Chris Boonzaier

Hi, although that one is the Begleitschreiben and not the award doc. (It has "Anlagen - 1/Besitzzeugnis") botton left. What unit was your guy in? Best Chris

Sorry for the delay, I have finally dug the doc up... Here you go...

Here is the tag that prommpted the question... thanks for the info guys!

Here is a nice Verdun/Argonne tag.... 20th Pionier Batln...

Here is the previous owner... Feldwebel Biechl, 11. Komp. 2. b.R.I.R. I think the Gamaschen he has on are the pair sold before mine (There were 3 pairs all in all, 2 like mine and a canvas pair). You can see the leather strap at the top, and the different shade on the lining on the rim. And a bonus with the EK2 on the pic :-)

Me to, Hartung Expertise are worth nothing anyway. Best Chris

That was your 1000th post ;-)

Here you go....

What is possible is that he was wounded and invalided out, and that the doc was issued by the Alpenkorps some years later. It is not unknown for higher formations to issue docs to guys who had not served with them.... Have a Karpathen Korps doc to a guy who was wounded and invalided out long before the Karpaten Korps was formed..

Huh ??? What was he doing in the 150th ???? He must have made it to the Alpenkorps by 1918 though.... The history of the 150th shows a big attack in September of 1916 with the 150th mixed in with bavarian units.... maybe he was attached to the 150th as a Funker or something? Best Chris

Do you think it could be "Clotz" (Lt. d. Res) ?

Hi, I want to specify, i do not metal detect, everything I have found on a battlefield has been there to see, either on a ploughed field, or in a new firebreak... So finding a watch was really cool early this year. last week a Friend gave me a comb found in German positions at Verdun....

Here is a thought... Maybe this was his pre Hindie bar? When he got the Ehrenkreuz in the early 30s he had some loose stuff and this bar, and they took off what they needed to make up his 3rd reich Bar?

Unfortunately there is no unit entered on these... usually you can hope for a stamp and read the signature... Anyone guess which unit Wagensonner was in? Secret lies in the signature I guess. Probably an Lt or LT d Res.

I suppose it was an "Oh Sht!" moment for the guy who broke it...

As there is nothing higher than gold, I imagine the most he could do would be to change his WW1 Gold wound to a 3rd Reich Gold Wound, just to show the last wound was WW2 era. Best Chris

Hi Tom! Thanks for that. The reference I had had them involved in the fighting for the Souville Nase later that year, but that places them there right at the start. Perfect!

Has he tried to mount all the EK equivelents??? Best Chris

And we even found a French trench mortar round, ironic to find it there as we have only ever seen a handful of these at Verdun..... Have more pics, but as the digital camera broke, I have to wait for the negatives to be developed....

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Okay, back from Verdun where we walked the ground where his jacket was shredded by a French Trench mortar....

Hi Glenn, thanks, the 5th Army link seems to be the way to look... it was at Verdun and in the Argonne, so I think that nailsit ! Muchos Gracias!

Hi, I may be looking in all the wrong places, but does anyone know where the 20th Pionier Battalion belonged? I have a feeling they were corps troops and not attached to a division. I have a reference to them being at Verdun in 1916, but nothing more... Originally from the XVI AK area in Germany. Thanks Chris

Hi, I don't think it would correspond to a stammrollen number, it would not be usual to stamp issue stuff with an individual soldiers number. A Kammer number may be possible, but usually each company looks after its stuff and how many companies have 1407 bits of equipment? My thought was maybe it corresponds to a weapon number? Some weapons are issued to people who may also get Binoculars. Maybe a rifle with scope or pistol. So, I am guessing it may respond to the pistol number of an NCO or officer. Best Chris

I was lucky enough to get a Bino case for the Dienstglass 08 to one of my top units. It is stamped B.2.J. 3.C. 1407 So, 3rd company of the 2nd Bavarian Jäger battalion... But what is the 1407 ? I have a wild theory, but it is probably way off. Does anyone else have an idea?