Chris Boonzaier

I must agree with the document, not a period one.

I think grenades had the makers initials on them

Ahhh... super, thanks! That 10th of August 14 date had confused the hell out of me.... seems there is so much more to it!

Its too small to see the arm.

I was just reading something interesting.... apparently this is not a commercial bullet, it is a British Army one, called a "Tweedie bullet"

Here is a very Ypres related group.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/41815/55201.html

Are you sure? this has them with regular ones? If they did have nickel ones I have something to add to my "to buy" list...

.... said the nun to the Bishop....:-) Will see what I can do.

Hi, Its like Schorner's Pour le Merite, there are 3-4 dates floating around muddying the waters.... His list of actions has the battle of Badonweiler from the 10th to 13th of August.... seems to be a bit of overkill to award the MMJO for that.... Thanks for all the info! Best Chris

Hi guys, does anyone have any variations to post?

Ah, I have one of those tins... I always thought they were for huge cigars... not based on any solid info, I had just not thought any further than cigars

About 17 years ago we were in the middle of nowhere in Italy and found a stone mason making stuff for the tourist shops... He showed us some not for sale stuff (original roman) and in the back of his garden, covered in Ivy i found this skull. it weighs a ton. it had been made by his grandfather for the church but he had been unable to sell it in the village, so had been in the garden ever since... Needless to say, I bought it.... It stands about 45cm high and I think is chiseled out of granite. It is at the bottom of the garden and I keep it ivy free.

They marked their grenades Gebr. Bang! :-)

Hi Xylander Oskar Ritter von, General der Infanterie, Kommandierender General I. bayer. Armeekorps – 10.08.1914 What on earth did he do to merit his award on the 10th of August?? Surely a few more months would have been better ? All the best Chris

Ugh! I missed that.... they had all nickle ones????

Thats a pretty cool bratpfanne!!! A local collector has a Tornister with a metal frame labeled BING.... he has dangeled it in front of my nose for a few years, but has never been willing to trade... AND Bing made Priesterwerfer!!!!

Here is a group to a Lt. d. Res, the XXVI RK doc, then later when the Division left flanders it printed its own divisional docuument.... also a document congratulating the unit for its bravery on Height 185 and WW2 Promo docs... He died of Pneunomia in 1944 after being stationed in a wet cold basement...

Here are a few more..... for the first one check out the write up here.... it was the unit next to the machine gunner who received the document..... Really nice as you can really get a mental image of the action on those days.... http://kaiserscross.com/40047/499401.html Doc 2..... One for fighting on the Yser... Gapaert Ferme "n the RG of RIR 246 I find that they relieved the LIR 384 at the city ofDixmude in the night of 28 on 29 octobre 1917. The frontsector Dixmude started in the north about at Schoorbakke/Tervaetebridge and ended in the south at Merkem. So they were indeed at the Yser and in front of Belgian troops. Certainly at the Abschnitt Gapaert. There is a RG of LIR 384." Another Bravery in Flanders.... a variation on the 1st one....

I can see the logic of the Luftschiffer one, all the other fliers had a badge.... I am still at a loss to the Tank one.... You have Sturmbataillon guys, Infantrymen, Combat pioniers, Tunnelers, Flamethrower men, Infantry assualt gunners, Minenwerfer guys, gas troops..... ALL of whom objectively did more..... than the tank guys, who were way to few, way too late and their list of actual battlefield achievments are so short I have not been able to find it.... and who gets the sexy badge..... envelope please..... and the winner is..... "The Tank guys!" Its a bit like saying "The Godfather deserves an oscar for the best actor!" then ignoring Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall, John Cazale etc. etc.... and giving it to the guy who played Luca Brasi...... I agree tanks are sexy.... but I am still of the opinion that the arm of service to accomplished the least... got the great badge for doing it.... It remains a WTF?? issue for me ;-) But I am glad to see some discussion!! :-)

Hi, I think 1st Reserve or landwehr,

99 years ago today the 3rd Company of the ILR ceased to exist...... An EK document to one of the 8 survivors... and a write up..... http://kaiserscross.com/69501/620601.html

Looks like a nice front made swagger stick?

Yeah, they obviously recognized the future potential... but as far as actual achievement... am I maybe underestimating the role of the German tanks in WW1? Whereas British and French tanks seem to have left a lasting impression in German regimental histories, the small amount of German Armour seems to barely have left an impression on the allied literature. Basically what I think is, the super sexy badge is all out of proportion to their role in the war. Sturmtruppen, Artillery close combat batterie, flamethrowers... all were just as exciting and all played a muuuch bigger role... I am glad the badge was instituted, find it really interesting.... and we will probably have to end up agreeing to disagree... but I find it strange that it was ever officially approved.

Hi, The book follows Rommel's personal experiences which were for most of the war, and for all of his high points the gebirgsschützen. I dont have my copy with me, but I think if you remove the Gebirgs parts you have about enough left for a newspaper article?

What interests me is what kind of Lobby they must have had. Almost all the Reichswehr officers would have been Artillery and Infantry guys.... who get nada... but a special award is created for 99 tankers? How popular was that suggestion?? Remembering, when Rommel wrote his book, he did not call it "Gebirgsschützen greift an!" (Although his fame was because of his actions with the Gebirgs troops)... he realized that it was too elitist and may turn off the potential ex infantryman reader... so he called it "Infanterie greifft an!"