Chris Boonzaier

Hi Ulster, I had found and translated the article about this on WAF about 5-7 years ago. If was an order that can around in the last half of the war (if I remember it dated from the last half of the war. Usually awards had to be approved by the guys division, but guys wounded on a "silver Level" were usually in hospitals in the homeland. In these cases the military districts could award them an EK2 without going through the difficult process of getting a citation and authorization from the division. Usually signed by the stellv. General of the district. Silver justified the EK2, no need to seek a reason. I dont think it would increase the number of EKs in the stats as I assume these awards are better documented than the ones made at a division at the front. Best Chris

Is it possible that they are more AWB ?

Guy on the left has a nice set up... just one ammo pouch and the gasmask bag...

It is more true to say in WW1 guys who were invalided out of the service got a EK2, many guys were wounded and did not get an EK before the end of the war. They were guys who probably applied and often got after the war.

I have a few Militärpässe where the men were sent off to work in factories in early 1918. was there an official order for this to happen? it cannot have just been done "comme ca.." Best Chris

It is worth pointing out here that his standing with his commander, officers in his unit etc would have had little influence on him getting the EK or not. The Garde Reserve Pionier Regiment was not authorised to make, or approve any EK awards. Awards were made by a commanding general, in the case of the FW soldiers, the commander of the Division or Korps they were attached to DURING tha action. This as we know was usually a zillion miles away from base. So if a FW soldier took part in an action and was awarded the EK, Reddemann and co would have found out about it waaaay after the event. I doubt also that they would be able to influence a general in who he awards the crosses to. The logical process would have been... FW men take part in an attack with the III. Btl. IRXXX. Commander of the III. Btl. cites men for their actions, regimental commander makes recomendations for the award and sends it up to the division (or Korps). The General approves the awards, the men get their crosses. 2 weeks later Pionier XXX walks into the admin office of the FW base and says "I got a cross, there is nothing you can do about it because a full general awarded it to me." and... that was that.

Its worth pointing out that none of the groups in the Museum in Istanbul have painted ones. They are of course mainly officers groups. Either officers were given better quality pieces, or they bought better ones. Here is a thought.... Did the Turks actually give the Germans/Austrians etc the star? Or did the men just get a certificate and the German high command had to find stars for the men to wear? >if that is the case, maybe the Germans could not get the Stars from the Turks and had to order them from BB and co....

Hi, I have googled myself to death... but am still confused... How was a WW1 regiment organised? 3 battalions? How were the companies divided up? Any help would be greatly appretiated. best Chris

I imagine they were not bound by the rules, but as the companies were using the dies for the LDO rims it must have been easier to just make the new imprial ones using those frames than have to juggle 2 sets of dies?

Ahhh... OK, I was also swamped by the choice. Will post my finding later. Best Chris

I ask, because I have found a very interesting dokument with the answer... but have never ever read what happened to him anywhere else.

From what I have gleaned.... Hitler was recommended for his Iron Cross by a Jewish officer named Hugo Gutmann... Is there any record of what happened to Gutmann after the war? Thankinks Chris

This one is kinda cool, especially as none seem to be dresses according to the rules.... The Bonos on the right seem to be French?

The Back

Here is a neat little photo. Am not a Flying badge fan, but these caught my eye...

Hi, nope, not done by the unit in the name of FA, but from from the chancellery with Blindprägesiegel. Hope to have a pic in a day or so. Best Chris

Unteroffizier Alfred Bohmann of the IR139 was awarded an Annerkenungs Urkunde from Friedrich August in October 1918. I assume this is an unusual honour as I have never seen one of these docs before. Question is... where does this fit in? Must be seen as higher than an EK awarded by a divisional commander... but there was no medal to go with it.... Anyone have an idea if he had other interesting medals (i.e. more than EK2, EK1 etc? Thanks Chris

"Meantime, Greif and Alcantara were engaged in an old fashioned, close range slug fest, with each ship gaining repeated hits upon the other ship's waterline. The Raider's port forward 15cm. gun was knocked out, her fuel tanks were set alight, and a third shell penetrated her hull to explode in the engine room." Our guy was a Heizer, so I guess he was below decks when he died....

Having been out of collecting crosses for a number of years now, I am a bit behind in the latest level of maker identification. I recently picked this up, nicely made piece. I assume from the catch and pin it is WW2 era?

I assume these guys are doughboys? Can anyone pin down the uniform pattern?

Arrived this week.... while our guy above got captivity and an EK, our guy below got a watery grave.... It is fantastic to find 2 bits of history to the same ship...

I think we should not underestimate how few people back them in Germany could actually drive a truck/car. The Ersatz Abteilung was probably told "send 5 drivers to Rome, that way our patrols dont have to ride bicycles all the time..." and off he went eager to visit the big city fleshpots and get the clap for the first time...

Cloth skull badges always come in twos ;-)

Hi, I am guessing 17-18. It could be that the 2 pin backs are EK1 and "Something" as opposed to EK1 and wound badge. It becomes a question... which do not belong to the jacket, the loops or shoulder boards (as I think it unlikely that a Lt had so much on his chest). I am pretty confident that the loops are original to the piece (will show them when the piece arrives, they are a bit confusing) Best Chris

Hi, To be added to the folloowing thread... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=30783&st=0 I have just bought a Prussian NAVAL Gedenkblatt for a sailor killed when his ship went down. I have never seen one of these before. What is really intereting, I have an EK awarded to a guy who was on the ship when it went down. Iron Cross for one guy, wooden cross for the other. Would still be interested in the statistics if anyone has them... Thanks Chris