Chris Boonzaier

Hi, If I was to remount the wifes great grandfathers WW1+WW2 medals, would this be the best bar?

That is super intersting!! I have never seen that before...

It is pretty much the same patch that French troops still wear today on occasion....

Hi, nice docs! It has long been established that badly wounded men would be awarded the EK2, but I think Field Surgeon would not be correct, these awards were usually made back in the Wehrkreis itself not in field hospitals. Usually in a Field hospital the man was still in the command area of his division, or army corps. Even back in the Wehrkreis, the Doctors may have handed out the crosses, but were not the final authority who approved the award. In these cases it was the deputy commander of the Wehrkreis who made the actual award (i.e. signing the award document), the handing out done by the doctor or whoever. The reasoning, if I remember correctly, was that back in the Wehrkreis the soldier was no longer under the direct command of his unit but under the command of the Stellv. Commander of that wehrkreis. As we can see on the 1st doc, the Hospital has awarded the wound badge, and applied at the Stellv. Kdo an his behalf for an Iron Cross awarded for medical reasons. On the 2nd doc, the Stellv. Kommandeur has made an award and forwarded it to the hospital for handing out. I cannot remember the Criteria, but the Stellv. Kommandeur could refuse these awards based on certain criteria.

Hi, thanks for the key to that! Best Chris

hi Mac, I have about 30 pages of MG photos up here... just croll through and tell me which one you need, i can give you a good scan... http://www.kaiserscross.com/246801/56722.html I have many Sterbebild, as you can imagine, most are bavarian or for Southern German units, post what you need here and I am sure someone will be able to accomodate you. Best Chris

Will Endley is big on the battle of Sandfontein, he will hopefully be back out of the bush soon....

Sorry, for some reason i missed this... senior moment... At first glance it looks very nice, can we see the rest of the box?

Takes a brave man to fly in a crate like that!

20 years ago in Canada I paid Cdn$275 ... those were the days ;-) I dont think an unissued one is realistic at CDN$ 3000

I think the Binos are civilian...

Hi, I dont remember the exact date, but there was an order that came down saying that seriously wounded men who qualified for the silver wound badge automatically qualified for the EK2. (There were some exceptions, but usually these did not come into play). The award could be made without a citation from the mans unit. Usually the way it happened was a man lost an arm, or leg, was sent back to Germany, was in a large hospital and an EK was awarded by the Stellvertretende commanding General of the Wehrkreis in which the hospital was. I think it probable that he lost a limb in August, recieved an EK2 in Hospital in Königsberg in October, and Hamburg overlooked this and gave him another one in Hospital in December.... I imagine the transfers from place to place allowed for one dienststelle not to know what the other one had done. I have a couple of WW1 groups where the guy was transfered and awarded the EK2 twice... Best Chris

I will get some better pics this weekend. Following is clear, the helmet is a repaint... you can see the inner dome (below the liner rims) are almost perfect factory painted light green. The outside and inner upper part (up to the liner) are rough painted darker green. I cannot say if it was painted in 1918, or in 1928, but it is a very old repaint, the aging wear and rust has long since worn through. There are blobs of paint on the liner rims as well, so that has been in there for ever as well. Leather pads are dated 1918 and have also been in there since before any of us were born. Did this helmet leave the factory like this? No. Having said that, I think any wear, tear or repair dates back to the time when this was being used, even if it was after 1918... All in all, i am happy with it :-) Just an interesting pont... I have a leaflet handed out in 1916 telling soldiers how to care for the new steeel helmets, included was the instruction to repaint them as soon as the original paint began to wear through....

No Google luck... but I am sure something can be found....

I dont have my book with me to compare... but at OKH level... that must have been something special... even that early?

EUR220 ... me no complain... :-) There are indeed 2 tongues torn, but the original cusions are there....

Very nice find!

The ring is actually sewn under the ribbon, and an extra small loop added.... Does anyone recognise the maker?

It has long been my pet theory that the quite often encountered EK2s we find without their ring have had the rings removed for a specific tailors way of mounting... the only way to remove the rings is to actually cut them off!! This is a nice example.....

Am not sure what the connection is... but this is a nice enough pic....

Here is a nice card from the Fleury-Souville fighting at Verdun....

Have seen these n occasion, so it was time to finally get one... he was attached to the Fürstenried Guard section....

Sometimes there is an eabay Buy it now that really is a nice deal.... :-)

I think the one course was by the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center

I assume this Police offficer had the standard package of courses for third world countries? http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/64551-congolese-officer-at-fort-bragg/?p=608245 rare group to have all together...