Chris Boonzaier

Ever see barbed wire like this ???

1ww1

1ww

They would be better than the NATO or UN ones.... if Queeny did not look like the grandmother in the Giles Comic with an extra large chamber pot on her head. Check out the evolution of regents heads on British medals in the last 150 years, the head gets smaller and the crown gets bigger.... with the new lot it has reached a point that when I see them I can only think "Man... thats one BIG motherfckn crown !!!"

I guess I am a bit accident prone.... it drives the wife crazy. I have 3 fingers in wrapped in plasters at the moment with a special cream to suck the dirt out of wound.... mix rust, concentrated vinegar and oil and it does make a mess of a cut....

You kidding? My hands are scrathed and scared, the iron brush has lost a lot of bristes, but with 3 litres of vinegar, an ron brush and an opinel as rust Cutter/Chipper, I have had some wonderful results. Will get pics up in a few days.

Well, you never know... the way the EU is expanding... maybe the next EU summit will be in Kabul

Hi Jacques... why is the Afghan clasp not on an Outre Mer? And what is the middle one on the top row?

Looks like a nice nipple ;-) I am guessing, but maybe a minenwerfer?

Same as every other time the Brits went in to "sort them out".... or the Russkies....

I think you will be hard pressed to find a guy with more post 36 medals this this guy...

Cool When was it awarded?

What is the green made of? I just saw a programm about mining a precious stone that looked the same colour.

Nice stuff, he could well have been over verdun when he got that.

Today everyone wants the lates Mobile telephone with the most advanced features... I am sure there was a KMST designer who, as long as he designed, was able to stay away from the front or something. he designed these, which were probably expensive crosses, and a few shows offs used to buy them to show what nice crosses they had. but I am sure they cost more than average and the average soldier was happier to spend less on one with a simple pin, which he could put on and take off, even when drunk, which with a KMST must have been difficult. And here we are in 2006, still lots of makers use pins..... and where is KMST ?.....

I think with 2 strong loops this would stay on a tunic forever, or until the loops broke. I am pretty sure this is for a tunic with loops. I dont think there is any special REASON for these crosses being different, other than the fact that the germans have a technology fetish and the makier was reckoning with guys saying "Hey man, thats freaking COOL!!!!!!" even back then. Time has shown we always come back to the needle and hook system, but back at KMST there was a man trying to revolutionise, and at some stage patent a new idea that he hoped to make money off if they ever became the standard way of attaching a badge.......

I know the brit regimental bandsmen doubled as stretcher bearers during combat and have read the same about the Germans... does anyone else have any confirmation on this?

And then later Officer Stellvertreter. I must blush and admit I know nothig of the second doc, can someone educate me? P.s. note how early the wound was. This guy saw a lot of action, major un-nice machine gun stuff on the eastern front.

Then Vice...

For a guy who did the whole war. The EK early 1915 as Gefreiter...

The real "French touch" on this medal is..... Look at Victories Boobies...... doesnt look as if 2 hands are coming around from behind her and grabbing her?

At the risk of boring folks who have seen this group 10 times or more (I post it whenever I can....)# Shazammmmmm !!!!!

What would a nice but worn cased brass core EK1 run these days? All the best Chris

Hi, WW1 to South Africans is one of my collecting fields as well. Especially groups that are to Soldiers with 100% South African names, and a cherry on the top if they served in the boer war as well.