Chris Boonzaier

Here is some brainstorming questions from a doc collector for the cross collectors.... Why makers marks? Surely not free advertising, I bet no soldier could ever do anything with the fact his EK had a ring stamp "G". A man going into a tailor would also not have a choice between crosses of different ring stamps... Am I right in thinking that these would have been a control, that the dept responsible would have had a list of official makers with initials and arriving crosses quality could be controlled, the ring stamp identifying from where they came? I really dont see any point if a ring stamp or initial on the back. I dont see a soldier looking at a "G" and saying "Oooohhh... i like them Godet crosses!" There must have been SOME sort of quality control and with hundreds of thousands of crosses from different makers... there must have been some form of identification.... When crosses started coming back with pins that fell off, or loops that seperated, they would have needed a "Fr" or "KO" to see where the crppy crosses were coming from... Now, a FULL "Godet"... THAT seems like advertising, free market, buy from a jeweller advertising.... Then... if the Dept wanted a control number to control the quality.... what is with the unmarked crosses? am I right in thinking most unmarked EK1s are domed crosses, ergo thought of as private purchase? Maybe, most domed have either nothing or 800... so crosses made for private sale did not really bother with initials? Most flat crosses have a makers initials? ergo pointing towards Control and issue? And of course... some really nice private purchase having the firms WHOLE name as advertising... Just some wild thoughts to get the ball rolling.... Maybe the Ordenskanzlei functioned like the LDO and did the controls, using initials, and not LDO numbers, ... IF this is the case, the master list decoding the initials may have been a handwritten list in a single office, lost for ever and ever... And we will go on playing guessing games for ever.... So... I throw those thoughts out there... then duck and run.....

Hi Uwe, Thanks, that covers it then, I was not sure if it was one of the states that did not award documents or not, I cannot remember having seen one of these docs before. Best Chris

Hi, I agree on that, but what I was wondering, did Schaumburg - Lippe HAVE award docs for this cross? I cannot remember seeing one. There are some states that did not issue docs, and the only writen document was the accompanying letter or Militäerpass eintrag. Best Chris

Hi, I am guessing that it is "Type 1, Type 2 etc" as they have been cataloged as opposed to "First type, second type etc" as they were produced? It makes a world of difference as I suppose we cannot date them to see which was produces 1st , 2nd or 3rd? Best Chris

Well, Guessing is a first step, an important one...as long as it stays as such... it only becomes dangerous when lists come out based on guessing. There are a few lists out there..... at some stage someone matched existing names to the Letters on EKs and came up with a list of often "long shot possibles" that somehow has been spread all over... I rememeber when FR was identified as Frank and Reif... I called up the company to ask if they had ever made EKs in WW1... the old guy on the phone said "NO! Definately not!" On top of that, Frank and Reif are a Prägewerk.... they just do metal stamping, no jeweller work etc. etc... I think the Fr is correct.... but think FR is still unclear....

Old Hanson looks like he has bought a knife for more than just show!!

Here is a thought... A special cross for Buddhist Prussian officers... I was just imagining the patience someone needed to crew this on and off... :-)

Ahh, thanks. Is there a standard form of award doc for them? Some of the Lnder awards did not have docs, so I assume this was the case here? Best Chris

Read this and weep... i stupidly sold it and got EUR200 for it... ;-) http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/3245-strange-bwm/

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Sorry, I have asked this ages ago and forgot the answer... This is the only doc in the group fr the Blue and white ribbon... and I cannot make head or tail of it... what was it?

Hi, the green sleeve diamond is a legion badge. To the above, the legion has no pilots, these are regular french Air Force. There is no French Skull tradition in the army, although boys will be boys, I think there was a "Normal" amount of skull patches and badges in France in the 1980-90s as well. Like I said, I dont think this was BAD, just stupid in the modern day and age to do something like that.......

Hi, looks like a WW1 belt from Hessen? Best Chris

Is it Boer war?

same

same

From a good friend, some of his gems... Unit stamped demag!!!!

Here is one I really regret trading away....

Realting to NCOs and other ranks...Although we see awards from different Länder on bars for prussian soldiers... so far I have not had a group where a Prussian has had a MVK in their document group. As Bavarian Generals awarded the EK, could it be that they awarded that instead and reserved the bavarian medals just for Bavarian soldiers?

Those Puma ones are the nicest, but I guess the LW ones are the "classic" WW2 fighting knife? I wonder why the LW had theirs and the army lagged behind? Imagine the market if the W-SS had had an official knife like the LW !!!

... i am between two camps here... i think if i was 19 and in the army again I would have wanted one as well, but with a bit more age and hopefully a bit more grown up... I can see the damage something like this may do... The french high command are trying to identify the soldier in the picture in Mali... and he will probably get his ass kicked....

Fot those of you who do not know "Harry's Africa" or "Harry's Sideshows" ... they are the biggest and best selection of campaign histories and stories on the inernet. Here is an article about Operations in Waziristan in 1914-15 http://www.kaiserscross.com/304501/455322.html

I think they may be the Dr 652 Fliegerbrillen, the Firm "Winter" in Fürth? They had 2 screws instead of the 2 like the 306 brillen Best Chris

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