Chris Boonzaier

This is some of the stuff from the murdered German dealer a few months ago.... Is the PLM original? Click on it to enlarge... http://www1.polizei-nrw.de/paderborn/Start...hndungen/Fotos/

The back is the best part... you can see the notes by the division, forwarding it to the brigade, who forward it to thwe regt, who send it to the batln, who send it to the hospital.....

Okay... last part arrived today.....

Hi, That was General Brits. A Botha loyalist, he was not pro British, but had 100% trust in Bothas descisions. He reported to Botha saying "My men are ready, who are we fighting, the British or the Germans?" There is a great tale of when he was up in Northern GSWA and really wanted some brandy. There was none to be had, but he heard a soldier under his command had some. He had him called to his tent, but was informed by his staff that as an officer, he could not drink with "other ranks"... so he promoted the man for the duration of the bottle. When he cam back from the campaign, most of the soldiers had taken german bayonets as souveniers. brits tok a field gun. On arrival in cape town the customs stopped him and refused him permission to disembark it. He told the customs man that his shipload of soldiers gave him all the permission he needed.... I have a whole bunch of material on this, as soon as David Gregory gets his PC in order again, we will be doing a GSWA website. Best Chris

And just "how large" is yours? nudge, nudge....wink, wink.....

Nice card indeed. Postcards are a limitless sub branch to the EK collecting field !

I had a doc group to a NSDAP Blockleiter. KVK2 W/penknives for bravery in an airraid. KVK2 WO/penknives for service as a blockleiter in the war KVM for his work as a locksmith in a factory. It was really a unique low level group.

He did not need to be a combattant in WW2. It would have been enough to have done something brave in an Airraid to get a KVK2 with swords. No Hindenburg cross is however a bit funny.. best Chris

This is the point I was trying to make. Take a WW1 EK2, the value is EUR25-35, I am sure worldwide collectors would agree with that. Up until a couple of years ago, you could get them on flea markets for EUR10-15, sometimes less. With the C.d.G. you can STILL get them at those prices on the flea market, and maybe this will still be so in 10 years time as the international collector vaccum will not suck them up the same way they do EKs. But taking the international average price for a C.d.G. (British, US, Canadian dealers etc) you still find them at about EUR30. The fact that i bought one last year at a junk barn /Brocante near Quimper for EUR3 does not help someone in Toronto. Its the "Lucky local price" compared to the "Market" price. Note to our members in France. I will take as many packets of 10 WW1 C.d.G.s as you can put together (must have ribbon and device) for EUR70 :-), I love them things.....

Some start at 2.50, some finish at 15. I offered 10 TOE's for EUR125 and noone took them. Have found EK2s for EUR5 - 10 on a lucky day. The problem with these is there are more of them than the market needs. As far as medals goes, this is the closest medal you will ever find to an EK2. It is a pity they are treated like dirt.

There is not a wasted word or line in Cron. Condensed and as dry as the perfect fart. by no means an easy bedtime read. David introduced me to it, and it was "WoW!!!!" an eye opener on many levels...

I dont have the Nash book, but Cron is essential for, amongst other things, the condensed evolutions of the branches of service. i.e., how the compositions of the units changed during the war, how things were formed, altered, replaced, fell away. The German is essential because in many cases, if you have an English translation and original German docs... you may not be able to figure out what he is talking about. Try translating "Fernsprechdoppelzug". If you have an EK doc with that on, you may have a hard time figuring out it is the "Telephone combination section" in the English translation. Maybe an English AND German copy used in tandem is the answer..... ;-)

EUR10 ? At a militaria shop? I have seen them for those prices at Brocants, but what would a realistic dealer price be? They seem to range between EUR25 - 35 ?

May the Cron be with you!

What may be worrying is how good the translation is. If you can, a German copy may be the way to go as it is chock-a-block full of important terms. I have not seen the English translation, but there are many, many things that must have been very difficult to translate.... I hope the translater got it "Right".

I dont know if its the same.... but a Cron is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in Imperial German. For the info in it, the price is totally justified. Even better if hard cover of course......

I was lucky enough to get the Militaerpass, shooting book, WW2 Wehrpass 8No active service), and his EK2 doc. No EK1 doc was there...

A very nice example indeed !!!

A silly question.... was the Starburst a specially created one, or was it one that was already in use... by that I mean, did the maker say "Schmidt, go create a brand new starburst and put an EK on it..." or did he say "Schmidt, go take one of those starbursts we are using for the Argentinian cattle raisers honour star and stick an EK1 on it....." Did they start from scratch... or did they alreay have the parts to throw together....

Hi, I agree the post 39 WW1 crosses in 44mm "LDO size" are a bit bigger than regular WW1 crosses.... but he mentioned a 48mm one in RK size.

One day baby... one day...... According to the seller the Besitzzeugnis has many notes on the back, awarded from a W?rt. Div, but lots of notes made on it by various authorities who had to approve it for him to be allowwed to wear it.

While fishing for pics of EKs for the Imperial EK book project a collector told me he can send me pics of his 48mm ?bergrosse EK2...... Nothing unusual you say... they come up from time to time..... maybe... but he is talking WW1 ?bergrosse !!!!!!! Has anyone seen anything like this before ??

I am happy to say the seller has agreed to sell me the missing doc, thereby completing the set. he has a couple of the medals but they are not up for grabs.... At least the docs are complete now....

Well, according to allied Intel Reports, 90% of his divisions infantry was wiped out in a few months fighting on the dead man and hill 304. His battle page is nothing short of astounding. Dead man, Cumiers, Caurettes heights, Somme, Wytschaete bend, messines, Kaiserschlacht, Kemmel ......... A lucky survivor.....

From his WW2 Werpass photo... not a very funny kinda guy. From his WW1 Pass... a tough as nails little guy. Challenge to the forum... help he read this, promotion to Unteroffizier for .... vor dem Feind???? Does not look like Tapferkeit?