Chris Boonzaier

Hi, here is quite a bit about your mans unit... a very interesting area of the rebellion... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40117/155801.html

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Here is a ocument for a woman who was one of the most famous and critically acclaimed opera singers of the years between the wars. She was one of less than 10 who sang in the highest Wagner circles in the 20s. She was not THE best, but google will find her....

The first bit of a fantastic WW1 Gebirgsjäger collection of photos.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/152301.html best Chris

Another one....

on the mountain...

Just picked up some really rare high alpine photos...

his awards

Here is a nice Bavarian shot....

A bit more difficult to find that on Fieldgrey... Here is a scarce one with EK1 on peacetime...

Hmmmm ... for some that would mean "all that is written below should be viewed with a healthy dose of disbelief..." :whistle:

This reminds me of when I was in Tchad... it shows the stupidness of youth, I wish i could go back and do things a bit differently... At the French base in N'Djamena there was an old black guy who sat outside the entrance. I think he was half blind. We were all young, full of pss and vinegar, arrogant and everyone trying to be harder than the next guy... so we used to (maybe pointedly)ignore him. An unfortunate lack of respect. I really regret that now, as he was a fine old warrior, with a cest full of medals. When we first arrived he had them on bits of tattered ribbon and string on his old khaki shirt, when we left 4 months later someone (I suspect one of our officers) had had them mounted for him. I cannot remember what was on the bar, only remember that there was a Medaille Militaire and about 7 or 8 other medals... I assume the old guy got a French pension of some sort and was employed on the base in some category... How I wish I could go back 18 years and take his photo and ask him about his service.... I am sure there was WW2 on his bar as well as colonial service... In retrospect one of the few regrets I have for wishing had done something I did not at the time....

OK, maybe I exaggerate..... I just found it pretty cool with 2 kinds of skull...

Ooooooooohhhh ! I have a photo that will push Robin and Sgt08 into male menooause.... will scan it this evening.... watch this space....

Indeed! Very nice piece ! Now you just need the award document!! ;-)

An article by Harry.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/198201.html And a report from CNN.... I suppose the spears and medals are now gone.... as well as the remains of the kings... http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/17/uganda.violence/index.html?hpt=Sbin

I have the history of it here... You can find Southern Force in there... http://www.kaiserscross.com/41992/home.html

Botha's Berede Skuters (Mounted Rifles) became (I think) the 9th and 10th Mounted Rifles attached to Southern Force... See here.. http://www.kaiserscross.com/40117/40726.html Is it the same on the vic and war medal? They often have a different unit if he served after German South West Africa...

Just found the following.... I wonder where they are today.... During World War II, Japanese Emperor Hirohito honored three Germans by awarding them fine samurai swords. What is interesting about these awards is who received them. One sword went to Reichsmarshal Herman Goring. This would seem appropriate. After all, Goring was the head of the German Air Force, not to mention the fact that he had been Hitler’s right-hand-man for many years. A second sword went to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Once again, certainly a approriate award. After all, Rommel was one of the most distinguished field commanders in the war, with many spectacular victories to his credit. The third sword went to Bernhard Rogge. Who was Bernhard Rogge? Well, he was the skipper of the famous surface raider Atlantis, which terrorised the shipping lanes for some time early in the war. A distinguished enough record. Still, what had he done to deserve such personal recognition from the Japanese emperor? The short answer is, that he had greatly facilitated the capture of Singapore. It seems that on November 11, 1940, Rogge’s Atlantis catpured the Blue Funnel Liner Automedon, near the Nicobar Islands, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Bound from Britain to Singapore, the ship carried a varied cargo. It also carried some interesting documents. Captured aboard Automedon were the minutes of a meeting of the British War Cabinet held on August 8, 1940, plus an 87-page secret report by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Both documents dealt with British defensive arrangements for Malaya and Singapore. Recognizing the enormous importance of these documents, Rogge passed them on to his superiors. And they very thoughtfully passed them on to Japanese intelligence, who found them of graet interest. Thus, Rogge contributed materially to the Japanese capture of Malaya and Singapore, which they overran in only about 60 days in Decemebr and January of 1941-1942. And thus did Rogge merit his samurai sword.

I dunno, some QSA etc have a patina from heaven... But sometimes that heavenly Patina is not as old as we think. On occasion I have cleaned a silver medal and within 4-5 years it once again has that 100 year patina...

Found this interesting fact.... On a average, between 1765 and 1793, 21½-percent of the crewmen in the Royal Navy were flogged each year, with the mean number of lashes being 5, though only 19-percent of the men serving under the ill-famed Capt. William Bligh were flogged, for a mean of only 1½ lashes

nice looking award! almost as nice as the red stars...

Unfortunately above a certain price there is no "higher costs" ... so this wont kill her... BUT.. if someone was to bid on it.... like if someone had an account opened with a stolen Afgahn credit card.... NOT that I am suggesting anyone did it....

Nice group with interesting research potential. As the British are so famous for soldiers nicknames... cant help wondering what his would have been if he had been serving in the RAF... "So jerry came out of the sun and old Bunghole Bünger gave him a burst of rounds...."

Very nice indeed!!!! That IS a find that would make me dance...dance... dance!