Steve Russell

Here is a fighting man offering. Steve

Definitely looks good. Crown, core and skinny pin hinge look like the 'KMST' to me. Steve

I'm with Steven on this one. We have a photo that looks to clearly to show a cut out badge. We have a pilot that was not retired (Hmmmm...that is a problem isn't it). We have a date of the photo as May 1918. None of this adds up to a retired pilot badge on Rumy. I think you have to consider what you see in the picture. Tarnish? Come on. He is dressed impeccably in the picture. Do we think that just because he is an NCO he is letting himself go? Hardly. Let's at least consider he kept himself neatly dressed for his pre-PlM photo back in Germany on leave--and on display to an admiring public. I also have not heard any disucssion on when the retired pilot badge was instituted. Was it common in the Spring of 1918? And on active pilots? It seems far easier to defend a cut-out variant possibility than to explain away everything else. I am however enjoying the discussion. My two cents. Steve

I agree. It can't be a retired pilot badge. For one, Rumy was on active duty when the photo was taken--not retired. Two, the photo was taken shortly before he was awarded the PlM, placing it around May 1918--a problem for dating a retired pilot badge. Three, he was killed in action before the war ended. Soooooo, it must be something else and it sure looks like a Taube on the badge. Too bad it is at an angle. Steve

Supersized.

Stogie, Steven, Looks like a pilot badge in this enlargement. And cut out as well. See below. This would have been in May 1918. Steve

I like bargains. EKs can always be used for trade stock or filling in missing medals on a bar, etc. I have a soft spot for the trashed EKs that can be resurrected with new eye loops and rings. It is just a shame to see them die in a cigar box because they are broken. I have also decided to start to collect the double reverse ones. Steve http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14872

Here is a Friedlander to compare it to. Steve

Les, We all appreciate the education you've given us on this fake. Not only with an easily identifiable mark but also at just how good this PlM really looks. Thanks for the analysis and effort to post this. Steve

Brian, The first two medals should have different ribbons. Here is what they should look like. Steve

Dan, That is truly an amazing find. I have never seen anything but technical drawings of the interrupter gear. Thanks for posting these fabulous items. Steve

Chris, My June 1917 German Infantry Regts and Field Post Offices Book also has them in the 52nd Landwehr Brigade of the 7th Landwehr Division. Steve

Dante, Rudolf Windisch is unique in that he garnered several high bravery awards for remarkable feats both as an enlisted pilot and as an officer. Wound Badge - Awarded for wounds received in 1914 while serving in the 177th Infantry Regt. Accepted to Flight School January 1915. Pilots Badge - Awarded 10 June 1915 Promoted to Unteroffizier 10 June 1915 and assigned flight instrutor duty in FEA 6. Applied for combat duty and assigned to FFA 62 1 May 1916 as a reconnaissance pilot. EK2 - awarded July 1916 for a series of daring reconnaissance flights as an enlisted pilot. Promoted to Vizefeldwebel July 1916 EK1 - awarded 25 August 1916 for 1st Victory downing a balloon as an enlisted pilot Prussian Crown Order 4th Class - awarded by the Kaiser on 18 October 1916 for a secret mission 2-3 October involving landing behind enemy lines and destroying a bridge. Only German pilot who earned this medal. Saxon Cross of Honor with Swords - awarded in October 1916 for same feat as Prussian Crown Order Saxon Military Order of St. Heinrich in Silver - awarded in October 1916 after review for same feat as Prussian Crown Order Promoted to Leutnant Dec 1916. Assigned as fighter pilot 20 February 1917 and sent to further training Saxon Order of Albert, Ritterkreuz 1st CL - awarded 1 November 1918 for 4th victory Promoted to CO Jasta 66 10 Jan 1918 with 6 victories Jan - May 1918 - achieved 15 aerial victories leading his Jasta and was awarded the following as a result of these extraordinary combats: Prussian Knight's Cross with swords to the Order of the House of Hohenzollern Austro-Hungarian Bravery Medal in Silver (2nd CL) Saxon Military Order of St. Heinrich in Gold Nominated for the Pour le Merite on his 21st victory 16 May 1918 Pour le Merite - awarded 6 June 1918 in absentia as he was believed captured and held in French custody after he was shot down having scored 22 aerial victories. He may have been awarded other medals but I cannot find the data on them. I've attached a pic that shows many of these awards but the PlM has been added to the pic. It must have been taken in the Spring of 1918. Hope this helps, Steve

Has Baden colors.

