Chris Boonzaier

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! The research goes on ! I think I have found the guy, and all seems to fit with the Tunic... there is an interesting complication and reason for the boards being like they are! I must do a write up!

Thanks guys, I wonder how he got the 2 sicilies one? A side note...Always kills me when I see Prussian or non Bavarian awards listed under "Foreign"

I wonder if she would consider getting married, just to change her name....

Hi, will get the tabs done soon. My problem is, I think I have narrowed this down to one possible major, based on the fact that 1) this seems to have just prewar ribbon loops 2) This cord material is 100 % made for the field, if the guy was in service he would have had this with him in the field 3) All Leib regt Majors had the EK1 and much wider ribbon bars, this never had loops for an EK1 or wider bar 4) only one Major was killed before he got the EK1, he had a ribbon bar that would fit this perfectly. problem was... he was killed in August 1914.... so the boards are a bit of a problem for me ..... Were these being worn at the outbreak of the war?

Hi, the cockades are just for show... it was cockadeless ... The holes in the shirm are extremely regular, I am tending towards thinking this is a regular schirm that is usually sewn into a cap, or Feldmütze... but in this case done by the guy himself... when millions of guys are in uniform there are millions of ways of getting your hands on things ? ... could also be that they were officially delivered schirm that the company tailor was supposed to add ... lots of things happen in huge organisations... Apparently the Leib Regiment were not issued en masse with Feldmützr MIT schirm, and at their level (Regt? Company? Individual? ) had Schirms added in 1915 on their way to the Tirol... you can tell which ones have been done this way as they have never had buttons on the side or the chin strap, whereas issue ones with schirm have the buttons, or at least traces there of.

Yup, he did.

I managed to find this... although his record in 1914 shows 4 medals he seems to have 5?

Ahhhh yes.... that would probably help a little bit..... sigh.... ok.... HERE!

I think Pat nailed it.... not an everyman bar, but a very possible selection.... Unfortunately the system works like this... you get wounded... and you do not just get the wound medal, you get the wound medal, you get the VM, and you get the MM.... he has 3 bars on the N, there is a mission d'assistance as well... he was probably with the DLEM at some stage to pick up the 11 and 12.... and the German sport medal is a joke... I seriously wonder why they allow that on a bar!!! I am thinking a NCO, maybe Adjudant Chef, Chef de Section. .. I think it may be a Sarajevo bar on the UN, I think that was the only one awarded (unofficially) by the French, but I may be wrong on that.

Hi, this would be a prewar Bavarian officers bar... Other than the MVO I have no idea... Can anyone help? I guess this is a totally vanilla comman bar? Thanks Chris

I bought these because on the photos it looked like fieldgrey underneath.... but they are infact light grey like the officers prewar greatcoat.... does anyone want to take a guess as to why? ?

Hi, I dont think it is a closet jacket, just the material screams "Send me into the field!"... however, my thinking is the same as yours... if it was the guy I think it was... he was killed in August 1914, and the jacket was sent home with his stuff and it would answer the question as to which Major of the Leib Regiment only had 4 prewar awards on his ribbon bar and be the only dude not to get the EK1..... the only stumbling block is the fact that the boards seem to be a bit later... unless boards like this were in fact being worn at the outbreak of the war...

Yup, for me it is.... only thing that could have made it a tad better would have been a name tag, as is I am about 70% tending towards a name....

Here is a nice Haube, Named to Augustine Franz Fr. Brück..... I cannot find him in the WW1 rolls, I am assuming he served before the war, but not in the war, I have seen that with a few prewar groups I have. There was an Oberleutnant in the 1890s named August Freiherr von Brück who may have been his Father or uncle....

Here is a 1914 issued Bavarian Feldmütze to the 1 Tel. Batl. (Cockades replaced) ... you can see it was pretty worn and the guy made it smaller with a few tucks ans stiches... but what is really interesting is he added a peak by hand!! now sewn in between liner and the field gray... just tacked on! I wonder if you could buy peaks??

Hi I will get some pics done asap. I forgot to add the sentence above... I think Augustine may have been the son of August, following the dad into the regiment.

