Chris Boonzaier

The Bavarian has a 7 on the shoulder strap and this on his left sleeve... does anyone recognise it?

What a beauty! What does it say on the back of the spine???

He seems to have been an individualist... I have a later Photo of him as Lt. d. Res where he is wearing no ribbons at all

The farmer Josef Keitler was born on the 20.08.1886 in Oberkammlach. He served in the 12. Bay. Inf. Regt from 21.10.1908 – 23.09.1910 and was trained as a stretcher bearer. On the 03.08.1914 he mobilised as a reservist in the 10. Kp. Res. Inf. Regt. 3 With his unit he participated in the following actions 20.08.14 – 22.08.14 Schlacht in Lothringen 22.08.14 -14.09.14 Schlacht vor Nancy-Epinal 26.08.14 – 27.08.14 Einnahme von Fort Manonviller 30.09.14 – 01.10.14 Gefecht bei Douai 01.10.14 – 13.10.14 Schlacht bei Arras 14.10.14 – 23.06.16 Stellungskämpfe im Artois 20.10.14 – 10.12.14 Kämpfe um Maison-Blanche (Nördl. Arras u. Ecurie) 20.10.14 – 27.10.14 Erstürmung von St. Laurent und Maison-Blanche 14.12.14 – 24.12.14 Dezemberschlacht in Franz. Flandern 04.01.15 – 20.01.15 Gefechte bei Ecurie 17.02.15 – 19.02.15 Gefechte bei Roclincourt 09.05.15 – 23.07.15 Schlacht bei La Bassee und Arras 25.09.15 – 13.10.15 Herbstschlacht bei La Bassee und Arras 24.06.16 – 07.07.16 Erkundungs u. Demonstrationsgefechte d. VI. Armee (in Zusammenhang mit der schlacht an der Somme) 07.07.16 – 10.08.16 Stellungskämpfe im Artois 11.08.16 – 09.09.16 Schlacht an der Somme 10.09.16 – 01.12.16 Kämpfe an der Aisne 02.12.16 – 01.02.17 Stellungskämpfe an der Somme 01.02.17 – 13.02.17 Stellungskämpfe in Fr. Flandern u. Artois On the 13.02.17 he admitted the Field Hospital at Templeuve with an undefined illness. It is possible that he suffered from Shellshock as physical sickness is usually mentioned in the records. On the 19.09.17 he was attached to the forestry department in Oberkammlach where he stayed until the end of the war. In November 1918 he was demobilized. Awards 07.05.15 Bavarian Militärverdienstkreuz with swords 3rd class 20.08.16 Bavarian Silver Bravery Medal 20.09.16 Iron Cross 2nd class Citation On the night of the 19.08.1916, during the Battle on the Somme, the III. Batl. Bay. Res. Inf. Regt. 3 received orders to leave their positions in the Bellowstellung and advance to the German 2nd defense line to work on the emplacements. While passing through Martinpuich the 10. Komp. Came under heavy artillery fire at 03:00am. The barrage lasted for one hour and the 10. Komp suffered heavy losses. While everyone was seeking cover behind the houses stretcherbearer Keitler was the only man to brave the heavy artillery fire and remain with the wounded offering first aid. After he had bandaged the wounded he called for the help of a comrade who helped him bring the wounded to the Aid Post. He then returned to his company. For his actions he was awarded the Bavarian Silberne Tapferkeitsmedaille

You have just shown up my horrible bias and I must blush..... I spent some time comparing it to all the infantry straps... variations in the Kelso book.... and i never even thought to look at the gunners ...

I think you nailed it, it is like identifying pattern in spaghetti! I can imagine the comments if that tunic had been brought to a collectors meeting!

Were officers of the unit sent to other units upon mobilisation? I have a photo of Bavarian Leib Regiment officers in Leiber uniform, serving in the 1st Bavarian Reserve Inf Regt (for instance)

Hi, can anyone identify this Bavarian? looks like olympic rings!!!

There is a pic of one like this in "under arms for the Kaiser"... here is one being worn....

Yup, 8th Bavarian Pionier Mineur Komp... ?

An unusual way of wearing the ribbon!!

Part of the VIII bay. Res. Div... from March 1916 it seems... any ideas?

Hi, here is a rare Bavarian one.....

I just bought a small collection of Photos from a Bavarian collector... some really nice ones... like this one....

I couple of full body pics where he is literally 1cm tall (in a grou) on bad quality book paper... he may as well be caspar the friendly ghost.... he had 4-5 awards... fits perfectly in the loops EK2, MVO4class, Jubiläums medal and Sachsen Anhalt plus a Romanian one, but I dont know if they were still being worn.

OK... it looks like the reason this is such a great looking find... is because it is a copy. That is a bummer ... gonna have to reuturn it....

Bing made an early version of the backpack with a metal frame. I have been told that they originally had canvass straps, but this came with leather... as the straps clip in and clip out quite easily, I assume that at some stage someone replaced them.... maybe a collector, or maybe they simply did not hold up in the field.... This is 1915 dated to the 20th Infantry Regiment....

