Chris Boonzaier

Hey... did you copy that from my wife?????? .... many a drawn out argument has ended with her saying "Why dont you just say 'yes' then we can move on?"

An interesting article.... "This is all preposterous nonsense. Unlike the second world war, the bloodbath of 1914-18 was not a just war. It was a savage industrial slaughter perpetrated by a gang of predatory imperial powers, locked in a deadly struggle to capture and carve up territories, markets and resources." http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/08/first-world-war-imperial-bloodbath-warning-noble-cause

IG can answer that one better than I.... so I wil wait for his answer...

This is a nice early shot, I assume from the I.R. 85.... I just cannot read his name correctly... I am assuming his sister is Fräulein and not Frau? I read Frl. ? Of course, my question is is anyone can put two and two tgether and get a name from the Pics provided... It is the earliest Non Officer EK1 Pic I have...

Someone needs to bite the bullet and buy 2, just to compare.... ;-)

I just picked this up.... They used to be 1. Kürassier-Regiment „Prinz Karl von Bayern“, but in 1878 they dropped the heavy Breat Plates etc and as they no longer had Kürassier equipment, were changed to 1. Schwere Reiter Regiment. This badge for Veterens of the unit has both designations, I am guessing Pre WW1.... Nice Looking Badge

I saw that one, nice catch! With Fussartillerie the regiment is just a starting point... you need to find where the battalion was... I will be home on the weekend and can give it a try.

Hi, no ones that I know of, but the war lasts 4 years, so plenty of time for things to develope ;-) I am sure there are going to be some good debates and I wanted to encourage those who usually avoid any thread with disagreament in it to jump right in.

Ahhh... that took WW2.... it was a two step program. as for "The world"... The best learning experiance is to have the war in your front garden.... which large sections of the continent did... maybe WW1 was really too contained to really teach the populations a lesson...., WW2 threw the net a bit wider....

Makes you wonder if that was the reason they were based in Guyane... Imagine if they had been based in metropole and earned a VM Fourragere in Afghanistan... would they then have overtaken the RICM?

Maybe you should ask..."What am I missing??"

I lied.... I did not blush...... BLUSH...

I think the last scene of the last episode does more to show the bravery of the simple man, in the face of the madness than many histories... I defy anone to say that it is not patriotic.

"They need to be brought under control - they are paid for by Taxpayers money through the License system." So what do the majority of Tax payers think? BBC good... or BBC bad ?

"Lord Fisher was the main person in Britain who pushed for a reform with our ships - and the result was at the turn of the 20th Century we developed and started building a new type of Battleship - the Dreadnought class. Every country in the World - of any importance - had to immediately copy them." Indeed... and as we have learned... you can't start an arms race and expect the other folks not to run... has not changed since then... any advantage a country has by adding a new weapon is soon lost when the others guys add something similar...

“however, one of the statements of recommendation for a VC has to be from a Commissioned Officer. Once granted by the King how rude that someone trying to sell a book , or an article, should attack that Award. Perhaps Chris - with his different background doesn't realise the offence given by these nonentities ?” Do you mean, if the King decides… who are the common people to question? Personally I don’t believe in the infallibility of the Pope, the King or Commissioned officers J I guess I am an upstart heathen ;-) There is nothing in life that is above question…

Just a thought... with WW1 coming up, lets not forget, we are exchanging opinions about something that happened 100 years ago... If you disagree with someone about fleet expansion... he is not suggesting your mother liked sailors If you disagree whether Bolivia or Siam was the root cause of the war... he is not calling your sister a Ho If you cannot agree about who invented Sturm trupp tactics... he is not suggesting you are less manly for having a Volpino Italiano Its just old stuff we are interested in... nothing more, nothing less... just enjoy the discussions... and if you really feel the need to explode because someone does not see things your way.... just think... "Wheatons law!"... and go have a coffee... Just my 2EUR worth Chris

But is building a fleet a naughty thing to do? Would the Germans have suddenly decided to shell Cape Town ? It would make me think less of Great Britain if a major reason for going to war was hurt pride because the Germans were building nicer ships. It is a bit presumptuous to say "We have lots of little boats, but you can't build anymore as our pride will be hurt!" ;-)

Now, I have argued that the Germans killed civilians in Belgium in the past, but would stop short of saying the Germans or even the kaiser advocated Mass executions, IMHO they did happen, but for the most part at a local level. Once again, that is not to say it did not happen. But on the other hand, a lot of the period Writings need to be regarded with healthy scepticism (once again MHO)

I would challenge this statement... I would say they could not longer win by taking Paris... but they were still doing OK... There were times after 1915 when a victory may have been possible... like after the Failed French offensives in 1917... apparently the germans did not realise the near state of collapse of the French army, but if they had made the most of the situation, things could have been very different. The Somme, Nivelle Offensive, Various defensive efforts in Flanders... the Germans were not realy on the ropes.... Some folks can do a lot with the little they have left...

A commiseration card, including pomp, glory and medals, condolences for the sons death, and at the same time the thought that "What can be more beautiful than dying for the fatherland"... I can think of plenty of things... Now, if it had been my sons death... I would have knocked on the senders door, and made him eat this. But this is more or less a standard card.... And many of the death cards ordered by the families show PRIDE in having lost a son.... and did the average man in the street undestand anything more than "We are fighting the bloody Tommies!" or "We are fighting the bloody hun!" But it is 2014... maybe in 1914 "Fatherland" was something different. Another point, back then people did not travel, or few of them did. It has always been a theory of mine that the less people see of the world, the more they live in their own little sorner of the globe, and anything further than their next village is marked "Here be dragons!" on the map. I wont be alone in saying I have friends in South Africa, Canada, France, UK, Germany... could not really see myself involved in a war against any of them.... but I also remember as a kid in South africa, a kind of circled Wagon mentality where there was Anti South Africa stuff on the news all the time and even as a kid you thought of those countries where a boycott of South african peaches was taking place as "the enemy"....

I find this to be poignant, terrible and disgusting at the same time.....

I am going to go out on a limb here and say... maybe they were foolish to fight? Maybe people back then were patriotic to the point of stupidity? Ready to fight although they had no idea what for? The Quote by an Embarking British soldier along the lines of "we are off to fight the belgians".... Or Koen Britz Statement to Louis Botha (South Africa) in 1914 "My men are ready to ride... who are we fighting, the Germans or the british?".... I have read a lot, less than some, more than others... but I still dont see any real objectives in the war? If the best excuse they could find was an assasination in sarajevo, you know they were trying really hard... but why? It all seems to be nationalistic posturing, and IMHO the people were rather silly to follow it. HOWEVER... "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." ..... it is not fair to judge people back then but what one believes today... See below.......

More sibling casaulties...

Above: 2 brothers killed on the same day, and the other two within a week.