Chris Boonzaier

In 1909 he is serving in the colonial Battalion at Emyrne on the Island of Madagascar.... Seems to have had a whole array of maladies... weight loss, malaria, bronchitis... anyone want to have a go at listing them all?

isnt this a dandy ?? Pity about the condition, but hey... it is what it is....

Here is his birth certificate (I missed this on the auction)

On the 9th of July 1878 August Victor Tiffay was born to an unmarried young garden worker in the city of Rouen.

Hi Colin, I looked into that with a very critical eye indeed. my conclusions... The Pic has been on there for ever, when it falls off you can see the shape of the pic is embedded into the paper. The dirt and impression fits exactly. As you can see, the pic is not even cut straight, pretty crooked... all visible on the traces on the pass. Also interesting is the fact that the photo is bent, folded... but the pass not. I think if someone had wanted to add a photo to replace a missing one, any visit to a German flea market will get you 5-10 better examples. I think in the Turmoil in Berlin, units disbanded etc... He probably just took the one photo he still had with him. best Chris

Thank Ye very much !!

Some GREAT German South West Africa stuff here from the Schutztruppe... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40029/150601.html

This is to one of a Group of Germans who actually invaded South Africa in support of the Boer Rebellion at the outbreak of the war.... See the writeup here... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40029/150601.html

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26884 Served in the 1 garde reserve Division in Berlin in 1919. I see a google mention of a Rackelmann (probably a junior Officer or NCO in the 15 Reserve Inf Regt which was in the 2nd garde Reserve Division in the war. I expect an early EK for him, maybe EK1 as well.... promoted to officer in 1915 according to the doc on the link... Anyone have any mentions of him? Thanks Chris

In the history of the J?gers Straub is on the KIA list for that date... born in new York 1896. Travel in those days WAS a big deal, most people never left the village they lived in... unless to go to war..... Now my dilema.... the threads hide quite a bit of the phot and prevent yiu from seeing if there is any text on the back ... :-( Which is more important? Preserving the piece as is.... or trying for research and getting to the back of the picture? maybe the names are on it? Maybe not? Once the threads are off... there is no way to get em back on......

The sign says Kaporalschaft 7 1914-15.... but no unit. Some barely visable 2`s on the shoulder made him think there was an off chance it was MY unit, the 2nd bavarian J?gers.... On the back it says Luitpold Straub killed on the 13th VII 1916....

A friend of mine saw one of those boring group photos at the flea market..... It was in a period frame and was going begging......

It was not cheap :-)

Rackelmann seems to have been promoted to Lt in 1915....

detail

The Pass/Soldbuch has a plain pink cover there is a sepertae envelope to keep it in (Left overs with the prussian eagle)

Detail from a phot with the ausweiss

Nice Ausweiss eh ?!?!?!

Sounds like a gary Larson Cartoon on "The far side"... "All the musicians sat around talking about trading Groupies..... Scott had misunderstood the term and brought along a medal bar..... "

Man..... it used to be musicians were down at the edgewater in doing things that resulted in the mudshark song on the Frank Zappa album.... now they spend their time buying Imperial Medal bars !!!! Whatever happened to "Drugs, sex, rock and roll!... Drugs, sex, rock and roll...." !?!?!?!

I have what I think is te biggest German machine Gun photo archive up here... http://www.kaiserscross.com/56701/home.html Some nice pics. P.S. nice tank shot !!!!!!

Imperial ANYTHING are the poor cousins to 3rd Reich... on one side :-(.... on the other side :-)))

A ship with lots to read about. A nice find indeed.

This is a nice one....

Hi, Military lances are made that they come out as easy as they go in. a Rider would have been pulled from his horse if he poked someone and his lance stuck. I think its like the bayonet thing... you dont want to be caught defenceless with your bayonet stuck somewhere. I would assume it was for hunting?