Hi not really what I collect... but still a sexy find.... It seems the Reichs Cockade was a bit rusted

I managed to find the correct belt for the Leib Regiment with the silver buckle ?

OK, here is where I am on this.... This tunic has the following points and questions.... 1) It never had loops for an EK1 2) Everything points to these Major boards being original to this piece, pedigree going back 40-45 years and back then not bought from anyone in the Militaria scene. 3) A question mark because the boards have a red underlay, this pattern for infantry should have a white underlay. (The regiment had red until 1915, white after 1915) So ... what is needed is to find a Major who never received an EK1 ... and an explanation as to why there are 1915-16 boards with a red undelay. On a separate thread Dave Mosher is trying the same exercise with a GGR 2 uniform, but I have a big advantage, the Bavarian Records are there to look the men up. I was able to read the records of all men who served in the Leib Regiment as Major, or were ex Leib Regiment serving in other units. Initially there was only one candidate with no EK1. As he was killed in the first week of the war, there was absolutely no explanation for the boards which are later boards, and the loops do not correspond. The loops are for a small ribbon bar and not for a medal bar with a thick pin So... I thought I had struck a dead end, and went through all the records again... and then I struck gold..... First off... From what I see the whipcord uniforms were almost exclusively a field tunic, the material made for rough conditions, as seen by the fact that the colonial uniforms were made out of the same material. These were not only frowned on on the homefront, but the material was forbidden at some stage in the war. So, the officer I found, an older major (Born 1871) who before the war was attached to the Bavarian Royal family, first as Military Tutor and Military travel Companion/Escort to a young Herzog, then as Personal Adjutant to Crown Prince Rupprecht. The uniforms of the Flugal Adjutant for the various Kings is pretty much the same for Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Würrt. etc... But the Personal Adjutant for Crown Princes has some gaps in it... Prussia and Saxony have red underlayed shoulder boards, like the Flugal Adj. but for Bavarian it just says "Uniform of the Parent unit"... I would say it is a logical conclusion that even if not mentioned in the texts we have available, that the Bavarian Crown Princes Adj would have aligned with the Prussian and Saxon, just was all the Flugal Adj's were aligned... i.e. Red underlayed boards... and he would not have remained the odd man out as the only adjutant (King or Crown Prince) not to have the red underlay... especially since his regimental underlay was Red up until 1915 anyway... Bavarian Flügel Adj had the red underlay and the same golden Crown that the Leib Regiment had… so we are more or less talking the same boards here… if anyone has any thoughts on this, please add them below.... The awards.... the loops for the bar fits what he would have had in 1916. In Mid 1915 he transferred from his duties as Adj to Rupprecht back to the Leib Regiment... but officially he was still Crown Prince Adj, this he stayed until mid June 1916 when he was finally “officially” transferred from Rupprechts service back to the Leib Regiment…. So until mid June 1916 he would have been wearing Adj. Boards… which in the Bavarian case would have been red underlayed with a gold crown… just like the Leib Regiment… Now, the EK1… the officer in question did indeed receive the EK1… in the last week of june he was 1) Buried in a collapsed celler after a heavy shell landed on their position, 2) Awarded the EK1 3) Suffered what seems to have been a heart attack 4) Transferred to hospital, back to Bavaria, then months in a sanatorium to recover. Being a professional officer as well as a nobleman who served (in Leib Regiment uniform) almost 5 years with the royal family, I think it safe to assume that he had a rather complete wardrobe. For this reason I am further going to assume that this field tunic went into the wardrobe and was maybe never worn again, hence the lack of loops for the ek. His service after June 1916 were restricted to a sanitorium stay, a passage through the Leib regiment Ersatz battalion, a stint in an office as head of the recruiting depot in München, then an honorable discharge from the army in Mid 1917. Having read through many records over the years, he seems to have been one of those cases where heart problems and maybe shell shock led to him being sent back home. As the months in uniform back in München would probably have been spent in a standard Rock, Kleinerock or Litewka, it is very unlikely that this tunic would ever have been worn again, and therefore I think it safe to assume an EK1 was never worn on it. I welcome any thoughts…. The whole way through, I have made an effort not to fall into the “wishful thinking” mode… i.e. to stick to plausible, likely, believable conclusions…. So we have - A tunic with no name - Boards which are very likely to be original to the piece - 1 Possible wearer - A logical explanation as to why the boards do not have a white underlay - The post June 1916 events indicate it was very likely he never wore this in the period after his EK1 award, hence no loops. I welcome any critical thinking here… if anyone has any “yeah… but you forgot”s to add, please feel free… Best Chris

Hi, it seems to be an UFFz thing then? I assume tolerated but not allowed? I like the watch as well, there were all kinds of leather straps made which could accomodate pocket watches, turning them into wrist watches.

That tunic is a beauty.

hmmmmmmm.... just imagining the pain of waiting..... ;.)

Hi, he was a Sanitäts Unteroffizier in the 25th b.I.R. , I think he probably thought it looked cool, or there were no cloth badges availible. Best Chris

It is indeed... the guy was a medic, killed in 1918... that is simply the metal device of an officers shoulder board!!