I just purchased a Bavarian Picklehaube with silver fittings, could be pionier, could also be Leib Regiment... Unfortunately the unit stamp was scraped away and a difficult to read name was written in its place... with much magnifying I see it says "Augustine Franz Fr Brück" which I assume "Augustine Franz Freiherr von Brück". It is an other ranks Haube, A prewar one. Now... I find a Oberleutnant August Freiherr von Brück in Leib Regiment up until 1900 at least.... And this guy... Diplomat *7.8.1859 München †8.9.1941 Kirchdorf am Haunpold seit 1881 im bayer. Justizdienst 1884 kgl. bayer. Kammerjunker 1885 Einberufung in den Auswärtigen Dienst (konsularische Laufbahn) 1887–1897 an versch. Vertretungen in Sofia, Nizza, Warschau Kowno und Casablanca 1893 Kgl. bayer. Kämmerer 1897–1914 Konsul in Riga, Havana, Valparaíso, La Paz und Warschau 1915–1916 Vertreter des AA beim Generalgouverneur für Polen 1918–1920 Gesandter in Helsingfors 1920 Versetzung in den einstweiligen Ruhestand Augustine Franz seems not to have served in the war.... which is not unknown for somel men who did their military service before the war. Would a logical conclusion be that he had did his military service in 1900s, as a one year volunteer or something along those lines, but never served in the war, so no records on ancestry? Thanks Chris

OK, I have just purchased a superb Field Grey Tunic to a major in one of my Bavarian regiments. The tunic is of a style introduced just a couple of years before the outbreak of the war, the Shoulder boards are the early subdued ones which came out in 1914. I went through the list of every major in the regiment, also those from the regiment serving in other units. The tunic, which is close to mint, has the loops for a ribbon bar of 4 awards (7cm) ... It never had loops for an EK1, does not seem to have had an EK ribbon in the button hole. Going through the officers list of the regiment and their records, just about every major in the regiment at some stage in the war had an EK1, even those who transferred to another regiment received an EK1and it is unlikely that they never used their old uniform at some stage later in their careers. Only one guy seems to have left the building with just a ribbon bar with 4 awards... a Major killed in the first week of the war. He never needed the loops for a bigger bar, never needed the loops for an EK1.... I would say it is a slam dunk, the only Major in the regiment that fits.... if it was not for the fact that he has the early subdued boards. Subdued boards were officially approved in September 1914... would it be a big stretch of the imagination to assume that they were already unofficially being worn in some form on field uniforms prewar /August 1914? A friend has a WW1 German Navy tunic, it was ordered before the young officer went to sea, was completed and delivered to his residence... arriving months after he had died in action... could this be a similar case? thereby having the subdued boards? Any thoughts? Thanks Chris

Hi. I picked up 2 pics on ebay, then he offered me this by mail... nothing really sexy, but better than nothing... I did not see the album unfortunately

This is simply one of many hundreds of Reservist Beer mugs, to a nice regiment, but its not going to get people punching each other to buy it..... but a little research made my heart beat faster....

Here is a nice one... "In memory of Sturmbataillon 8 yours Otto Wichmann"

A 1914 Model to a young Lt Killed on the 20th of August 1914.... I am assuming that is why it is in almost mint condition......

That is him... I think in the knights get up was just for fancydress ?

Hi, I have to check again... you must remember, the troops in Europe were just 4 of 7 Battalions... as is the French way they formed the " 4e Régiment de Marche de Zouaves " ... the "de Marche" units are usually composite units formed for the duration of the war... taking the best elements to make a unit for the front while leaving the rest back to carry on with their usual duties.... The French troops left in Maroc during the war were the men least fit for service on the Western front for whatever reason. I will try and find a reference but I have a note the 7th company was in maroc... 4 in France.. am not sure where the other two were, maybe used piecemeal to reinforce the 4 in France I had some nice 4eme Zouave documents so i had made a few notes on the unit ?

Hi, very hard to read... most of the Regiment served in France, the 7th battalion spent the war in Maroc.