Chris Boonzaier

Dressing up?

At the rear, some Waffenmeister... recognise the well armed one from above?

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Hi, here you go... some officers from the regiment

If ANYONE has a ribbon bar with EK2 and Saxe-Meiningen War Honor Cross.... pleeeeeeease trade it to me! I need it to complete the tunic.

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This tunic was made for the officer just after the action described here... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40047/75001.html I did some improved photos today....

I was sent the following rather angry email..... "How do you KNOW he was an offensive pioneer officer? He was probably a VERY nice man, loved by his family, respected by his comrades, kind to kittens, liked sunset walks on the beach. It isn't like you to be so judgemental." Like with many things in this hobby, you have to go with educated guesses. "How do you KNOW Germans snipers did not wear purple helmets as night camouflage!" or "How do you KNOW that .."... certain things you just "know".... like tankers are lazy buggers who dont want to walk, Artillerymen hide waaaay behind the front, pioneers are obnoxious and if it wasn't for the infantry (Queen of battle), wars would be a waste of time. So, I stick with my original... this is an offensive Pionier Leutnant!

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This is about as perfect a M10 Jacket as you will ever find. Only down side is the officers collar was added. Up side to that is that we can identify who it belonged to... he was killed in 1915 and I assum he had left this jacket safe at home. http://www.kaiserscross.com/170622/170643.html Until I get the "right" set of LT boards, this will stay with some simple OR boards.

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Am issue 1915 jacket with officers collar added. I have 2 original Sandbags but made these copies as they are better to hang on the uniform. The grenade on the belt is original, the grenades in the sandbags are newly made sticks with original caps.

So basically any Garde Unit could have it? Best Chris

I am wondering if it was not a way to place guys suffering from shell shock into positions where they could still serve? One of my guys landed in a hospital, then genesungs Kompagnie without any wound being entered in the Militärpass, then went to work in a factory. He did not seem to be a machine specialist at all. Must look through my books and dig out the other examples.

Hi, I will check the threadfs when I get home to see if it was enlarged postwar. I thought it was the closer loops for the ribbon bar and the further apard ones for the medal bar. The Right chest has 2 loops that ould fit a BBco Gallipoli Star perfectly. Unfortunately there is no name to the tunic, and even the boards may or may not belong...

Hi, its good. market value would be about EUR35-40 I think..

