Chris Boonzaier

hdLUDER...yup... sounds like a female ;-) I would also agree that the offereing looks suspicious... I also think these boxes (EK1,2 and wound) are made in someones basement.

I know there are books out there listing the wounded and KIAs... I am getting a group to a young gus who served in DSWA in 1904-05.... but seems not to have served in WW1. I was wondering if he was wounded in 04-05 to a degree he could no longer serve? Anyone have the WIA lists

Is anyone aware of how they decided who got silver... who got bronze? Thanks Chris

I would guess one of the Brit fund raising crosses?

I think you will have a lot of trouble finding info on this, even back then there was a policy of "dont ask, dont tell" for soldiers wearing wigs.... (sorry, it had to come....) ;-)

Personally, I would have kept all three girls, dumped the third Reich, dumped the Imperial and burned the paper... but its too late now I guess.... Nice collection indeed. Do you do the framing yourself?

Indeed complicated!! Is it an explosive round?

A nice little collection.... Almost makes one start to collect them :-)

The Military musem is not bad either.

But when you look in the huge book on the WW1 Fussarty... very few units seem to have had it, inspite of it being used through the war. if I understand correctly, after its into, it was decided the calibre was not a good one and they stopped making it just after the outbreak of the war, although still using those they had. Bes Chris

Hi, is this for working for the Govt? It cannot be that everyone gets a medal for 25 years in the workforce.....

According to the French book on german artillery rounds.... the 13cm Feldkanone has a round that is 13.5 cm. So I guess that is the one.

I would not be so sure... you found a heavy M?rser or Artillery round a couple of years ago that was not supposed to be there either. The Krupp 13.5 was being phased out, but was still being used till the end of the war... problem is... where? the the book of the Schwere feldarty it does not say.....

Here it is.... 1909. The shell was made end of 1917. http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bi...09&offset=0

EUR17000 for a 1952 version !!!!!!

Hi Eitze, have ordered one, I look forward to reading it. Best Chris

I have contacted the seller to ask about the Africa General Service medal... lets see what he says about it.

Yes!! yes!! a link! I thought just the KIA were availible?

Do we have any members in the pretoria area that go to the archives on occasion? Thanks Chris

Hi, The docs are still in the maill.... then i have to wait till my computer is back from the shop (thank god for this old laptop!!) to get scans done. Looking back at the seller, he still has 2 pay slips (USD49 each) and a F?rungszeugnis (USD99) objective value maybe USD20 for all..... I am not sure if I will bite. The MEZ2 and GSWA medal were USD99 each, the Bund one USD225. The seller was a stamp dealer in the US who had these listed in the stamp section. Historically and Gruesomely interesting is he arrived just in time to take part in the Herero genocide, I am hoping to get some good books on this.

I have a few of these. 2 are private purchase ones that were carried by US soldiers in the war. One really used one was from a US army or marine medic, the other is (roughly) engraved on the pommel: Jack E Ward O-1648755 (which I am told is an officer rank... ergo, the knife was never used.. for work at least). Both of these are well above average as far as quality goes, have a full tang in the width of the hadle instead of a narrow one. Stamped into the blade is "Tempered steel Made in india" then "Allied" this last word on a cogwheel. These were obviously made to sell to allied soldiers and are very nice indeed... and made to use, unlike many which seem to have the tourist in mind

I agree... A superb collecting field... could we see them from the other side where the Aussie badge is? (Personally I would invest in a new head... that unshaved one looks a little like a gay version of Don Johnson ;-)

Held der Arbeit !!!??? I am written sick for 3 days.... my wife is calling me a Coward der Arbeit.... I guess no medal for me:-(

Hi Service falls into a perios that is not exactly a shining star period of german culture.... Exactly at this time... Von Trotha issues a proclamation threatening the Ovaherero with total extinction: "The Herero are no longer German subjects. They have murdered and plundered. ... Now, out of cowardice, they want to give up the fight. ... The Herero nation must leave the country. If it will not do so I shall compel it by force. Inside German territory every Herero tribesman, armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot. No women and children will be allowed in the territory: they will be driven back to their people or fired on. These are the last words to the Herero nation from me, the great General of the mighty German Emperor." Von Trotha?s proclamation is in effect the mere legal sanctioning of that which, as the numerous diaries of the German Schutztruppen soldiers show, has already been commonplace since January 1904. Some diary entries may serve as examples: Captain Victor Franke writes at Otjihinamaparero on 27.02.: "A wounded man with a terribly damaged leg is brought in . ... He is questioned and then shot, Von Arnim executes him properly. He is shot from the back without noticing what is happening to the unfortunate man." Lieutenant HFR Knoke writes on 08.07.1904: "Of the five captured Herero four have been hung. The 5th is used for labour purposes"; 09.07.: "Our prisoner has a noose around his neck which is then attached to the saddle of a horse. The particular Witbooi ensures that things do not become too comfortable for him"; 16.08.: "A captured Herero female was, ... , set free. However, the bitterness of the people is great. The female had barely left the encampment when two shots were fired. A sign that this one had also left its life."; 07.10: "As last night we had noticed a number of fires in our vicinity, we looked for tracks this morning, ... We junior officers galloped ahead, our men followed on foot. We took the werft [settlement], shot down part of the inhabitants, the remainder we took along as prisoners". In the diaries of Emil Malzahn, who accompanies Von Trotha on one of his pursuits, it is noted that prisoners taken on 26.09. at the waterhole of Owisombo-Owidimbo, are summarily executed: "Newly caught Herero prisoners-of-war were hung by the neck. Since that day, I would often see Herero swaying from the branch of a tree". Von Trotha?s genocide and chain orders, however, are later mitigated by the German Government. During a field service at Osombo-Windimbe Von Trotha announces that the war against the Ovaherero would be continued without mercy. He claims that " ... Since I neither can nor will come to terms with these people without express orders from His Majesty the Emperor and King, it is essential that all sections of the nation be subjected to rather stern treatment. I have begun to administer such treatment on my own initiative and, barring orders to the contrary, will continue to do so as long I am in command here. My intimate knowledge of so many Central African tribes - Bantu and others - has made it abundantly plain to me that Negroes will yield only to brute force, while negotiations are quite pointless. Before my departure yesterday I ordered the warriors captured recently to be court-martialled and hanged and all women and children who sought shelter here to be driven back into the sandveld ... ". At dawn the following morning, Ovaherero prisoners-of-war who had been sentenced to death by a field court martial are hung in the presence of about 30 Ovaherero prisoners-of-war, women and children amongst them. After the hanging, Von Trotha?s proclamation is read out to the prisoners in Otjiherero.

Really great to get not only the pieces.... but the history as well. A great coup !!!