Chris Boonzaier

2. Posensches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.56 – Hauptmann der Landwehr Mensch The Combres Heights (Les Eparges) are situated on the northern hinge of the St Mihiel salient and were one of "hotspots" on the Western Front in early 1915 when the Germans repulsed attack after attack. The 10. Infanterie Division arrived in the Sector in late 1914 and stayed there until it left for Verdun in October 1916. An eye witness on the heights described the effects of the German Artillery on the French attackers in front of the 10th I.D. “The French have suffered very heavy losses. They throw the bodies out of their positions to form a protective wall. They seem unable to bury them. They also seem unable or unwilling to remove their wounded. No Man’s Land is covered with bodies. Our losses are also heavy but in no proportion to theirs. Our artillery does excellent work. They fire on the reserves preventing them from reaching the front line where they would be able to enter the fray. The attacking troops are met with a terrible storm of shot and shell.” The Iron Cross 1st Class award document to Hauptmann d.L. Franz Mensch was issued by the deputy commander of the V Armeekorps in January 1916. The award had been made in April 1915 for fighting on the Combres Heights. The document implies that the award had been approved by the Kaiser himself and Generalleutnant Eduard v. Below was simply documenting this fact with his signature. The Regiment was part of the 10th Infantry Division. The Iron Cross 2nd Class award document to Mensch as Batterie Führer was issued on the 26th of February 1916, a month after the 1st Class document. From the wording it also implies that the award was made by the Kaiser. The award itself was made on the 24th of December 1914 and the document was issued after an order in 1916 asked units to supply recipients with a written proof of entitlement. The document was signed by Oberstleutnant Hugo Weichsel, Regiments Kommandeur. here is the group.....

Sorting out my stuff I stumbled across this.... Unfortunately not Bavarian, so not long for this world.... but a fantastic group nevertheless.... notice, 2 field issued EK docs.... then later 2 large docs from the battalion. On the battalion docs the battles are filled in by hand and the entries corresponds to his actions up until the time for that award... another thing, often overlooked..... an EK1 for a Gefreiter is rarer than a PLM for an officer.... they are really very, very, very scarce.....

Here is the rest of the group..... he is a typical career NCO who then became a civil servant.... he never lost a paper.... lookit the nose hair.....

here you go

Magic, thanks!

Hi, does this look like a bravery medal ribbon?

Can anyone read Fritz's last name? Harb? He was in the rekrutendepot of the 39th reserve Division, Bayerische rekrutendepot....

Hi, can anyone guess his branch of service? I am guessing he is back home after being wounded and it may be the blue litewka?

I am guessing that quite a few photo studios had "props".... that the soldier just went in, was gicen a helmet, rifle, belt, pouches etc... photos were made, and all the kit went back into a box...

HI, Thanks Guys, I had never seen that constellation on a helmet!

Hi, has anyone ever seen anything like this? It is bavarian.... an "I" over a "1"

Just a quick shot before they go in their frames.....

I think he was wounded twice, both times in 1918, so still a black wound badge.

The Ausmarch photo was often meant to be the photo your family would remember you by if you died in action.... Sometimes I wonder if the girlfriend had the say her - here, lets put some flowers on him - actually... I prefer it without... her - but the spike is so butch looking... c'mon, just a few flowers him - what if someone laughs?? her - please honey bunch... don't you want to please your widdle, widdle wabbit? Him - okay, just hope I don't get killed and this is the last pic of me!!!!

Maaannn... I was so tempted to buy this.... it is for the 59th Inf Regt... a pretty large badge... I can only assume it is pre WW1 or during the war? I dont think they were big on Veteran associations there after the war.... I cannot find another example anywhere.... Pity it is not bavarian... https://www.ebay.de/itm/unbekanntes-Abzeichen-Auszeichnung/202400544226?hash=item2f200335e2:g:bCUAAOSwPyBZtXu5

Hi, here are two shots with guys wearing a buckle without the motto... I am guessing they used old police ones because of lack of material? notice the upside down buckle on the right in the first pic......

Hi, the uni colored one is from the 60s, marking the 150th birthday of the regiment, the one with the crown is probably just postwar, for the veterans of the LeibRegiment

Indeed... there were many associations... but I really do not see anyone riffing on a copy of Hitlers dogtag back then. I stick with the thought this is a modern fake.

The wife and I been married for about 22 years.... I think she deserves a medal as well! ;-)

Very nice indeed! Was the seller one of the kids mentioned?

This is from a family stash (not found by me) The guy served before the war, I am guessing he was a reservist at the outbreak, then continued in the Verein after the war. i have no idea where he served during the war. We see the typical Leib Regt Rosette top right, then a variation with a starbust rosette... some crown removed from shoulderboards, at the bottom a row of medaillon for participating in fiels excersises 1905-1910... in the miiddle a rosette with its crown loose, and a harp in its place, I am thinking maybe for members of the regt band... all in all a nice "stash"... I wih I had the guys name....

I will go with faked, I dont see it as a thing the Kameradeschafts would really have gone for :-)

Hi, many parts of the wood were barely touched by the battle, even today you find paerts were everything was flattened, and 1KM further parts where the trenches are still 2 m deep and barely a shellhole. According to the notation on the back this must have been in the "Fille Morte " area, no date.

I thought this was pretty interesting.... imagine this was the RESERVE infantry Regt 16.... This cards was sent to an Austrian Newspaper with a group of volunteers from vienna

I am not sure if this is a training pic, but on the back it says it is an attack in the Argonne