Chris Boonzaier

Bottom right on the leather dog tag bag you can see the thread that held the square in. Whatever the little thing was it was very, very carefully packed away and hidden.

Sewn (hidden) into the dog tag bad was this cardboard stiffened square. It id covered in cloth and sewn into a square. I carefully took that out, slit the threads and found the white cloth, also folded together and sewn into a little lump about half the size of an M&M. Opening up than was this tiny bit of paper and what looks like a tablet that had been wrapped in foil. Does anyone have an idea what it could be....??? I hope not poison of some sort....

His dog tag and Soldbuch

Here is a telegram out of the festung....

I am not to sure what I have here... it is from the son of one of my WW1 guys.... This is his unit....

There was a gas staff officer attached to each Armee Oberkommando. This was mainly for gas protection. This was to an NCO attached to the Staff officer. A nice oddball and unusual unit...

Its the luck of the draw. I am happy for everything that gets through, it gets on my goat when I have to pay something...I grind my teeth, curse and swear, but thats life. Its like the underpass on the way to work. Speed limit through the tunnel is 50KM/H, everyone drives 70-80km. Every few months i get a ticket..... I am just happy for the days i get through without being ticketed, but objectively, i cant complain for the days where i am.

Maybe Customs dont think collecting medals qualifies you to be exempt from import taxes? It would enrage golfers who pay tax when they import clubs and Ferrari collectors who pay tax when they import cars. Sure its a pain, i get hit with it about 25% of the time. When I am, I am pssed off, but honestly, its a fair cop...... (to avoid problems for the three folks concerned, i took one sentence out of your post)

I think it is OK to have this here, main thing is to find the buyer. Sometimes selling is not the main reason for a post and from what I see, he is not offering yet, first seeing if the buyer of the bar wants it. What would be the point of putting it on the for sale stand with a price if it is for now not for sale to all comers. Best Chris

HI, a very underrated badge as far as rarity goes. Best Chrid

While not being a fan of unofficial medals in any way shape or form, as devils advocate I think .... If I was at a reception and some old vet turned up with the Normandy unofficial medal... and next to him was someone wearing a medal for kissing the butt of His Royal Highness Peter of somewhere in Scandinavia... For me I would talk to the Normandy Vet first off. We (me included) make a bit of a joke about the Weimar bars, medals wrapped in "Somme" "Verdun" "Flanders" bars on them... not official in any way shape or form.... But maybe an unofficial "Verdun Cross" wearer has more right to enamel on his breast than those servants of the court who have decorations from every crowned head of Europe for bowing low and folding back their sheets. any thoughts?

Ahhhh.... the Jocks... figured they could save a few shilling if they made the Tipstaff cheaper did they ? ;-)

:-) I loved that show :-)))

I dont have the RIR65 history :-( I guess it is the one needed to identify if this is them. Thnaks Chris

Hi, Thanks, It means he took part in some heavy fighting at Verdun in late 1916 and was captured probably in the Champagne in early 1917. I like the 54th, I have some nice stuff to the division. Thanks Rick :-)

Von Brahm is 8th Reserve Regt. I am not sure when the von came to the equation, I have a March 1917 doc signed by him and it looks to be without the von, I assume that came later.

Hi, I have this on another doc I can remember offhand. By coincidence also an infantryman in a bavarian Reserve Regiment.

Hi, can anyone help find nice pics of an Egypt medal with "Alexandria" clasp and one of a Tel el Kebir clasp? Thanks Chris

The same 6 guys ;-) They sure get around.... (CNN) -- U.S. naval forces hunting pirates off Somalia detained six people this week who appeared to be pursuing a commercial shipping vessel, but soon released them because of a lack of evidence. A Yemeni Coast Guard boat patrols the Gulf of Aden for pirates who threaten shipping. A Yemeni Coast Guard boat patrols the Gulf of Aden for pirates who threaten shipping. The Navy said on Saturday the six matched the description of suspected pirates aboard a skiff in the area. The naval crew saw the men throwing objects overboard before they picked up the suspects. Investigators didn't say what was thrown overboard but said the evidence was not sufficient "to hold the suspects for prosecution." The detentions reflect the aggressive U.S.-led fight against piracy. The United States is spearheading an international naval task force in the waters off Somalia that launched in February after a rash of attacks.

A bavarian

Interesting set, 23 days must have been a bit of a record. I would have thought they would not have accepted him in the first place...

Hard enough to get out of east germany without having to smuggle out a WW2 helmet. I would not pay more than the price of a damaged Spanish repaint. Sorry Chris

surely you mean 90.327 of ALL ribbon bars? Or do eastern bars have built in fakeproofing?

What better gift for a railwayman than a pocket watch! I have my greatgrandfathers pocket watch, he was an Engine driver in South Africa. Must have heard many a train whistle blowing.

Hmmmmmm..... it would take a looooooooooooooooot of convincing to get anyone to even begin to believe that the Germans were issuing Spanish helmets..... Other than the "It looks right to me"... do you have anything else to go on? Best Chris