Stogieman

Nice, sweet and oh so wonderful! C'mon guys & gals....... I know what some of you are holding......

Daniel!!!!!!!! Welcome Aboard! Glad you are home safe and very, very glad to see you here!!

Looks like the classic "Cross f?r Women & Virgins", official issue case ca. 1870/71 ??

I think this translates to: "GO for it"! Provided it's not a "bank-breaker", then check it out good and give us better scans.... could be a gem. I don't know why it's clanging such a bell for me...... maybe it's a good bell for a change!

Pretty special little bar, the pin/hinge looks very close to that odd medal bar I had earlier this year.

Hi Christian... I am trying to remember where I saw this and why I hesitated. Give me a moment or two. Even without a LS award, the combination is possible, but not probable. Odd to have a post 1913 Bavarian ribbon for combat with a NC EK2. Other issues as well....

Hi Chris, well, I'd bet a buck that if you slipped a 25- year cross in there the bottom of the medals would line up again......... I think the thing that gives away that the bar has been altered is the height of the SS medal as compared to the line of the others. It should be level with them, not raised up. Lay it down and pull all the medals tight and you'll see what I mean.

Yes, I believe we would have seen quite impressive store displays.... as any good, prosperous merchant would do. I believe that while the "piece" is impossible, the cross would prove to be quite right and quite real.

Andreas! Welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us here!

I like them Chris! C'mon....... I know there's more out there!

Excellent! We're upping the ante...... I love it!

What's on the plate with the solo EK2 Paul? Agree, the maker should be in Saxony if memory serves tonight.

Yep, agree Werner, agree... fabulous. Claudio, you need to get your brother to join us!!

It's about the nicest USN groups I've ever handled. Silver Stars to WW1 USN personnel are pretty scarce. This guy ended his career as a Lt. Commander. Every piece of paper he received from about 1908 through 1946 is here. Including the 1930's transmittal letter from the USN ordering him to attach a silver star to his Victory Medal ribbon. Which he never did! He just wore it with the transport clasp only. Transmittal letter came along with the official USN Letter of Commendation and the Presidential Commendation with full ink signature of Wilson. A pretty heady group, history-wise.....

Official Presidential Commendation Letter. This was actually signified by a green ribbon with white stripe in the ribbon bar! There's a loose one as part of the group. Unfortunately, space is an issue for me and this group will be leaving here.

The official medal of the survivor's society

The final plunge

And some of the postcards that are actually in the group:

More Navy photos from the official archives

Some of the survivors. my guy is Robert Huggard and he was one of the NCO's who kept his cool and hustled survivors into lifeboats.

Some official USN photographs of the attack and sinking. The ship was sunk by U-86.

The good Doctor aboard........

More from the book. A soft-cover job and privately published.

The "Official" Book as written by one of the survivors.

The ships officers and men prior to the sinking off the Covington coast of France