Chris Boonzaier

Ok, the part in Question... his EK2 doc signed by the General on the 10.10.1918... although he was killed on the 4th. A little bit of research shows the division was pulling back and reforming that week, so I am guessing, he was wounded, the proposal went up to the division, he died, the general signed and whammo... a Posthumous award by error. This is all pre email... so if a Company commander sends a proposal to a Regt commander who forwards it to the division.... we are talking about some time required for the papers to go their way... best Chris

Here is a nice one of a 2nd Bavarian Jäger, pic taken in Aschaffenburg....

The title is all I have on the man. Does anyone know what regiment he served in? For some reason I seem to remember another photo for sale with an artillery connection. Thanks Chris

this fantastic group started it all off for me... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=47292&pid=436188&st=0&#entry436188

Damn.... I thought you were going to liven up my weekend with tales of your youth and ladies of easy virtue.. :-(

is it spelled "Horr"?

He left the navy a month after the action

The document is a killer, with the action preprinted... I think there were 220 men on this boat, so I suppose it is kinda scarce...

For the action the men were awarded the Croix de Guerre, the 1939 version.... Strange that it was not the Vichy one, but I think that did not exist at the time... but stranger still because technically France was not at war...

An action that must have left the men of both sides horrified by the events and the amount of men that died... and I am sure that when the French scuttled their fleet in Toulon a couple of years later, there were many who began to question the original action... The little red booklet was given out to the crew of the "Terrible", it just opens up with 2 Photos, and is signed by the captein....

I dont really collect WW", and dont have a big interest in Navy.... but this group just blew me away.... this is at the center of one of the biggest tragedies of the war, one of those groups that when you look at it you go...WOW!

With the hindsight we have now... was the attack on the French Fleet in mers el Kebir by the RN a justified action, an unfortunate but necessary evil, or simple treachery ... ? Are there any good english language books on it? Thanks Chris

Mind Numbing! Fantastic collection!

Mind Numbing! Fantastic collection!

It must have taken ages and ages to get together that group of badges and flashes for the &th Div!!!!!

It must have taken ages and ages to get together that group of badges and flashes for the &th Div!!!!!

Fantastic! I did not know those bandoliers were made weebing?

Check out the last photo..... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40056/40625.html And see if you can spot his name.... :-)

Hey, I just realised the watch is an Omega!!!!! I looooove omega!

Hi, the guy in question was a senior NCO in an infantry regiment.... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=46774&st=0 Best Chris

Maybe as collectors we see it differently, but as any WW2 German collector will say, you choose between an early die struck badge and a later one made out of zink... and the Zink one looses out 99% of the time. We are not talking about creating medals out of gold, enamle and silk made from virgin silk worms... we are talking about medals that will be issued to 500 000 men. seen that way... if you spread the cost... is it unrealistic to hope that they will pay a couple of extra bucks to have a really nice die cut? Maybe it costs USD10 000 instead of USD 5 000.... And I will bet that the difference between Nylon Ribbon and WW2 quality is about 0.25c a medal.... and using a metal and finish like my WW1 Silver stars instead of coating that covers modern medals may cost a buck or two more.... It would be interesting to know what the army pays for a medal... maybe they pay more for clunkers than it would cost if a civilian designed and had medals made by the same firm. Anyway, as I said, Tims post 24 basically shows the difference night and day. Anyone collecting modern German, comparing WW1 EKS to what S+L turned out in the 70s and 80s with their staybright terrible metals.... sigh...... S+L may be "quality" by todays standards... but then quality has slipped....

looking at the 2 medals originally posted... If they had been made by one of the engravers taht made the British ca,mpaign medals 100 years ago, or like TimBs first medal, they may actually not have been bad at all... but noone does that kind of work anymore, simple fact of the industrial age. It is also evident that the world ran out of possible colour combinations for ribbons some time ago... imagine in 15 years time, to have an unused colour combination they will have to include dayglo orange and egg shell blue...

Tim Nails it in this post.... The first medal comes from the age of artisans... the second from the age of Industry. Comparing the French Overseas/Colinial medal as made 30 years ago, compared to now... what a difference! It may be that some current designs are not really that bad, but the finished product is terrible... Maybe even the ultimate industrial age clunker , the Saudi Arabian gulf war medal, looked good on paper, and would have been fantastic if made by Deschler in 1934.... fact is, they were mad by a company that stamps out keyrings most of the time....