The following is a first attempt to track the Companies of the Sturmbataillon Rohr. It is not complete, and there are errors. Version 1 is based on the locations where members of the battalion were killed in action. That means that actions where no members were killed are missing from the list. I hope as time goes by to add to and correct the list (There are a couple of obvious errors, but I need to follow up and see why they are listed that way. Entries “Verdun (?)” mean there is no specific sector mentioned in the KIA list) 1st Company 11.05.15 Maison Blanche near Arras 25.05.15 Souchez 27.05.15 Loretto Höhe 17.06.15 Petit Vimy 15.10.15 Hartmannsweilerkopf 16.11.15 Hartmannsweilerkopf 28.12.15 Hirzstein 29.12.15 Hartmannsweilerkopf 08.01.16 Hirtzstein 23.02.16 Verdun (?) 27.02.16 Verdun (?) 02.03.16 Verdun (?) 08.03.16 Verdun (?) 11.04.16 Caillette Wald 16.04.16 Verdun (?) 07.05.16 Vaux 07.05.16 Bruleschlucht 23.06.16 Chapitrewald 07.08.16 Mouzon (Training?) 08.02.17 Cernay(Mouzon (Training) 17.03.17 Lombut (Training) 19.06.17 Cernay/Mouzon (Training) 29.06.17 Höhe 304 23.10.17 Höhe 326 27.03.18 Faverolles 28.03.18 Faverolles 30.03.18 Mont Didier 15.07.18 St Hilaire-Souain 29.09.18 Cunel 04.10.18 Cunel (Fays Wald) 08.10.18 Murveaux 2nd Company 08.06.15 Givenchy 17.06.15 Souchez 23.06.15 Souchez 12.10.15 Schratzmännle 27.12.15 Hirtzstein 08.01.16 Hirtzstein 23.02.16 Herbebois 02.03.16 South of Douaumont 10.03.16 Ornes 28.03.16 Faverolles 20.04.16 Verdun (?) 07.05.16 Fort Douaumont 08.05.16 Fort Douaumont 05.06.16 Fort Vaux 23.06.16 Fleury Dorf 11.07.16 Fort Souville 01.08.16 Souville Schlucht 05.08.16 Souville Schlucht 17.11.16 Hardaumont Rücken 24.01.17 Doncourt (Training) 29.06.16 Höhe 304 04.07.17 Höhe 304 24.09.17 Chaume Wald 26.12.17 North of Bezonvaux 21.03.18 St Quentin 23.03.18 Toulle – Offoy Strasse 13.04.18 Schloss Renaud/Noyon 30.04.18 Schloss renaud/Noyon 02.08.18 Doncourt (Training) 29.09.18 Cunel 04.10.18 Cunel 09.10.18 Haraumont 10.10.18 Haraumont 3rd Company 26.05.16 Verdun (?) 08.06.16 Thiaumont Ferme 11.06.16 Verdun (?) 12.06.16 Thiaumont Ferme 01.08.16 Kalte Erde 01.08.16 Souville Nase 05.08.16 Souville Nase 17.08.16 Doncourt (Training) 08.07.17 Chemain des dames 14.07.17 South East of Courtecon 19.07.17 Craonne 22.07.17 Winterberg 26.07.17 Hurtebise 28.07.17 Hurtebise Nase/Chemain des Dames 05.09.17 Doncourt (Training) 24.09.17 Vaux Kreuz 06.10.17 Höhe 344 20.10.17 Vaux Kreuz 29.10.17 Vaux Kreuz 21.03.18 Savy 22.03.18 Roupy 15.07.18 St Marie a Py 05.10.18 Cunel 06.10.18 Cunel 09.10.18 Kronprinzhöhe Verdun 10.10.18 Kronprinzhöhe Verdun 4th Company 05.03.16 Verdun (?) 10.05.16 Verdun (?) 31.05.16 Caillette Wald 01.06.16 Caillette Wald 02.06.16 Caillette Wald 21.06.16 Fleury/Chapitrewald 24.07.16 Kalte Erde 01.08.16 Kalte Erde 10.08.16 Doncourt (Training) 28.12.16 Chaume Wald 10.01.17 Vaux Kreuz 25.05.17 Chemain des dames 03.06.17 Winterberg 20.06.17 Vauxeillon 09.09.17 Höhe 344 04.10.17 Doncourt (Training) 05.10.17 Hindenburg Schlucht 19.11.17 Doncourt (Training) 21.03.1918 Urvillers 27.03.18 Montdidier 15.07.18 St Souplet 5th Company 27.02.16 Fort Douaumont 03.03.16 Ornes 03.09.16 Chapitrewald 26.09.16 Doncourt (Training) 10.12.16 Verdun (?) 01.08.17 Malancourt Esnes Road 09.11.17 Chaumewald 11.12.17 Doncourt (Training) 21.03.18 Urvillers 11.05.18 Boussois 21.08.18 St Quentin 12.10.18 Haraumont 04.10.18 Cunel 05.10.18 Cunel

have to be pretty stupid to get in a plane with a pilot named Skidmore!

Hi, I would not agree on that one. I have traded them all off when I got rid of my WW2 stuff so i dont have the docs and proofs at hand, but you NEVER see a WW2 EK doc signed by a doctor. Although the award was more or less a formality, it still lay in the hands of a general. For that reason the docs are signed/approved by a higher authority than the hospital. A side criteria was that the awardee must be "clean", ie. no question that he was running away when he got his award, I assume the higher authority also checked this. It is probable on occasion that a doctor handed over the cross itself, but we must distinguish between the guy awarding the cross and the guy handing it out. best Chris

To be noted... It is NOT a postwar "Thanks for your service" document. It specifically mentions "Besonderen Annerkennung". It is not (like most EK docs) "On behalf of the head cheese" but has Fred August directly citing him. Fred August probably never knew our man existed, but I am guessing this comes from way up the food chain anyway.....

This is the big mystery...

OK, Rick cannot find any high awards for this guy, so lets seee if our Saxon collectors know the document. First off, a fancy certificate citing him for his brave fighting in Flanders in October 1917. Have seen this doc in a number of forms, this particular one at battalion level...

OK, here we go... looks to be a generic late war kind of litzen? (I assume noone is going to say "ahhhhh! in that shade of grey it can only be from Jäger BAtln 14!") It has pionier Lt boards on it, but I think the boards are not original to the piece.

OK, here are the loops... I am not sure what the horizontal loop along the bottom is there for.... I am guessing the shoulder boards (slip on types) are not original to the piece and that this may actually have been from a higher ranking officer than a simple LT.