider , III. / Major Scheuring.

Hi, semms to be a model 1935/37 for motorised troupes... http://sd-4.archive-host.com/membres/up/44716996513192290/Casques_Adrian/Cahier_TC_F-XVI-1_Casques_a_bandeau_Version_Decouverte_2010.pdf

Hi Old Monkey, welcome to the Forum!!! If appropriate (I once had a group where the extra info I got was that that man was a wife beater, so obviously not in that case...) I would love to see the group and research! Best Chris

I think that is a tankers helmet from between the wars?

Here you go, he is listed.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1936_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_400_metres

I thought maybe Jesse Owens but JO won the 100 and 200m... however, Archie Williams won the 400m and Hitler was not pleased.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Williams Another African American came 3rd... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400_metres#Men

Hi, I coulda cried when i saw how cheaply the Stauffer auctions sold for. The Buyer (then ebayer) of the Bavarian Jäger straps made 4-5 times his money back on Ebay. All the Jäger Alpenkorps stuff came from a collection near Aschaffenburg. Just goes to show, if your family throws your collection into the clutches of an auction house they will get pennies on the dollar... they should rather ebay it....

Hi, very nice, its a pity he did it to both crosses, did he run against anyone famous in the Olympics?

Hi, I think many online folks (myself included) dont mind stuff being passed around... at the end of the day we all have the same goal, spread the information and keep the hobby alive. I think post WW1 probably nowhere near powerful enough, but for WW1 trench shields and WW1 armour maybe more than enough?

Hi, recently I was lucky enough (for a huge price :-(...) to pic up a set of Leib regt Captains boards... now a (unfortunately single) Majors board has arrived.... I assume the button is not an eppaulette button.... Fantastic crown quality for the Major.... I just wish it was a pair!!!

I think it is indeed fake, from te photos it looks 1 piece...

Hi Chip. The last one is indeed a Zinker... Is it my imagination or is there way more variety in Saxon Buckles than in Prussian or bavarian? I only have 4... but already all so very different !! What is your take on the top right? It seems from the front to be Green/Grey finished,,, but on the back we see the buckle AND the rondel are brass? I have only ever seen saxons with brass buckles and nickle rondels....

Old fake with fake EK... I offered him EUR3 for it.... http://www.ebay.de/itm/Eiserne-Kreuz-1914-mit-Ausweis-/181923134641?hash=item2a5b76bcb1:g:2joAAOSwsB9WEVTN&autorefresh=true seller Troedelhistory Artur Gralek Karl Marx Allee 109 10243 Berlin Germany

Hi, I put my "watermark" on photos I may want to use someday in the future.... but did once berate someone on a facebook page for stealing my photos... only for him to say he did not steal them from me, but from someone else... who had stolen them from me. Nowdays I assume anything posted will be posted elsewhere.... and the only thing to save a little bit of property rights is a big watermark.

Hi Newbee, 1) Welcome to the forum! 2) We are flexible to most things and a post in the wrong place is better than no place at all... dont worry... be happy! 3) Incredibly sexy boards!!! Nice find! Best Chris

Carl Schweis-Fürtz ? Bet he got teased at school!!

Hi, its hard enough findng German SWA Info, South America is close to impossible. It may be something other than South America, but that region bought lots of mausers and rode lots of horses... so at best an educated guess. Mexico would probably fit just as well. I think it is German made. Are there no stamps at all?

Hi, here are some Saxon Belt buckles..... Top left is marked 12J, Top right 32A, botton left 182.R...... There seems to be more variation than with Prussian ones.... this sseems to be Crass buckle with brass disk... and "Greened/Blackened" in the front? Seems to be too thick to be a patina..... This is non magnetic, maybe Zink?

Nice pic indeed!

Hi Flashie! A very tough call indeed... I believe there were 2 variations, and I could quite believe that for a reason best known to Buddah that they may have changed the strap, from 2 buckles to a thick one. What does confuse me is the bayonet. Usually a country has a certain side they are worn on.... its a small thing, but it makes me wonder if it was not German made for a foreign market? Who was using Mausers between the Boer war and 1914? South Africa did not use these... Maybe something South American with mounted troops? Argentina or something? Best Chris