Chris Boonzaier

Much thanks guys, I am swamped at the moment and it took some time, once again I tried for the spirit of the text, not a word for word translation..... So open are the conversations between the Prince and his men, a tone the Prince appreciated and often lead to lengthy conversations. He was a master at probing the emotions in the men’s hearts. I often met men in the trenches whose spirits had been lifted by a chat with the Prince. He had the ability of understanding the inner struggles and helping the men cope with depressions. He was always able to find the right words and many of the men appreciate that. When the Battalion arrived in the front line his Majesty took great care to assure the welfare of each company. Through his personal engagement he was able to better the conditions and implement changes to the benefit of the men. Everyone recognized this and the men were proud to belong to the “Prinzen-Bataillon”. We were proud of our commander and the men all made sure, at every opportunity, that they were worthy of the trust he put in them. He not only took care of the physical well being of the men but also the spiritual. There were regular church services which his Majesty always attended. I must say the men had great confidence in the Princes belief. I remember one occasion vividly. It was X-Mas 1915. At the Church Service at Pokuvac H.R.H. stood with the other officers ahead of the battalion. At the passing of the procession he knelt in deep respect before God Almighty. We were touched by the sight of the Prinz kneeling humbly before his God. It was the Princes last X-Mas. It was also an example to all, the coolness and serenity with which the Prinz endured the hardships of the Serbian campaign. He carried not only the burden of responsibility but in many cases also the worries and suffering of the simple soldiers. Personally barve, often too much so, Prince “always forward” ignored danger. Shouldering all the hardships of soldiering the Prince stood before us, the consummate soldier and nobleman, worthy to demand our all. I must admit… at the Roten Turmpaß we often found ourselves in desperate situations. Enemy to the front, the rear

Hi Gunnar, thanks! How does one access the BAMA files? Best, Chris

hmmm... I do not think there wqas a real 4eme Battalion in Morocco 1916-18... can you give your reference and we can try and work it out from there. Best Chris

I am looking for details... maybe even a Photo of my Ass ! Friedrich Ass to be precise... who seems to have been a Jäger Officer .... A very rare name indeed for some reason.... Can anyone help me find my ass?? Thanks Chris

Hi, this tunic excites and confuses me..... It looks like a Bavarian Jäger (with crown buttons).... but at some stage the sleeves had Brandenburg cuffs added! You can see the jacket has more wear than the cuffs, but if you look under the cuffs, you see that the jacket was worn with them for some time.... can anyone figure out a unit that may have had these??

Fantastic !!!! I really have to get there and it is not that far away....

a simple Label... "Reichsheer Oblt Hocker Chef der russichen Hilfstruppe" in a WW1 German Jäger Officers cap that was part of a Museum collection.... I find the following in a book called "Auswärtiges Amt und Geheim Dienst" by Richard Mergel ... but I just have the snippet on the screen.... Can anyone take a stap at a first name? It is a super long shot....

He could well have been a medic, probably behind the frontlines, many of them did not get an EK

Hi Guys Thanks a million for the info, that helps indeed...

The mix of titles leads down many a wrong path on google... but this is the man, and what could be a photo of him...... Can anyone take a stab at it? Thanks Chris Could it be this guy...? "Im Jahre 1913 stand der - am 4. Aug. 1890 in Berlin geborene - Leutnant Eitel-Leopold Graf v. Schlitz genannt v. Görtz und v. Wrisberg bei dem in Berlin garnisonierten 3. Garde - Regiment zu Fuß. Er schied nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg als Hauptmann a.D. aus dem Regiment aus."

Nope, but I am guessing that a lot of their training course revolved around that book on indirekt fire ?

Jup indeed, they were made by a workshop for invalided soldiers. A Civvie could buy a box (to raise funds for the invalides) then send them off to the front, where they could be shared at the unit.... I think for small cigars

OK, here are a bunch of MG related manuals... including some rare ones.... for your viewing pleasure....

For some reason I have a collection of these......

Hi, yes indeed... I think it is copied from the French.... When a unit was cited in the French army the participants of the action got a document just like this with their name added confirming they were part of the action.

Or he constantly pissed off all the others by starting every sentence with "When I was in the flamethrowers...." ?

Flamethrower Groups and documents are a small sideline of mine... they do not cause much work as I only ever find things every 5-6 years to add to the small collection.... here is one to a young Flammenwerfer Pionier who joined the FW regt relatively late, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for an attack on the positions in the Bois de Mättle at Sondernach in Alsace in June 1918, just a couple of weeks before the Americans took over the sector. A description of the action was provided to the participants in a form printed by the 4th Cavalry Division (addressed to the participants). I am pretty happy with the group ?

I think such pins existed for everything from the Bee Keepers association, to the Local Carnival group to Freikorps.... if an unidentified pin pops up there is maybe a 0.034% chance it has a FK association....

Indeed... but it does make the Bavarian medals proportionally much more comman than the Prussian GMVK

Aaarrgghh... I do not remember why I posted Prewar... there must have been some info that I have long forgotten, or a simple brain fart...

A huge factor was the need to climb the ladder EK2. EK1. GMVK.... Which of course took time.... A bavarian could win the Golden Bravery Medal in the first week of the war for one very brave act... then pick up an EK2 2 years later, and a bavarian MVK 3rd class with swords a year after that.... Or he could JUST earn the golden Bravery medal.... It is a huge difference.... the Bavarians focused on the degree of bravery and that is reflected in their awards... the Prussians focused on ticking the boxes....

Not my collecting field, and I will move it on... but I picked it up because I had a "Rick Flashback".... what is pretty interesting... it is not to a bavarian... which is kinda unusual for these...

Thank you guys! Another step towards compületing this!

To be honest... I do not know. And unless it is from a Vet, I am not sure anyone does. GIs probably took tens of thousands of the things over there during the war... I remember in Paris in the early 90s, I was on leave and they had Vietnam engtaved Zippos all over the place, in Surplas stores, in chique cloting stores.... all Vietnam era dated... I am assuming that if an unengraved Zippo is found inVietnam, it is engraved within the next 24 hours.... and reaslitically... is there any way of telling when it was engraved?

The problem there is that Zippos have a date code on the bottom, so if there is a Desert Storm design with a 1994 dated Zippo then you know it is not good. Added to that, it would be financially not interessting for them to stock them "just in case" someone comes by 30 years later for an "Op Granby" one. You risk producing 50 extra "Op Granby" Zippos and selling only 3-4 of them over the next couple of decades because most people would not think of going directly to the factory, but would probably go to ebay to get one. I am thinking generic Military designs are kept in stock, stuff they know has always sold well and always will... e.g. USMC, or 1st Cav design, or US Jump wings.... there will always be a need for that....