Chris Boonzaier

After a looooong wait, i finally found one... perfect prewar 1904 model tunic that has had post 1913 the lay down collar modification done. To a captain in the York and Lancaster regiment. he must have served prewar, but he seems to have been in the Intel Corps during the war... and arrived in France only in August 1918. So I guess he was chasing spies in Britain during the war? Intel Corps 14-18 seems to have been an interesting mix of men...

Hi, sure, but I still maintain that disruption is the general purpose of camo with or without lines. Nowdays we would do it differently. I assume that this was still early days and they assumed the lines would serve the purpose you mention. Modern theory is black is bad as it draws the eye (humans genetically programed to look where it is dark) so black is found less and less in modern cammo. Still, i agree that this was the pioneering days of the art and they were trying to find the right way of doing things... its easy for me to sit here almost 100 years later and say "ha ha... what were they thinking!" Best Chris Best Chris

Hi, I understand the concept of camouflage, What I meant was... why did they have the black stripes? they could have had JUST the color. Did someone back them think black stripes between colors IMPROVED the cammo, or did it just make it look neater (each color in a "frame")? Modern studies show black should not be used in camo pattern as the eye is automatically drawn to black. Best Chris

Clondyk was reamed... and still gave a positive ...what an idiot...

http://cgi.ebay.de/Eisernes-Kreuz-2-Klasse-Verleihungsurkunde_W0QQitemZ250552897981QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMilitaria?hash=item3a561dd1bd The same fake coming in again.... can someone post the pic? I have not yet figured out how to since they changed it.

flares

Another rare pice, a relic condition 17 model munition. usually used with an outer sleeve as a form of bouncing bomb...

a very rare projectile used between the 15 and 16 model munition. This one dated June 1916

16 munition variations...

The 15 mdl munition

Left a rare bavarian one from the firm "Bing".. right is the usual one from Wolff in Berlin...

Am working on a page with irish gunner... thought I would give a little pic preview... all in legal condition for country of residence....

It is the standard format doc for the navy (and attached units), Best Chris

Hi, I agree 100%, the CdG was a fairer system than the british MM as it allowed the regiment to reward its men. I am sure many British soldiers did things that were not rewarded as the "much higher ups" were having a bad day. Best Chris

Wonderful.... I almost owned one of these years ago....

Hi Wlad, super to see and your collection again!!

I think a comparisson is very very difficult. The CdG is a very much more flexible award than the British MM or German Iron cross. I was recently reading that initially it was to be awarded at Division level and there were worries that if awarded at Regt level there may be abuses. In the end it was decided to award it at different levels all the way down to regiment. This descision leads to a very, very variable award. Whereas a CdG at Army level may correspond with a british MM, a regimental CdG seems to have no other equivelent. I have a couple of groups to really brave front fighters who have 8-9 CdG awards. This is not possible in the British or German system. Even the German EK2 needed to be awarded by a commanding General. unfortunately/fortunately the collecting world seems to ignore the difference between the levels of the award. Fortunate for me as a buyer of course.... ;-)

I wonder why they came up with the black bands between the colours? For neatness ?

Interesting... company sports or testing an idea how to swing men over barbed wire entanglments? Best Chris

Super! Can I use that for my article? Thanks Chris

Hi, In the case of this award, the tanks were attached to the 9th Algerian Tirailleur regiment for the attack. as soon as the attack was over they moved on. Probably the best system as it meant they could always be attached to attacking units and were not left sitting around with units who had been pulled out of combat. Best Chris

I am busy doing a write up on this action, but in the meantime, a Croix De Guerre document to a man who was 2nd in command of a Saint Chammond tank. He recieved the CdG for an action in mid 1918....

Hi, the most comman imperial ones were the prewar ones given to the guys showing their national service. These can often be found in older guys Militär passes. There are also ones given out at the end of the war, but this seems to have depended on the unit. prewar ones just have the regiment and if he was a good boy. end of war ones have where he served/fought and awards and transfers. Basically they are mostly a form of discharge paper with rough details of service. best Chris

For years I had a 4 bar crimea, Indian Mutiny, Turkish Crimea and LSGC to a man of I Troop. A great bit of history to own. I think on mine the troop was entered on the medal as well. Best Chris

Some nice pics guys, wish I still had some WW2 era police uniforms to show, but they are long gone. the southern cross insignia is interesting. I did not know it was officially worn.