Trooper_D

Thanks for this reference, Yankee, which is most helpful. I am not sure that the Benemerenti catalogues are on line so I wonder if anyone might have a scan they could post, please? [edited to add: I have now discover that they are online and I have now downloaded the catalogue for auction #9].

Hi Yankee. I am not sure how what you write contradicts Christian's observation. Could you, perhaps, expand, please? It is not just the enamel damage which Christian has ringed which is the same, I can spot perhaps five or six other commonalities, including the 'spot' under the right hilt, which is evident in the earlier black & white photo (but is covered by the red ring in Christian's comparison). I would be interested in hearing your further thoughts.

Thanks for posting these, Nick. I am always struck by the elegant simplicity of the Order of Merit of the Austrian First Republic.

Interesting story, Chris. As a matter of interest (I don't read German particularly well), who took him prisoner and why was he only released in 1920?

Good job, Alex. I am struck by how remarkable well-nourished the sergeant looks, considering it is war time and at the height of rationing!

Alan I have attached a digitally enlarged version of the image of the reverse shown in the first post. In it you can better see that the studio was located in Czernowitz, what is now Chernivtsi in western Ukraine but was then in the KuK province of Bukovina. As to when it was taken, there is nothing on the photo to indicate, sadly. Update: You can find out more about the photographer at the following website; it might help you date the photo, http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/czernowitz-photo-studios.htm

Welcome, Alan. Glad you liked the photo We know that he was a Feldwebel because of the three stars and the lace border on his collar. Google 'Rank insignia of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces' and you should find many web pages with an explanation of these badges of rank. What are you hoping to find there? I ask because I am not sure where I have put the photo and, even if I could find it, it wouldn't show you anything you can't see in the image in the first post, I don't believe

I think you are probably right. With so few of these about, it's difficult to get a sense of the value of a single, unattributed medal. However, I don't think that this is a case of rare = valuable But, all that aside, as you and others have remarked, a nice example of craftsmanship.

Asil76 This is the HAC's 350th Anniversary medal. Another example can be seen here: https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/lot-archive/lot.php?department=Medals&lot_id=168478

Welcome, Guy. I hope that this is the first of many from your collection that you will post here. If so, this looks like it is going to be an interesting thread and I, for one, am looking forward to it!

... and if he is your man, volume 2 (p. 295) of the same Navy List shows that he was assigned to the Anti-Submarine Warfare Division. Source: http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=93093690&mode=fullsize

Egorka I wonder if this is your man (VD being the abbreviation for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration). Annoying that only the initial of his first name is given! Source: http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=93081410&mode=fullsize

Paul To my eye, it looks like a lower case gothic or Black Letter 'n', which would make it 1928, with the maker being Garrards, of course. Source: http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Dates/London/Cycle 1896-1915.html

Von Thronstahl The pencil caption to the first photo says 'Wurt[t]emberg', doesn't it? That being the case, the 1866 (for example) Schematismus lists four members of the family in Austrian service. https://archive.org/stream/militrschematis02austgoog#page/n1096/mode/1up

I would never have expected to find an article setting out the experiences of a 1950s National Service officer seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force in that bastion of post-colonial liberalism, The Guardian. I was delighted, therefore, to find this: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/07/queen-commonwealth-tour-nigeria-thats-me-in-picture not least for the magnificent photograph of the Queen inspecting a RWAFF Guard of Honour, which shows very clearly the uniforms of the locally-enlisted troops and the European officers (as usual, click to see a larger version).

Thank you so much, Sommerfeld, for pointing me to this resource, which I wasn't aware of and which, after a quick investigation, I realise is an important source for anyone researching the Austria-Hungary forces in WW1. For anyone who has never seen these Verlustlisten (Casualty lists) before, they can be accessed online via the links below. Each has a slightly different interface but each had its merits. State Library of Upper Austria (colour): http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:at:AT-OOeLB-1723425 Austrian National Library (monochrome): http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=vll

Thanks for the correction, Wraith42.

Sommerfeld May I ask where the first image comes from, please? I note the discrepancy (LIR 84 and LIR 34) between the two sources but I imagine that the death notice is correct (perhaps a typo in the first source).

Welcome, Larissa. Here's a start for you: Franz Teucher was a Lt. Colonel (Obstlt = Oberstleutnant). Dr Joseph Kalapos was a doctor with the rank of Colonel (Ob. Arzt = Oberstarzt). In 1912 he was attached to the 60th KuK Infantry Regiment. Others here will correct or/and add to what I have stated and, perhaps, give some IDs, I am sure.

I know you chaps aren't normally the types to browse the Daily Mail website (just who are these Kardasians, anyway?) but this story about a group of officers in the Tank Corps, all of whom survived the Great War, might be of interest. One memorable quote from the story: one of the officers (Lt Gerald Edwards) described fighting in a tank battle as 'hell with the lid on'. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3824281/British-soldiers-survived-Ypres-happened-went-home.html The key to the officers in the photo below, together with mini-biogs, is contained in the article at the link above.

Paul The BM web page for this item (see below) states that it was donated in 1878 by Lt-Gen Augustus W H Meyrick. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=38164

Nice group, Lancer. For my education, can you tell me, am I seeing a separate piece of headgear from a parade czapka or am I seeing the parade czapka with a foul weather cover?

Thank you for posting these, Enzo. It is always most instructional - as well as being a delight - to see examples from your wonderful collection.

Fascinating film, Spasm. Interesting that, as early as 1946, there was such a pressing (sorry!) need that it was worth creating machine tools specifically to convert helmets into cullenders.

Well if swords can be turned into ploughshares, why not? Have you come across many of these, Jock?