Chris Boonzaier

Had a bit of Ebay luck... a Large Photo of Ludendorff with a dedication signature on the bottom...

I tend to think Pre WW1... lots of mention of Service... but none of war... Some kind of Regiments Feier thing... "Das Regiment wurde laut allerhöchstem Entschluss zum 16. Juli 1814 als "Grenadier-Garde-Regiment" aus den Grenadierkompanien der bayerischen Linieninfanterie-Regimenter gebildet." And I bet these were handed out on the 16th July 1914.... :-)

The seller had this as a possible 1870 or 1914 EK pic.... I am 99.999% sure it is just post 1870? Can anyone figure out the uniform? Thanks Chris

Here are some guys from 101... is it my imaginagion or do they have covers like mine?

I had to buy one after seeing Claudio's... Are these Pre or post WW1 ?

Bingo. How I wish I were that person... :-(

That would be great... but I doubt anyone could afford it... Would have needed to be a Museum donation to keep it together...

I had one of these... makes me cry to think I sold it....

Hi, how comman was this? I sometimes find fantastic acts of bravery, up to and including saving a Regt Commander that were rewarded with just a CdG. My MM groups seem to have been given the MM after a number of citations and on top of that, having earned it through Hard work/Time in the unit. The reason for my enquiry is, how likely is it that an "other Rank" man can be awarded MM or LdH for an act of bravery within a week of arriving at the front for the first time? There seems to have been at a least a system of proving yourself over a period of time for MM ot LdH ? Best Chris

Hi, would it be correct to say in WW1 a soldier would get a Medaille Militaire with about 5 CdG citations, then a Legion D Honneur with about 10? Is there a "Fixed" rule of thumb? Thanks Chris

A wiiiiild guess... can it be US?

I think a lot more detail would be needed... accounting for his movements throughout the war. I would assume he served in the regular army, got his EKs there, then moved on to funny stuff. He would have had an EK2 as well. To say anything we would need his full wartime details. It is possible he started the war in the army then moved on to spying. Best Chris

A silly question, but I thought Islamic countries forbid faces and images of people being shown on their awards?

Indeed, it went over the for sale table here... opened up the thread and thought..."Hallo, Hallo...Whats all this then..." and Whammo... Robin had been there first. Make me wanna cry...

Going back to the church service, the words of the priest hit close to home and energized us. If the service eight days before the assault was the last. As I had left the church I prayed that I would be able to go to many more church services, now after 8 days I could hear gods words again. May the holy spirit take our fates in his hand and give us many more church services and church visits. I played various hymns on my mouth organ. It will be the last night here in Reville as it seems we will have good weather tomorrow. Wrote another long letter before sleeping. 21st February, 1st Assault Day. At 8:00am our Artillery greets us with their fire. It began slowly then after an hour had become a steady drumfire. It was a steady rumble of thunder. It was the sign that our Infantry assault would begin that evening. By 5:00pm the Frenchmen will be crushed. From a height behind Reville I was able to watch the clouds of smoke from the bombardment. The French artillery returns fire, Crepion, Etray and the surrounding area are hit. We are further behind these towns and are not effected. At 2:00pm the French artillery has set Damvillers alight. I have seen 11 aero planes and 5 balloons. This evening, after the drum fire, we will attack. I am convinced, that when the Heeresleitung orders an attack, it will succeed. With excellent leadership and Command and an enemy taken by surprise. The Infanterie Regiment 159 has to attack the Haumontwald in the evening. After the fall of Haumont, our regiment will take over and continue the push to “Namenlose Wäldchen” (Nameless Copse) and Namenlose Ravine by daybreak. As we advance we hear that Haumont is in our possession. We march 12 hours through the night Etray – Antonius Kreuz – Moirey Wald.. through our old trenches. In Etray the church bell sounded 4:00am.. a strange feeling. Due to the bad weather we advanced rather slowly. At 6:00 we reached open ground. Soon bullets were flying past us. Moving through the Haumont Wald we soom took “Namellose Wald” (II. Batl ran into us), Barrage gives a bad feeling. French trapped behind it, surrender without bayonet attack. 22nd Feb 1916 (2nd assault day) AQlready one night spend outside. Spent some hours this morning under heavy artillery fire. Many losses. 4 Dead and 12 wounded. (Untffz. Hahnefeld, only son of his old mother) 1. Komp. Leutnant Kettler seriously wounded – jaw shot, tongue split in two 2. Offiz.Stellvetr. Hilgers “Blockwurst Anton” Eye shot, serious case. 3. Vizefeldw. Berlin- shot in the back The whole area has been churned up by our artillery and has French barbed wire running through it. Death seemed close at hand when the French artillery fired their barrages. Shelter in a shellhole or other cover was desperately sought. More than a few comrades died out here. When the French artillery died down and it became lighter the battalion assembereld in the ravine. 10:00am assault on the positions 53-54. I am sent off with 10 men on an officers patrol to see to which extent the positions are still occupied and to check the possibility of occupying heights 58-59. As soon as we started cutting the barbed wire French machine gun bullets whizzed overhead. As we advanced artillery fell in the treeline as well. I reached the objective with just one man, (Reservist Becker). One man had been shot in the head and lay on his face. With Reservist Becker I sent a message back, soon two companies of the battalion arrived and took height 58-59. We right away dug in to protect us from the shellfire. The French were firing Shrapnel and explosives.

C'Mon Robin... soon you wont need that one anymore... ;-)

THAT !... is one good looking award!

55

5

1

1st assault day

To avoid wearing Speedy out too soon... maybe another german speaking member can jump in and help out? The following pages are the "money shot"... including the 1st teo days of the Verdun offensive...

Hi, Never fear, this will stay as it is. best Chris

Hi, Indeed, the classic markings as you have on your site. You can bet there is a huge desire to "clean" and see how much of the finish remained, but this has been in a box since WW2, until the guy I know picked it up about 4 years ago... even then he considered cleaning and was told "finger weg!"... and I have resisted the temptation as well. best Chris

Quite a bit wider than the others... maybe from a different country?