motojosh

Added this scarce Kraftfahrer collar insignia to my collection recently after searching for one for years.

A couple cards from the series

Feldpost with stamp of the Haubitzbatterie

Saxon Infantry Regiment 177

Reserve Infantry Regiment 82

MGK of Infantry Regiment 343. Note the backwards 4 on one of the covers.

1st Bavarian Maschinengewehr-Abteilung

My new favorite. 1st Ersatz Batallion of Mecklenburgische Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 14 and then to Radfahrer-Kompanie 54 which was part of the 54th Infantry Division. Found a likely match on the verlustlisten for a Johann Tomforde of the Radfahrer-Battalion 5 who was lightly wounded September 23rd 1916. Radfahrer-Battalion 5 included elements of JB14, RK54, and JB6.

2nd Ersatz Abteilung of Feld-Artillerie Regiment 9 and then to the 3rd Batterie.

2nd Kompanie of the Bavarian Pionier Regiment.

Flugabwehr Kanone Scheinwerfer Schule

1st Ersatz MGK of the Wurttemberg XIII Armee Korps and then to the 3rd MGK of Grenadier Regiment 119.

1st MGK of Hessian J.R.115

On 11/11/2020 at 14:58, Chris Boonzaier said:

That is a nice knife indeed!!! It is hard to read, are the Binos unit marked?

Thanks! The feldglas 08 are marked to the 4th Komp of J.R.419

Very nice. A couple officer straps

19 hours ago, Chris Boonzaier said:

 

Wolf died at Stalingrad on the 31 december 1942, served in the 20th Infantry Regiment 1917-18

Thanks Chris. Did you find that on the Bavarian records on ancestry.com?

A few more:

1st Kompanie of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment.

2nd Ersatz MGK of the 15th Armeekorps and then to MGK of Reserve Jäger Battalion 19.

Large brass tag to Waffenmeister-Unteroffizier Wendler 3rd MGK of the 342nd Infantry Regiment.

Reserve Jäger Battalion 11

Ersatz Battalion of Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion

Wurttemberg Gebirgs Batterie 13, Ersatz Gebirgs Artillerie Abteilung 2 & 4. Found a Gustav Scheer of Gobbingen on the verlustlisten which listed him as being lightly wounded on July 1 1918.

With the 102nd anniversary of St. Mihiel today I thought I'd share a few items related to the battle. This started with the purchase of the stylized eagle head kS98 and the collection grew from there. The bayonet was an honorary gift of the division to Vizefeldwebel Lührmann of the 1st Machine Gun Kompanie of the 94th Landwehr Infantry Regiment for bravery shown facing the enemy on September 12-14 1918. During this time period the 94th LJR was part of the 255th Division and fought at St. Mihiel under Army Detachment C from Metz Group.

I was able to find a bit of the circumstances of the action of Lührmann and the 94th LJR in the book Squandered Victory: The American First Army at St. Mihiel by James Hallas:

"Pressing the assault, the doughboys found the enemy had manned defenses in Dame and Villers Woods overlooking the valley. The positions, unknown and unsuspected, consisted of a double line of wired trenches reinforced with machine guns. The line was manned by Hanoverians of the 94th Landwehr Regiment. Ordered to hold the hill at all costs, most fought to the death, but when the shooting ended, the hill was American."

The other items consist of a Soldbuch and Militärpass for another man in the 94th LJR, photo of EM of the 94th LJR, captured MG08 water can used for war bond drives, Feldglas 08 and M15 strap of the 419th Infantry Regiment which fought at St. Mihiel under the 77th Reserve Division under Gorze Group-General Hartz, and lastly a captured model 1903 Zeiss binocular marked St. Mihiel Drive 1918.

If anyone has any items related to St. Mihiel feel free to post them. I'm also looking to purchase officers and enlisted straps for the 94th LJR / RJR.
 

22 hours ago, Naxos said:

Well, to be on the safe side ...

Great photo. At first glance the bayonet looks a bit like an s98nA, but it's actually a rare Bavarian model 1914 Griechisches Messer which were converted by Simson & Co to fit the gew. 98 from left over Greek model 1903 bayonets. Not often seen in period photos since only a few thousand of these bayonets were produced.

Thanks for the kind comments! A couple other pieces..

Feldpost of the Garde-Maschinengewehr-Scharfschutzen-Abteilung-Kompanie.3. using what looks to be a captured French Saint-Etienne Modele 1907.

Shooting prize target

Some very awesome equipment shown in this thread! Here's some of my MG items.

Bayonets:

(71/84 AR87) Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment 100 Maschinengewehr-Kompanie
(71/84 AR87) Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment 107 Maschinengewehr-Kompanie
(71/84 L88) Bavarian Infantry Regiment 13 Maschinengewehr-Kompanie
(84/98nA W15) Maschinengewehr Zug 2
(84/98nAmS W15) Maschinengewehr-[Scharfschutzen] Abteilung 21 Kompanie 1

(IOD 1889) Reserve Fusilier Regiment 39 Maschinengewehr-Kompanie

(M1894 Hebel) Infantry Regiment 48 Maschinengewehr-Kompanie 3

Hi Stuka,

Thanks for the correction & additional information on the helmet.

-Josh

I'm considering purchasing this pickelhaube and would appreciate any opinions on it. Also, what's a ball park value range on these? Thanks for the help!