Chris Boonzaier

I have been meaning to get to this for some time, so will add a few thoughts, bit by bit. I joined in 89, there was less info around back in those days so you went through the gates not to sure what to expect. Everyone had read Simon Murray's book and expected the worst. I joined in Lille at the citadel. It is/was a French army base with an old house staffed by 2 Caporals and an Sgt. basically they do a rough selection, toss out the complete wasters and regroup the rest to send "south" once a week . I arrived just as a group was sent, so had to spend a week there. So the week spent cleaning what was already clean, smoking and playing cards. A few arguments which when they got to loud would bring a caporal running up the stairs, but not more than a few shoves and kicking over of furniture. Next stop was Fort de Nogent in paris where a larger group was formed to be taken to aubagne. This was about 30 guys, escorted by 2 Caporals and an Adjudant. we were all ligned up in a corridor, the Adjudant hit a guy in the stomach and he folded onto the ground, we were told "no more stupid grins"... that set the tone for the trip down to Aubagne for selection... all in all much less than i expected.

Fantastic! Did it just come along, or had you been looking for ages? Best Chris

The one on the left is pretty cool.. I must admit, I have not seem one like that before.

Fantastic Scott! While some folks bitch and moan that medals should stay with the family, your site is a good argument that medals should on occasion be forcibly removed from certain uncaring family members and put in caring collectors hands....

I hope he makes some of his wonderfully politically incorrect statements... I love reading them.. :-)

Feldpost is always like forest gump's box of chocolates.... a little luck and you find something really nice!!

The new Wernitz book on the EK has a special section on Jewish soldiers who got the EK. I wish there was more info on Major Rohr!!

Those are a cool haul!!

Aaaaarrrggghhh..... What an idiot!!!! I did not even really look at the 2nd document here ... just scanned it and put it on the "to do" pile... I finally looked at it yesterday.... it is a copy of an original.... What an idiot i am!! I am really learning.... check things when you open the mail !!!

Veeeeery nice.... you sawing wood this afternoon?

One of the nicer looking pieces! Best Chris

Hi, Can anyone take a stab?

a nice pic of a sailor boy... the SMS Regensburg played a prominant part in the battle of Juttland. This guy was on her from 1914, and the pic just after Jutland. Best Chris

Could it be a liner for something??

Hi, was it 19 times the same manuscript?

Has anyone seen any mentions of a unit recieving an order to submit a ceratin number of EK applications after an action? i.e. a quota system?

He was in an ammunition column, small unit, rated as "very good" and no punishments... I guess they did not get large quotas of EK. Best Chris

Methinkssoto ;-)

He was there basically from day one, at Verdun for the whole battle, took part in the Champagne battles in 1917, was there for the 1918 offensives.... and got nada.... until after the war.

"obviously a guy who thought he was hard done by and went looking for an award after the award... yada yada yada".... Here is "his war"....

Some of you may know one of my pet peeves are collectors going on about how the Iron Cross in WW1 was devalued for a bunch of reasons that IMHO are just dead wrong. One of them is the argument "Towards the end of the war there was a rush to give awards to men before the war ended... and the cross was further devalued by postwar awards, where anyone who felt he had been hard done by and overlooked could apply". I find this baseless, uninformed and generalising about something the deprecator seems to know nothing about. I was cataloging a bunch of stuff this evening and found this "cheap" post war award.....

I really have to wake up..... About 6 months ago i bought an EK2 doc to a boring Infantry Regt, simply because I had the EK1 doc to the officer who signed the EK2 doc. I am soooo very behind on cataloging my stuff, working on the book etc... it all lands on a big pile then every half a year i go through it.... which was tonight. I had not even taken the doc out of the plastic sheet it arrived in... I did today, and right away it was obvious it was a color Photocopy, well aged... How dumb can one be !?!? Of course I should have checked, but it was just an EK2 doc.... luckily it did not cost much as I have no idea who I had bought it from. So... I whip myself tonight..!

Hi Bob, I doubt it very much indeed. I think it was even shaky at one time if foreign volunteers fighting on the ground would get it. I certainly see no Sailors on the roll. best Chris

"Zig Zag Pass" is a pretty good name for a battle.

So for me the symbolism is.... a woman, too poor to own clothes, her husband murdered by Rubber plantation overseaers, bearing a child concieved in slavery with a colonial... asking for a handout, but being told "look, we are off to fight the germans, leave me alone!" Without sounding facetious.... The Belgian congo is maybe the last colony in the world that seems to have had a reaon of producing a medaillon with local people looking fondly at a symbol of the Colonialist?