Chris Boonzaier

It is stamped to the 2nd Field Regt, the KS98 has the standard Schutztruppe stamps..

Hi, I am adding some Bayonets to this. a Big Thanks to Mervyn who has helpen me assemble some of these... Top one is 1900 dated...

How did units get the right to have "different" helmet plates?

I am not a bayonet guy, but I would think this is as good as I have seen. A nice piece.

Nice trousers... are these the Sturm trupp issued pants or one of the "knees repaired with leather" pants? With a 6 year old at home my wifes Grandmother has spent the last 2-3 years repairing the knees of pants with patches of all kinds... I can now imagine how many issue pants had knee repairs. Best Chris

That is a cool photo indeed.... have they taken the But off the lewis??

I wonder if those are not mourning brassards? Sometimes you see them on german photos. best Chris

Nope.... better than that...... :-)

Check this out!!! http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2009/10/20/german-official-and-regimental-histories/

Hi, the period from May-end of August 1917 at Verdun would be fantastic. Failing that, if very limited... the 6th of June 1917 and the 16th of August 1917 are the most important dates. Best Chris

Hi, does anyone have the history of the Gren Regt 110 ? Thanks Chris

When could a collector possibly find half a jacket to be more interesting than a complete one? :-)

Hi, am looking after kids all day, will try to get back to this soon... Have a few write ups on the 12th bavarian on the kaiserscross site best Chria

Hi Ronald Adrian Mackenzie Ewart.... 2nd Lt 9.11.1889, half Pay Lt 8.5.1895 1 KOYLI, Resigned 1.12.1897... So unless the Boer war in another unit, this is not the group for you... Best Chris

Here is a rather rare one.... especially with the insides....

Hi, what is the bar on the colonial medal? Best Chrid

Vry, very nice indeed!!!

Depends how much the old guy knew about medal markets. Maybe his idea of collecting is what he has seen at the local collectors shop at the shopping mall in wherever... a small dish of medals and bowling association pins, pulled apart and never to be brought together again. Sold to the people of the town he lives in. I get a lot of the "how ever did it land up there !?!?" when I tell folks where I have bought things from....

This death card arrived yesterday, the man was killed in September 1916 in the Chapitre Wald at Verdun. Killed by serious wounds in a Bombardement and buried alive. The watch I found in the Chpitrewald sector earlier this year, it had been churned up by a Forestery machine.... Stopped at 08:15.... Of course, its not his.... but they just seem to fit together....

I would love to find a little shop like that just around the corner.... Really nice, especially the little ribbon with its device...

Those are indeed nice... It is strange, I am so conditiones to EK Ribbons, my first reaction was "Huh?!?!?!?"

Hi, but not in this case.... Grenadier regt 12 had left Verdun by then, 12th Bavarian Inf regt was there as was the 1st Bavarian Inf Regt (Gren Regt 1 was never at Verdun). 1 bav inf regt as part of Bavarian 1st Div 12 bav Inf regt as part of 2nd Bav Div. Best Chris

Why when i see a machette /Coupe-coupe on an African medal, is agriculture only the second thing I think of :-(

Is he being decorated by general Rollet ???????

