Chris Boonzaier

I proudly present to you..... http://www.kaiserscross.com/136501/236701.html

These guys will scare you off!

Sounds like a fantastic price! Sure its a German one and not one of the Belgian ones? They are worth a pack of fags and a mars bar. Best Chris

A really, really cool update today... http://www.kaiserscross.com/152301.html Have been meaning to get the Seymour stuff up for ages...

Is something missing from the center of the medal on the right? Best Chris

What a fantastic group!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, It can safely be assumed that this group has not been touched since the war. The pilot had the Spanish cross in gold, and a whole bunch more, was killed during the war and the family moved to South Africa with the whole group. It is in a collection of a man who knows and cares nothing about German awards, (he has a world class British/South African collection, victoria crosses etc.) This group is simply "there" because it came from the family and he loved the thought of a battle of britain pilot group. The owner was not sure what the difference between a 1st and 2nd class was, had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it was a rounder, and had never noticed a makers mark. There is no way on gods earth that that mark came onto the medal post war. It is in the first "post family" hands it has ever been in, happens to be someone who does not know or care what a rounder is and just "has" the group without knowing anything about WW2 German. I don't have a dog in the fight as I don't own it and am not interested in WW2 anyway, so I don't want to spend my Sunday night defending this piece, but this is a fantastic and extremely rare maker marked rounder. A funny note, I had it and a Victoria Cross on the tray to photograph.... in retrospect I dont know which is rarer...

Hi, not yet, but I hope to get one soon. Best Chris

P.S. as to the unofficial veterans stuff..... same way we see old vets with unofficial Dunkirk, D-Day, Atlantic convoy medals etc... I am sure many an old codger wears what he damned well thinks he deserved. "Médaille coloniale with "agrafe en vermeil". must be the Morocco 1925 bar?

P.S. as to the unofficial veterans stuff..... same way we see old vets with unofficial Dunkirk, D-Day, Atlantic convoy medals etc... I am sure many an old codger wears what he damned well thinks he deserved. "Médaille coloniale with "agrafe en vermeil". must be the Morocco 1925 bar?

Hi, I dont think there is anything negative about that. I would imagine anyone who left the service before the awards were made would have done the entries themselves, no other way for then to be entered. Only other possibility would be to send all your stuff in and get it entered... and quite honestly, who can be bothered to go to the trouble. I should send my book in to have 4 awrds entered that came up after I left... have been meaning to...... and meaning to..................... and meaning to................................... When i am 80 I will probably do it myself just so the grandkids knew I had them..... Only one it will bother will be collectors in the far future.... unless the grandkids bin the stuff.. ,-)

Totally forgot it was in the box, in fact I almost tossed it with the packing papers of the parcel.... :-)

The gold star is a "silver star" although the silver bit is the tiny star in the middle. On the award card it says... "QMG directed to issue silver star /c/o Hon. Hoke Smith, Grant Building, Atlanta GA 6-20-27 see AG 201 GDG 6-20-27" From google I see Hoke Smith is some kind of lawyer/politician....

Nice!

Hi, unfortunately not. Apparently the 9th Inf Regt was made up of regular army guys and as such it is not possible to guess where the men came from. best Chris

Usually... 1. Aisne 2. Aisne - Marne 3. St. Mihiel 4. Meuse - Argonne 5. Defensive Sector

Now that I have it in my hand it is not as bad as it seemed in Photos so I will leave it. Notice the unusual Array of Bars for a 2nd division Victory... can anyone guess why?

Hi, It seems to be a title they adopted for themselves then... even the history is called.. "Buffalo Soldiers: The 92nd Infantry Division and Reinforcements in World War II, 1942-1945 " Their veterans assoc etc is also refers to them as "buffalo soldiers".. I guess its like "Leathernecks" or "GIs"..... also a name kept over from the past. They want to call themselves "Buffalo Soldiers"... let em do it, sometimes tradition is deeper than following the official linage of a regiment. When the 92nd was formed it was still A1 segregation time, and I bet a black GI in 1917 Alabama was very much aware that he was in the same position as a "buffalo Soldier" of earlier times.

Hi, not according to this... they even wore a buffalo patch... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/92nd_Infantry_Division_(United_States) I think he was 366... have to check my old mails... Best Chris

If anyone knows of a ribbon.............. ;-)

An African American soldier of the 92nd Infantry Division, wounded on the 11th of November 1918..... last day of the war....

naming...

A really nice group to a Cpl in the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He actually WAS awarded the Croix de Guerre as an individual, but I think the CDG is not the one originally given to him as he received it at divisional level (so sould have a silver tar on it.

Here is a good description... In the late 17th century, the English and Dutch armies adopted volley fire, coinciding with the adoption of the flintlock musket. Volley fire differed from salvo fire. Salvo fire involved the simultaneous fire of entire ranks of the battalion. Volley fire involved the simultaneous discharge of all men in one sub-unit, called a platoon, which was deployed in three ranks. The entire battalion would be divided into 8 or more platoons. Each nation adopted different firing orders of the platoon. One popular method involved the platoons alternating their fire, first from the outside, right then left, and continuing the firing order toward the center of the battalion. This allowed a continuous fire to be presented to the enemy and minimized the obscurity of the target caused by smoke. Also there was no need to exchange ranks as in salvo fire. Therefore there was less confusion after discharging the musket prior to reloading. All European nations adopted the volley fire method by the end of the Malburian Wars in the early 18th century. The Prussians made modifications to the method to allow troops to reload while marching during the War of the Austrian Succession. However, this decreased the accuracy enough that such volleys were ineffectual. The British perfected volley fire to a science during the Napoleonic Wars. A well-trained musketeer of the British army during the early 19th century could reload in 30 seconds or less. from http://www.scotwars.com/html/textonly/equip_smoothbore_musketry.htm

Go with plain. If you go with plain it looks well restored... and you know it looks just like it once did. If you try homemade cammo patters it will be (and will always remain) your "fantasy" piece as you will never have it as the gun looked all those years ago. I did my 08 and sledge lomax field grey and have never regretted it. Cammo would maybe be "cool"... but would always in the back of your head look faked. best Chris