Chris Boonzaier

The ribbon loops

This is a great set... His Greatcoat

You are practised in the art of using 30 words to say 3.... you must have worked for the Govt in your youth ;-) Indeed... a post that generates discussion is what its all about!!

Is it 2. Uhlanen?

Here is his uniform... :-)

I would have to disagree. The French and British evolved quite well. I have a number of French small unit manuals from late 1916... they are light years away from 1914 stuff. I think by 1917 the allies were actually doing OK. Unfortunately German defensive measures evolved as well... so the stalemate remained because, even while offensive tactics changed, defensive plans did as well...but it was not stganation. I do remember reading that the reason the Marines suffered such heavy losses at Belleau wood was because Pershing totally ignored all the Allies tried to teach him about what they had learned in the preceeding years, and that days later the Army Regiments of the 2nd division had much greater success because they applied what they had learned from the French? best Chris

Hi, what awards does he have? Best Chris

I think its an OK article... but I think a number of them canbe considered "topics for debate". The one I think needs a lot more work is the "8. No-one won Swathes of Europe lay wasted, millions were dead or wounded. Survivors lived on with severe mental trauma. The UK was broke. It is odd to talk about winning. However, in a narrow military sense, the UK and her allies convincingly won." Which i think is a very narrow way of seeing things. as an individual you may get into a fight and be happy that you "won" because your opponent is more bloody and beaten than you are... you can decide a broken nose and missing teeth are worth it to you to be able to say you "won".... but as a country... does a simple military victory outweigh all the other losses your country suffered? Can Belgium say "Hey great, we were on a winning side in a war! Yeah!!!" ... and have it outweigh all the destruction it caused in the country? Was the UK better off in 1919 than it was in 1913? France regained some land... but did that make up for the hundreds of towns and villages destroyed by the war and the lives it cost? IMHO it is a simple question... for a country to consider itself a winner, it would have to ask itself, "what did we gain? were we better of after the last shot than we were before the first shot? Did we manage to make some political/diplomatic/material gains that are worth more than the lives we lost?" ... if the answer is no, then it is a very hollow victory indeed... it is a pile of medals and a few battle honors gained for the army, at the cost of the country. Just my humble opinion ... :-)

Interesting indeed! In the past I have had stuff to Germans born in the USA, Best Chris

Hi, Its like the box of chocolates that may contain anything.... a Nice unit, but years before the war.... What he ended up in during the war is going to be the big suprise. best Chris

Hi, another jolly jumper!!

Hi Ed, I cannot find the names on anything I have. Where do you find the 200ID and alpenkorps connection? I cannot find it anywhere? :-(

Hi, I agree that it is not military issue, I meant, is it civilian/Private purchase for use with army uniforms, or was such a garment also used with civilian suits back then? It seems to be designed for wear under tunics as opposed to civilian shirts? Best Chris

Hi, Does anyone know if these were made specifically for iniform wearers? It has 3 button holes around the edge of where collar would go... Obviously not issue item? Did they wear things like this with civilian clotes as well? Thanks Chris

This guy has his defenders... but they are few and far between.... still a PLM winner and one of the rarest signatures I have ever found on a postcard....

Fantastic, thanks Yed!

I am no expert, but I cannot remember ever having seen a silver one?

The core details are very nice indeed!

I agree with Eric... it makes a nice 1st impression.

4 Letters from his unit and a map showing where he was buried with 5 comrades, they were killed by a heavy arty shell

EK2

3 Death nitices, and one for his EK2

A photo of him sent to "My dear wife on outh 6th anniversary- From Flanders"

You need to use the German spelling....Brezel.... ;-)

Wow..... that is a rare photo find! I can count the number of 1813 EK pics I have seen on one hand and still have a couple of fingers left over...