Chris Boonzaier

... they may arrive this week..... Damned Postoffice.... Just waiting around... looking out the window....

It looks like you are the guy who bought one Lottery ticket in life and hit the jackpot... I may be missing out on other variants... but now the originality is cleared... I think this may be one of the top 2 or 3 Iron Cross variations out there?

I was just scanning a pile of docs for ebay... and saw I have a Brunswicker in with them... But in a Garde Regiment... he served through the whole war, it was the Militärpass entries back then that made me buy it....

Many units had things like these... as the Iron Cross 2nd class had to be approved at Divisional level, and after a soldier had that there was a biiiiiiiiiiiig gap until the Iron Cross 1st class, units made awards of things a regimental commander approved... certificates, engraved watches, plaques... a nice piece indeed!

Usually if they were imperial period like the rittmeister implies they would have mentioned on it that they were a supplier to the Kings court... so I think it safe to exclude the WW1 period... also does not look WW1 style, the München 15 does not help because the Stadtbezirke were used for a long period from before WW1 to after WW2...

Lets not forget... for many of these firms, military awards and badges were made for a short period over decades or even centuries of existence... for every wound badge he made, he probably made 2 table tennis association badges, for every iron Cross he made he made 10 football association badges.... and even today they are making Carnival medals and golf trophies... the chances that a bag are civilian are very large indeed unless there is some definiae evidence...

Hi, it is a Bavarian 3rd Infantry bord... but from 1916 on... most of the plates and examples show the boards as they were in 1914 and not the changes... If you are looking that way the first money you should spend is the Kelso book in shoulder boards/starps "Under arms for the Kaiser"

Very nice indeed! With the EK the award documents were originally planned for after the war as well... although many units issued preliminary documents on their own inititive, the official order only came in early 1916 to issue prelim dicuments... I guess Braunschweig had planned the same thing.

It may be greyer... but at least there seems to be a model number?

I have just seen a drawing in "Uniformkunde das Deutsche Heer" by Spemann... a Litewka like yours, with a top pocket (not a deal breaker) for the marine Infantry and called "Litewka vom schnitt 95"

Reminds me of the one on the left here.... without the chest pocket....

If it had been badgeless I would say that is almost a twin of the Blue bavarian Officers Litewka....

I meant 300 because 3 companies in the bavarian army had it... was issued in 1913 and could be worn for a year... so i assume by the end of 1914 that was the end of the road and they had to be taken off...

I had a group to a railway clerk... he had 3 very crappy typewritten preliminary documents for the EK2... one from each unit he was posted to... I think every time he claimed not to have one in the hope of getting a sexy printed one... and always got an ugly one... he seems to have given up... either that or the previous owner had split the nice one from the group...

I have an Iron Cross group where the guy has 2 iron Cross 2nd class documents, issued by 2 different units to document the same award, which was made by a previous 3rd unit.

There are plenty of examples of dates on certificates not matching when it comes to German... and in this case the 1915 may have nothing to do with the award date... "1915/" may refer to the line below "1915/K.u.K. Infanterieregiment..." for instance.... It may be his Stamm Abteilung before he was by the flieger.... Paper trails are sometimes confusing....

I would guess the 1915 is not related to the award date?

I just looked... he was a Zahlmeister Anwärter in August 1914, then to a combat company as Offizier Stellvertreter in Marche 1915.. then a simple Company Führer up until March 1917, not even Compaqny Commander... but he gor the MVO4th class with swords and crown in Feb 1917... he had no position or task that merited the higher level?

I retract then... I did not know the name was also stamped in... ?

I think these are usually the highest level of desirability... but the lettering bothers me.... did they also stamp the name in? All the KMST I had (grand total of 2 ) had raised lettering, not stamped in? Like this one..... It may be a variation I do not know, but I would be weary....

Hi, I cant look it up at the moment, but it was Hans reichenhart of the 17BRIR... he was a Komp. Führer if I remember right... Not Crown material generally speaking

Hi, the auszug from the arhcives has EK2, EK1, MVK 2kl Swords and crown, MVO4 with swords then MVO 4 Swords and crown... KIA as a Lt d. Res... in May 1918. MVO4th with swords and crown mid 1917... no indication of why.

... maybe not a rarity... but the 1913 Shooting Prize on Fieldgrey is a treat you really see.... a man from the 1st Bavarian Inf Regiment.... I would guess maybe 300 men wore this badge, and for less than half a year?

HI, this Leutnant der Reserve first got a MVK 2nd class... then a MVO4th with swords... then MVO 4th with swords and crown... which is pretty unusual? I thought it was a Stuffen thing related to Rank? Why would a Lt d. Res get one with a crown? Was the rank thing put aside for exceptional bravery or something? Thanks Chris

I had a couple, if my memory serves me... could have been that one.... I will enquire.....