Chris Boonzaier

Usually I dont even mention items until they arrive... i believe it is a jinx and they will get lost in the mail... I will have to wait with pics till they arrive. best Chris

Could he have been working in an official capacity in the war? I have one to a civilian but a congratulatory telegramm to him stresses that the award is highly unusual to people outside of officials. Best Chris

Documents and medals on the way. He was on the Yser, at Verdun and in the Champagne as a messenger it seems. I just HAD to have the group :-)

How easy, difficult is it/was it for a "Other Rank" in WW1 to win 8 citations in the infantry? Does anyone have a rough idea? Thanks Chris

Hi, I recently learned that the strap on this helmet is actually an Austrian strap. This fits in well as it is from Austria that the Division comes from.

Hi, how sure is it that the engraving is period? Thanks Chris

Hi Glenn, Does it have any info about the winners of the Prussian Golden Milit?r verdienst Kreuz? I have the docs to Stephan Grygiel who won the cross on mid 1918. Thanks Chris

is that a very late 1870 cross? Looks almost LDO in size.

It was a bombastic fimd, especially since it is still as Sturm-abteilung. AND the fact that this was the first assault with Rohrs new, modified tactics. best Chris

Does not look like much I will admit... but it was for a great action... read the write up... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40047/132001.html

... added today in the update.

Am very proud of the doc in todays update.. http://www.kaiserscross.com/130701/home.html

See whats new... Some great Verdun stuff and some Sturm-Abteilung stuff. http://www.kaiserscross.com/130701/home.html

Only 10 000? Plus long after the event private purchase and replacements.

Hi, Weitzes is badly faded. There is a loooong time span, one could be made in 1914, one in 1940.... that the materials stay exactly the same is unlikely.

Here is a very, very, very rare find indeed.... In September of 1915 Hauptmann Rohr took over the Fledgling "Sturm Abteilung". This would later become the famous "Sturm Bataillon Nr.5 (Rohr)" or simply "Sturm Bataillon Rohr", THE Sturm battalion, the Verdun Sturm battalion, the Sturm battalion of von Hutiers 18th Army during the Kaiser Schlacht. But, back to October 1915 when a company of the Sturm-Abteilung makes its first ever raid after Hauptmann Rohr's assumption of command. The raid was succesful, it was the seed that all the future Sturm assaults of the war would grow on. The 2. Kompagnie lost 4 men killed and 11 wounded..... Unteroffizier Friedrich P?hler was one of those killed in action.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40029/129601.html

A nice bar indeed.... I guess there is no way of identifying it?

Very likely a vet thing of some sort, but I would guess impossible to identify for sure.

That is indeed a killer!!!!

But how often do you manage to get one of these...

The condition is terrible, Grygiel mounted the documents himself, trimming the sides and using lots of glue. The EK1 and 2 docs usually having the frame on the sides as well as the top and bottom.

Stephan Grygiel of the 12th Brandenburg Grenadiers won the Iron Cross 2nd class at Fort Douaumont in may 1916. In 1918 he won the Prussian Milit?r Verdienst Kreuz, the highest award for a NCO or other ranky soldier, just 1 in about 7000 men getting the award. Does anyone have the Regimental history, and know if there is a citation for the latter award? Thanks Chris

Very nice lot of medals indeed. I would love to have a group to one of the battalions of Russians serving in France during the Nivelle offensive!! Best Chris

I would buy one as well. I would say this was about the most sellable PDF project of the decade?

sooooooo...... have you scanned it then? ;-)