Chris Boonzaier

try here... http://www.kaiserscross.com/76001/102401.html

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Its taken some time, but I have finally landed the Brodie I have always wanted....

Very, very impressive... I see a dogged determination hunting these down....

He was also a relative of Nietzsche and was responsible for numerous publications on old Freddy. He has been described as the man who, responsible for the legacy of Nietzsche, did his very best to twist it to serve the Nazi cause.

Old Dr. Dick was a Party member (of course) and during the Nazi time was director of libraries in Fankfurt and surrounding areas. As an expert on valuable books he was on the committee which was responsible for confiscating and administrating valuable property from Jews. (There were art, Book, and a few other specialist). He would decide what was valuable enough to confiscate and sell outside of Germany. He was also a prime mover in excluding Jews from public libraries in the area. Does everyone wearing medals deserve respect? In my opinion.... negative. Some are indeed inglorious basterds.....

Which is interestig as it seems that they were just mailed out blanko to local authorities who were allowed to award them as they saw fit... His was awarded by the Uni...

After the war he was responsible from the German side to help rebuild the stocks of books that were destroyed in the "Kulture" fiasco when the Germans torched Löwen. Apparently he was not tooooo honest in how he did things... donated money being diverted to cronies... After the war he got this....

It is a black ribboned EK2 to a non combatant, officers rank but serving in the Occupation Govt in Belgium... Never heard a shot fired, was involved in Library work....

Although we like to think of the winners of our awards as pure, brave and guys we would like to have a beer with... Truth is, there are tens of thousands of shites in there amongst them. It also gets on my goat with this "cult of the veteran" ... so often on our forums people pull out the "I am a veteran, so respect my feelings/accept my views/treat me as a hero" card... Statistically there are probably MORE a-Holes amongst the veterans out there than there are in the general population, because being a Vet encourages many people to tell B.S. exaggerated stories about their time in the army that noone really wants to hear... and all the civvies sit there saying "does this A-hole think anyone is interested in this!?!?!?!" Soooooooo.... without further ado.... let me, without any respect to the vet in question, present a small group to a loathsome toady, nazi basterd, lower than pond scum winner of the EK.

Nice looking piece indeed... Since you introduced us to tipstaffs some time ago,I have always thought of them as Victorian Kubotans....

If there is anyone who can point me to any info about the unit in 1870 war.... where they were, etc. etc... or any info about von Eichhorn in this period... I would really appretiate it... Thanks Chris

Hi, Can live with thhose dates, I know little about uniforms. Did RW have regimental arm badges? is it possible that this is a wehrkreis staff? seems to be all kinds of uniforms. What I find interesting is all the EKs... and little else... these guys must have been loaded with tin!!!

Very interesting indeed... actually a brain fart on my side, ignoring a fact straring me in the face.... I cede the point. my theory was, there were enough Bavarian awards to cover the home front, why use Prussian... but that question would have to be for Black ribboned homefront and white ribboned... and as I have a bavarian white ribboned group... it is not logical to question the black. I must check the dokument when I get home and see if it was awarded from a Prussian or bavarian office. That aside... to the guy in the photo... the possibilities are endless... I have a few docs to members of the occupation govt in Belgium (for instance)... one was responsible for libraries in Belgian cities... got the black ribboned EK for service outside of the homeland. I dont think we could pin down where any why he got this without a glance at his militärpass, or award docs... Best Chris

Hi, I thought he was navy with 3 rings and a little loop on top? Best Chris

Hi, guy in post 2 has a very definite "48", guy in post 3 looks indeed like a "W" but close examination shows he was moving as the shutter went down and it is in fact an unreadable blur. With a wot of imagination he to has a "48", but I dont think a "W".... best Chris

Ah, OK, einverstanden. thought you meant the EK was decided at comapny level and simply rubber stamped at a higher one. depending on the division the application could have had an easy or difficult ride. I have one list that landed on a divisional commanders table and for every guy approved, one was not. Basically I wanted to head off the idea that is very prevalent that EK awards in WW1 were made at a lower level than in WW2 and that is why there are more. My thought to the above, coupled with the homefront dude is that "at the front" the Compagnie commander may have more influence, on the homefront less medals are being handed out and (IMHO) it is harder for a lower rank to get one. Why would a non combatant home front bavarian get a PEK and not the Bavarian version for paper pushers? best Chris

But were there bavarians? a couple of points that are on my mind 1) What do you mean by company level? 2) Bavarian generals commanding divisions in the field could award EKs BMVK etc... but was there a central authority back in Bavaria for home front units? Things were more ordered in the homefront, it would have been easier to have established lines of hierachy.... any ideas? Best Chris

Hi, no idea.... I thought late 1918...

In this case the guy who I assume to be 2ic has the badge as well.. behind the guy I assume to be the big cheese is a guy who has right sleeve badge... and what looks to be a left sleev one as well... then a guy with a left sleeve badge next to him...

Here you see a guy with the "48" badge...

OK here is what I think must be a divisional staff..... or higher? Lotsa officers....

I am betting the son was killed. The EK on his chest has been added. It makes me think the family had it added after his death... could of course be different, the father died before they could have a photo taken with both wearing the EK so the son had it altered... either way, a testimonial to the value they placed on it....