12 April 1916 12:00 – 08:00 Afternoon, observation officer Very bad weather today. In our sector very quiet and both sides recover from the attacks in the last few days. In the are of the Toten Mannes there is lively Artillery fire and infantry attacks. 13. April 16 Same as usual 14. April 16 In the night 12:30 relieved by 6/16 and we become Brigade Reserve. As we pass Samogneux it is heavily shelled, as is the road. Take up the same quarters as we had last time. Lots of mail today. Wifey, Father, Aunt Line, 2 parcels. Of course I wrote a letter to my beloved and so the day passed quite well. 15. April 16 Nothing special to report. I gave orders to assemble captured material. In the old French positions (Height 344) a lot of leather equipment, backpacks, rifles and ammunition. Also had the Empty tins collected. 16.4.16 17.4.16 18. April 16 Today, apparently 40 batteries each fired 600 shells on the positions Douaumont – pfeffer Rücken, which in the afternoon was attacked by the 13th Div and a Div of the 10. Res. Korps. 1.5km was gained and 3 000 prisoners and a number of machine Guns were captured. At 04:00 the protestant men marched to Flabas for a religious service. (Division Chaplain Klingenburg had a nice sermon). Afterwards he asked me to take some Leaves and rushes with for Easter. Some lively enemy artillery fire in our ravine today, one dead man and 2 dead horses. 20.4.16 Today at 05:30 we leave for delousing at Crepion. Leutnant Schmitz (Commandant of the village) looks after us rather well. Unterartzt Bührmann is there and in the afternoon he reports back to the battalion, recovered from his leg wound. Had lunch with Lt. Schmitz, better than the field kitchen food. The bath does me very well. When we march back we are able to examine the old battlefield. We observe how very well the Haumont Wald had been prepared by the French, but then totally churned up by German grenades. The Catholic Soldiers then have a service. In Crepion there are different field hospitals, mainly head wounds, stomach wounds, chest wounds, kept here until they can be transported. A young volunteer has a bad head wound, the poor lad is crying bitterly. He is being comforted by a doctor who strokes his cheek and tells him all will be well. Later he says that he cannot be saved and will be dead within 24 hours. Here in the hospital they let wounds heal openly. The wounds were not bandaged, instead covered with a net (and plaster of Paris and Gauze). Many of the wounded were smoking cigarettes. It is worth mentioning, on the march back, after seeing the terrible sights, including another hospital on the Southern edge of haumont, there was no singing. Under the pouring rain the French Artillery were pounding the Toten Mann. Terrible for men to be wounded in such bad weather. A doctor tells me that 40% of such head wounds could be avoided if helmets were worn instead of caps. I also saw 2 horses that had been hilled in front of their wagon while I was at Crepion. I found the events of the day very depressing. 21.4.16 Today the sector of the 2. and 3. company were fired on and they suffered numerous losses. At 11:00pm we marched into the line at Bras. Taking detours along the canal we only arrive at 01:30am. It was, thank God, a quiet night. I enjoyed the fact that I was responsible for securing the line right under the nose of the enemy. I personally made connection with the I./159 to our left in our old positions on the Pfefferrücken. I was very tired as I had had to carry my own pack. Once the position was secure, another officer (Lt. Zilles) took over and I followed the communication trench back to the officers bunker in a cellar in the flattened village of Vacherauville. During the relief the company suffered no losses, the 3. Kompany suffered a number in the Kain Ravine Komp Cote Talu, 2. Komp. 4. Komp 1 Zug 2./16 (2./16 2 Officers/16 men) between vacherauville and Bras I.R.F.A 14, a Marine-Kanonengeschütz 3,7 Kaliber, can fire 80 grenades a minute, so better than a machine gun. The commander (Lt. Klein) is quartered with us. 22.4.16 Today heavy artillery fire on Vacherauville. In the evening by the kitchen one of the new Ersatz is killed by a shell. As the cauldron was caught in the blast we had to wait until 02.00am for our bean soup. An officer from the 10./16 tells us that an Unteroffizier Patrol was captured by the French. They simply called in German “Halt, Hände Hoch”. One man who was a bit behind the others could escape. 23.4.16 Today securing the Meuse/Maas, 1 Uffz. (Reimers) and 3 men badly wounded by a grenade on their way back. There are no guards on the Meuse during the day. At the kitchen5 men are wounded, one killed. As we could not move all day, stuck in the cellar with no warm food and cold coffee, the mood was not too good, even when thinking of home. I wrote a letter to my dearest, and my mother, but could barely find the words. The big Easter meal will take place tomorrow at 1:00am Unteroffizier Reimers bleeds to death without regaining consciousness. He had lost a foot and had a bad knee injury. The Driver of the provisions wagon arrives and informs that the field kitchen (30Ltr) is stuck in a shellhole a half an hour away in the Cotletter Mühle. And there we leave our Brave Leutnant.... ration wagon stuck in a shellhole... on the edge of maybe the worst battlefield of the year.... I have no idea if he survived, or even what his name was.... Maybe oneday i can find the regt history and find thatz info..... Thanks again to Speedy for all his help on this.