Thanks Rick. Beautiful bar with nice campaign service. Great observations on the taller award. Should have caught that as the round LS medals would be mounted lower. I think with what you've stated, I agree it is a 25 TR. Otherwise, the '97 Centenial should be there. But as this had no other TR awards, I did not know for sure. And with a name Grunwald, I thought maybe this guy would have been out of business after 1938! Pure speculation of course. I'll start looking for a loose 25 TR. Steve

Doc, There are many vendors on the web. eMedals has very good quality but the prices reflect it. Still, they have high end stuff and you pay for their trouble to find the stuff. http://www.emedals.ca/catalog_index.asp Here are some others: http://www.bretzendorfer.com/us/us_uskatalog.html http://www.militaria-baldes.de/php/us_fram...062d938e9fa4437 And of course Detlev's great site for the wealthier and well-studied collectors. And other well-stablished auction houses: http://www.detlev-niemann.de/index.htm http://www.philipp-militaria.de/de_frame.html If you want replacement ribbons, this site has a great selection to put strips back on those naked individual awards. But never pass them off as original of course should you trade or sell them. http://www.worldmedals.co.uk/Rib/germrib.htm If you are into bargains though, surf German eBay for the best deals. If your German is bad, then the next best is UK eBay for some bargains. Amazing what passes through these, but they may not sell outside Germany or Europe in some cases. then US ebay has some good stuff too, but it sells a bit higher in my opinion (supply and demand). And then make sure you research as much as possible about the medals and bars. Lots of crap out there being put together. Restorations are fine (eg., missing medal replaced, etc.) but many are outright impossible bars even with original medals. Even those fake bars can be a bargain if the price is low and the individual pieces add up. For starting out, collecting the common German State enlisted bars is both interesting and rewarding. Take a look at Don's great threads on 'Fighting Man' bars for inspiration. The officer bars start creeping into the high end enamel and the prices typically are 5 to 10 times more depending on the bars and medals. But that is interesting and rewarding too!Hope some of this helps. Steve

If there is a thin white stripe in between the two bigger outside white stripes (cannot tell from the pic), could it not also be a long service medal?

The Wuerttemburg Bars are also pretty common but very nice and many pre-1934 examples exist.

Thanks guys. Would it then be common to see the Imperial LS Award precede the TR one? That is what threw me. And is it possible to have a Landwehr LS medal there?

The back

I am looking to replace the Long Service Medal on this nice Anhalt 5-Bar. I am guessing it to be a 9-Year? The LS Cross is 15-Year. Thanks, Steve

Thanks Les. Your description of the Meybauer you examined sounds identical to mine. I appreciate you giving them a comparison. The overall analysis does still seem to point to the 1920s for the Meyabuers given what you have presented. I wish there was some way to know if they made wartime examples for private purchase but I am very happy to have one of the few Meybauers out there. I only know of only three from collectors in the forums. Maybe more will come to light on them in the future. Steve

Agree with the others and from the pics, the backing looks awful 'felty' rather than wool. Too fuzzy from what you normally see. Could be original parts with modern backing and a scrapped Godet label lifted off a trashed bar? Steve

Les, from the initial inspection, it looks to be a solid struck piece in Bronze-Gilt. Is there any specific area I can check to see whether it is hollow or solid? I looked at the arm edges. They show very fine clean edges and workmanship. The enamel on my Meybauer is also a very rich and dark blue. The eagles on mine appear to be part of the solid piece. I look forward to comparisons and if you need any specific part of my PlM to be photographed, I will gladly provide it. I think we all can benefit from a detailed study of the Meybauer PlM. Thanks, Steve

Thanks guys. It does appear to have seem indentations on the edge of the arms. And after looking at the coin website Ralph . If the cross is only worth a fraction of those modern coin prices, well, maybe paying for the kids' college won't be so hard after all. Steve